Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj says that while ‘O’ Romeo’ let him express his personal struggles through its main character, he will return to a more poetic style in ‘Lust Stories 3’. The 60-year-old director,
known for movies like ‘Maqbool’, ‘Omkara’, ‘Kaminey’, and ‘Haider’, said he made a conscious choice to show his inner turmoil in the Shahid Kapoor-starrer ‘O’ Romeo’.
“I tried to add my own feelings of frustration in it. For example, there are people you can’t confront in real life, so how do you express that anger? We can’t say or do anything, so I thought of showing it in cinema. O’ Romeo gave me a chance to explore my personal angst,” Bhardwaj told PTI.
O Romeo is a fictional story inspired by real-life gangsters Sapna Didi and Hussain Ustara, based on a chapter from Hussain Zaidi’s ‘Mafia Queens of Mumbai’. The action thriller, starring Shahid Kapoor and Triptii Dimri, got mixed reviews from critics and audiences.
Produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, the film released on February 13 and has earned over 100 crore worldwide.
Talking about Lust Stories 3, Bhardwaj said, “I’ve tried to do something new and make it as poetic as possible.”
The third part of Netflix’s popular anthology ‘Lust Stories 3’ will feature four stories, with directors Bhardwaj, Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, and Shakun Batra each exploring relationships and intimacy in their own way.
Bhardwaj spoke at the launch of Zaidi’s new book, ‘Mafia Queens of India’. The director said that violence has always been a part of storytelling and it’s not a new trend. “There is toxicity and hyper masculinity in society, and that’s what we see in our films. In our country, even in the Mahabharat, if you read it closely, you’ll find a lot of violence, so it’s been there from the beginning, it’s in our genes. I don’t think it’s something new that we’re showing,” he said.
Talking about Aditya Dhar’s ‘Dhurandhar’, Bhardwaj said he really liked the first part but is hesitant to watch the sequel, which released on March 19. “I’ve watched the first part of ‘Dhurandhar’ and I liked it a lot. I haven’t seen the second one but I’ve heard so much that I’m afraid to even look at it,” he said, without giving more details. The ‘Dhurandhar’ series, which has earned over Rs. 3,000 crores, has been praised for its world building, technical quality, music, and acting, but some have criticized its violence and political messages.
