Avika Gor, who plays the leading lady in Mahesh Bhatt’s 1920: Horrors of the Heart, gets candid with The Pioneer about making her character convincing, some BTS of the shoot, and more.
SHIKHA DUGGAL
Vikram Bhatt’s spine-chilling horror films have always been a hit — but how much has changed in recent years? He has passed the baton to his daughter to create another part of the horror franchise and with this element of novelty Telugu actress Avika Gor was introduced as the prime mover of the movie 1920: Horrors of the Heart.
In an exclusive interview with us, we overhear her rattle on genuine scare and more. The Umapati fame blathers, “I have been a part of this industry for a really long time — I leave my character on the sets and don’t even bother escorting it home. A horror film couldn’t
change this practice of mine! There was no pause and delay, the makers fortified me for the fear and trembling that was coming my way. I had to make it look convincing!”
The secluded mansion, those creaking doors, mirrors, or candles were all a part of Avika’s scenes. Was she tired of it, or was she feeling them as a predictable trope? We were curious to know from the actress herself — “Adah Sharma was the original heroine of this franchise and she was a spur on to me. I was expecting the same craze but never mind. Adah and I can’t be compared, the fashion of the storyline is different. And as far as I know her, she’s way too bold when it comes to experimenting with her looks that I love dearly. The whole film was shot with the help of LED screens, and backgrounds most of it were not real. It made my job a little harder to make it look convincing, so not fatigued but strenuous sometimes. Every day there was a new set-up!”
Infusing this horror film with a fresh idea, the actress felt, “Krishna Bhatt’s approach is exactly the same in comparison to her father and uncle. She dotes on horror too! None of the Bhatts keeps a serious atmosphere on their sets. Every call from Mahesh Bhatt made me feel important. And, he’s genuinely very kind. His movie Sadak is my most favourite film. To be called a Bhatt heroine now, makes me feel powerful, especially as an outsider. Post my interaction with Mahesh Bhatt, the mindsets of many makers are changing around me.”
There were liberties taken, an amusing story and Avika expressed, “To be launched by the team of Mahesh Bhatt is embryonic so to say. I wasn’t dancing around the trees! And, that’s why actors associate themselves with the filmmaker because he’s very empirical in his writing. Something so endearing about him is that most of his momentousness is given to the leading actresses he spots! The film may have drooped but my character written by him was acknowledged everywhere.”
Creating moments of fear, trying to pass muster, the leading lady of the movie identified, “Horror stories don’t influence me. It doesn’t make me feel nervous at all! And I don’t have a reason to complain because the change in scripts that I am receiving nowadays makes me feel so well pleased.”
