Director and music composer Vishal Bhardwaj addresses the anticipation surrounding a sequel to his film Haider, starring Shahid Kapoor, making it clear that it is not in the cards at the moment.
He says that Shahid’s recent haircut should not be misconstrued as a sign of a sequel, stating, “Shahid ne Baal kata liye, iska yeh matlab thodi Haider 2 ho jayegi. There is no reason to make a second part as Kashmir is in a different stage.”
He further elaborates, “I am happy to see that people haven’t forgotten the first part of Haider. But, Haider was connected to Kashmir, and right now I don’t have anything to say on Kashmir, so there is no point of Haider 2 right now.”
When it comes to choosing his projects, Bharadwaj reveals that genre diversity is paramount to him, point in case his recent directorial Khufiya. “I have many things in mind while approaching a project. It also matters to me if I have played with any genre or not. Repetition is very boring for me. Espionage is a genre that I always wanted to explore, and when I explored this book, Escape To Nowhere, it had many details about the R&AW operations, and that is what excited me.”
With OTT booming as a medium, Bharadwaj believes that it has become a safe space for filmmakers to showcase their content. He explains, “In every 5-10 years, there is a change in the projection and manifestation of cinema.” He points out that the transition from video cassettes to DVDs and the advent of multiplexes, all had their effects on the industry. However, the 58-year-old acknowledges the impact of the pandemic, saying, “After the 70’s, the best time for cinema started in the early 2000s, which continued till before the pandemic. We were able to make every kind of film, and had an audience for every film in the theatres, there was no fear. However, during the pandemic, our perspective towards different things changed, and in that perspective, we are in that wave, hence we are not realising what is happening.”
{{/usCountry}}With OTT booming as a medium, Bharadwaj believes that it has become a safe space for filmmakers to showcase their content. He explains, “In every 5-10 years, there is a change in the projection and manifestation of cinema.” He points out that the transition from video cassettes to DVDs and the advent of multiplexes, all had their effects on the industry. However, the 58-year-old acknowledges the impact of the pandemic, saying, “After the 70’s, the best time for cinema started in the early 2000s, which continued till before the pandemic. We were able to make every kind of film, and had an audience for every film in the theatres, there was no fear. However, during the pandemic, our perspective towards different things changed, and in that perspective, we are in that wave, hence we are not realising what is happening.”
{{/usCountry}}“And, the middle of the road cinema of me, Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Abhishek Choubey, and Dibakar Banerjee, is being preferred to watch on streaming platforms by the audience, unless we do something really out of the box and bring people in. This is the reality right now, but it is also a phase, and yeh phase bhi badlega. Whenever a new phase comes, we feel like this is the end of the world, ki ab yeh digital platforms humein ya humaari filmon ko control karenge, but aise nahi hai, time changes and yeh phase bhi jaayega,” he concludes.