Niren Bhatt had a unique transition in his career from Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashma to Maddock Supernatural Universe. The writer, who has written scripts of Munjya and Stree 2, is also associated with Ayushmann Khurrana-Rashmika Mandanna-starrer Thama.
Niren Bhatt speaks about depicting folklore in cinema, engagement quotient in storytelling, supernatural universe and more in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times. ( Munjya director Aditya Sarpotdar says his villain represents patriarchy: ‘He believes men don’t need consent’)
Niren Bhatt weighs in on supernatural universe
When asked if he had any concerns while starting to work on the horror-comedy genre with Bhediya, since few films have explored the supernatural element in India, Niren states , “It is not the genre that works; it is the storytelling that works. If you make a bad film in the horror-comedy genre, will it succeed? There have been other films in the horror-comedy genre in the last four years. You can see the box office records of all those films. In any genre, if the film has to be successful, everything must come together. It has to be written, directed and acted out well regardless of the genre. Be it a biopic, social-comedy or an action-adventure film. I don’t like the term horror-comedy because what we are trying to do is different. I would like to call it a supernatural adventure thriller. So, it has supernatural elements and comedy. So, that is how look at it. So, if any genre has good direction and performances, it will work.”
He further says, “I can understand the obsession with horror-comedy because if something has worked, it is assumed that it is because of a formula, so others also start making it. Then, the result would be terrible. This is the same trend we have seen in action films and biopics. This industry basically depends on originality in all departments, be it writing, directing, acting or cinematography. The success of a film depends on creativity. It cannot be attributed to the ABC genre. Equations don’t work in art.”
