Vikas Bahl has largely told very relatable, slice-of-life stories in his film career so far. So it is not an exaggeration to say that with Ganapath – a sci-fi thriller set in a dystopian future – the director has attempted his most ambitious endeavour yet. In an exclusive chat with DNA, Bahl admits feeling self doubt while embarking on this journey and talks about the challenges he faced.
Ganapath is set in a dystopian 2077 with Tiger Shroff playing a messiah-like figure. Talking about how he came to direct a sci-fi film, Bahl says, “I was writing this story and as I was writing it over a period of time, it changed. I didn’t realise myelf that when this story turned into a futuristic tale. Then I realised that I have put myself in this situation where I have created this story that even I don’t know how to tell. But I knew I had to.”
Talking about his biggest challenge while approaching the subject and genre, Bahl says, “When you tell a story that is set in the future, you haven’t seen it. Nobody has! Everybody has their own version running in their head. Nothing is right or wrong. 30 years from now, we don’t know if we would be in flying cars or back to bullock carts. I wanted to align everyone to my imagination and also to hear from my team on what their imagination is, their version is.”
He talks about doubting himself after writing this film. Ask him if the doubt stayed once the production began and the Queen director promptly replies, “Every second of this journey I felt ‘kyun ye panga le liya (why did I get into this)’. I thought I could have stayed in my comfort zone.” But Bahl is quick to add that it was a good feeling. “That doubt and nervousness was constantly there. I never let go of it because I wanted to feel that way so that I keep learning. I always want to be a student. That nervousness is required to learn. That learning could be technical or emotional but you need to keep on doing that. And there the nervousness and doubt comes in. In this film, that feeling didn’t go away for even a day,” he says.
Ganapath, which also stars Kriti Sanon and Amitabh Bachchan, released to largely negative reviews last Friday and has had a dismal time at the box office too. The film only managed Rs 7 crore in its opening weekend.
