JOIN US'I want to tell stories'
Vivek Agnihotri has a very simple philosophy in life — “I want to tell stories,” he explains.
He converted his passion into a career and his last few films have managed to create ripples in the film fraternity for all the right reasons.
His latest venture, however, has him straddling the fine line between artistic erotica and cheap vulgarity.
‘Hate Story’ — complete with provocative teasers and bare-backed posters — has all the ingredients of a hardcore thriller: suspense, sex and a generous dose of
violence.
But Vivek seems rather blase about the controversy the film has generated, simply saying, “So what’s wrong with that?” Metrolife caught up with the director to find out more.
Vivek started off in the advertising industry, but explains that he soon grew bored of it. “I started producing and directing ad films, and then I realised I have stories to tell — so I shifted to movies. The kind of stories I like need a feature-film format, which is why the decision was easy,” he explains.
Post this shift, he’s dabbled in a variety of genres but steered clear of repetition or being typecast. “It was a conscious decision. I figured that if I keep making only genre, I’d become known as a director of that genre specifically.
I’ve always wanted to experiment; my first film was a complex psychological thriller, my second sports-related, my third a political thriller and now I’ve come up with an erotic thriller,” he explains.
He isn’t the least defensive about the aforementioned ‘erotic thriller’, nor does he fear that experimenting with the genre will lead to him being labelled a publicity hound. In fact, Vivek seems to treat erotica as simply another form of art.
“Why not?” he questions, adding, “If I were to make a love story, I would promote it as simply that. And if I’m making a hate story — which involves sex — then that’s exactly how I’m going to put it out. And I think people have reacted well to ‘Hate Story’. How else could one explain the massive numbers?”
He’s also rather impressed by the manner in which Paoli Dam, the film’s lead actress, took to her role. “Actors have to understand that it’s their characters who are in the movie.
The minute they start to think that they are personally doing something, they begin to have inhibitions. When Paoli read the script, she was quick to understand that she wasn’t the person who was playing out all of this — it was simply her character,” he says.
True to his philosophy of constantly exploring, Vivek has tried his hand at writing and teaching as well. “I like to do different things. I go to business or media schools to teach, and I also write whenever I find the time.
Not many people know this, but I paint a lot as well. And I like to explore — in fact, I’ll be going to Europe soon. When you have a passion, you find the time,” he concludes.