Katrina Kaif: ‘I am hoping Phone Bhoot will get people back to the theatres again’

Actor Katrina Kaif believes that cinema lovers, filmmakers and actors are going through a great time. A lot of those experiential films are doing well like the RRR, KGF, Pushpa, Brahmashtra. Phone Bhoot is going to bring the fun element back to cinema. Edited excerpts from the interview: How much fun did you have shooting for _Phone Bhoot_ ? We had a lot of fun- the laughter, the masti as much as you can see in the trailer. Our days were spent on the sets with Phone Bhoot and we used to literally look forward to being there. A fantastic script written by writers who are great film buffs with pop culture references and the jokes that you will see throughout the film, I am sure the audiences are looking forward to it. And most importantly a fantastic team and Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khatter were full of energy all the time ready to try new things and come up with brilliant ideas and we had the guidance of the fantastic director Gurmmeet Singh who has directed Mirzapur. I simply loved his senses of humour and most importantly experience that he brought in. He knows his job and how to keep things in control.

Cinema now is very close to reality and we are losing out on the fun element. What do you have to say about that? Right now cinema lovers, filmmakers and actors are going through a great time. A lot of those experiential films are doing so well like the RRR, KGF, Pushpa, Brahmashtra and people are also enjoying these films quite a bit. I actually find that a lot of fun films are being made. The pandemic has changed a lot of the cinema viewing experience. How much do you think you have learnt as an actor in terms of learning the craft better during the pandemic? COVID was a great learning time for all of us as human beings. That time was a great equalizer for everyone. In the lockdown we had to stay indoors. That was a trying time for the world and my family has been personally affected from loss during the pandemic and I can tell you that it’s not easy and what happened during COVID and the loss that we experienced wasn’t an easy situation for anybody.

The pandemic changed a lot of people in some way or the other. It made people a little more aware of how they want to spend their time, what they are doing and who they are hanging out with and what they are watching. People are now a little bit choosier with how they are spending their time. They want to connect to something that has meaning and that meaning could be fun from cinema viewing. It could be a war film, a comedy film, it could be a drama. But it’s got to have some sort of substance. On people coming back to the theatres… Rohit Shetty was one of the first ones to get everyone back with Sooryavanshi when cinemas reopened. The battles that we fought were tough and he pulled it off well. People came in and Sooryavanshi did well at the box office. After that I think as an industry we are trying to see that right films are released in theaters and films that are meant for theatres are coming back again. This is why I feel that Phone Bhoot will connect with the audience and people make an effort to come back to cinemas. What next? Next I am working on a film with Sriram Raghavan for Merry Christmas and after that it will be Tiger. How is married life treating you as we see a lot of posts on Instagram? Married life is wonderful and whatever time we get to spend together when we are in the same city we try to make the most of it. Post marriage he (Vicky Kaushal) has been very busy. Right after marriage he was in Indore and I was here. So, when we are in the same city we really cherish that time together. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.