'Raaz' director Vikram Bhatt: 'Mahesh Bhatt asked me to get out of his company, said his brother exploited him a lot'

Vikram Bhatt, best known for films like Raaz, Ghulam, and 1920, recently spoke about branching out of Vishesh Films, the company Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt own, and how the fallout between them happened. Talking to Siddharth Kanan, Vikram said, “Bhatt sahab (Mahesh Bhatt) gifted me a painting of a peacock. The peacock is flying over a desert. Bhatt sahab told me that this peacock is like you. He is flying over a desert in full-blown colours. One day I was talking to Bhatt sahab and I went to the toilet. After coming back, I saw that my driver Inder is taking my painting. I asked him, ‘Where are you taking this painting.’ He told me, ‘Boss (Mahesh Bhatt) has asked to keep it in my car.’ He added, “I asked Bhatt sahab, and he said, ‘You get out of the company.’ I asked him what happened ,and he said, ‘Saalo tak mere bhai (Mukesh Bhatt) ne mujhe exploit kia hai. Main nahi chahta ki woh tujhe exploit kare. (My brother has exploited me for year. I don’t want him to exploit you). You go and do something on your own. I had to do what Boss said’.” The director also said there were certain misunderstandings that were created between him and his boss due to which he walked out of the company, only to return a decade later.

Vikram Bhatt on Ameesha Patel’s failed projects

As per reports, Vikram Bhatt opened up about how both struggled professionally at the time they were together. While he directed one flop after another, Ameesha’s films also did poorly at the time.

It was after they both broke off that Bhatt’s film 1920, starring Adah Sharma became a huge hit. It was followed by movies like Shaapit and Haunted while Ameesha Patel struggled. “I have seen her struggle,” he noted.