The success of Queen raised the bar on expectations from filmmaker Vikas Bahl. But his next film, Shaandaar, bombed at the box office. Now, Bahl says, he’s got no choice but to work harder.
“I loved that movie, Shaandaar, so [it was not a] setback was not for me. I think we just have to work harder to make the next film and hopefully you [I] don’t get written off as a director. The idea is to get back to the writing board and work hard for the next film,” Bahl told a group of reporters on the sidelines of Film Bazaar in Panaji.
Shaandaar, which was touted as the year’s biggest, craziest and zaniest wedding celebration on the silver screen, turned out to be a damp squib at the box office despite its star cast — it featured stars including Pankaj Kapur, Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt.
Bahl said: “I still need some time to gauge what went wrong with Shaandaar. I will do it in some time, but I think the sense of humour did not work with the people ... Only I found it funny.
“I think there were too many stories to follow and people didn’t figure out exactly what to follow,” he said.
The director also said the film was not an arrow shot in the dark as he “knew what he was doing”.
“I was aware what I was doing and I took my chances in doing that. I feel the back stories and animation to connect to the storytelling was not simple ... I think I experimented too many things,” he said.
However, Bahl wants to continue experimenting with his storytelling techniques. “There is no other choice,” he said.
