Vikram Bhatt’s 1920 has surprised everyone by pulling in a sizeable audience. Yet its debutant hero, Rajneesh Duggal, insists that he is not game for any more horror movies.
“Only if Vikram calls for a sequel of 1920 would I agree to another ghost story,” he asserts, adding,“I didn’t want to start out as another chocolate boy but now I want to be seen in prem kahanis and intense emotional roles.”
Someone.. somewhere.
Also, he doesn’t want to be chased by a bhoot. It happened during 1920 which was filmed in Allerton castle in Yorkshire which ranks seventh in the list of the top 10 haunted castles in the world.
“After 4 p.m. it got very dark. No one wanted to be alone because you get this feeling that someone is creeping up on you from behind. Even if we had to visit the washroom, we’d wait for two-three others to join us,” Duggal rewinds.
No longer afraid
Worse, a mystery woman was supposed to be walking around the castle. “She was the owner of the castle who had been butchered by her husband, along with her carpenter lover.Ever since then, she’s been on the look out for young men,” says Duggal with a nervous laugh. “I’ve had enough of bhoots.”
He’s elated with the response to the supernatural period love story. “At a multiplex I was recognised by an aunty type who had come for the movie on the first Friday and had gone home crying. So the next day, she had returned with her friends.”
In certain cinemas, Duggal noticed people reciting the Hanuman chalisa with him towards the end of the movie. It reminded him of his mother who made his brother and him learn the chalisa too, promising that they would never be afraid again. “She was right,” he laughs. “Till the fifth standard I was a real darpok. Now I’m a sher.”
He’s elated with the response to the supernatural period love story. “At a multiplex I was recognised by an aunty type who had come for the movie on the first Friday and had gone home crying. So the next day, she had returned with her friends.”
In certain cinemas, Duggal noticed people reciting the Hanuman chalisa with him towards the end of the movie. It reminded him of his mother who made his brother and him learn the chalisa too, promising that they would never be afraid again. “She was right,” he laughs. “Till the fifth standard I was a real darpok. Now I’m a sher.”
Future projects
Duggal’s second movie, Phir, gets going on November 1. It is being directed by Girish Dhamija and will be shot in the U K. Co-starring Adah Sharma and Roshni Chopra, it is a thriller drama. Announcements about more movies will be made once the shradh period ends.