Vardhan Puri made an impressive debut in 2019 with Yeh Saali Aashiqui. When he made his OTT debut this year with Jio’s Aseq, he proved his mettle as an actor once again with the supernatural thriller-horror film. Now, the young actor is set to broaden his horizon with his untitled next which has him collaborating with legends Vikram Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt.
The film is being backed by a leading global studio, is directed by Vikram Bhatt and is written by Mahesh Bhatt. Vardhan insists that the three of them had been planning this collaboration for a long time. He informs, “Interestingly the first time I met Mahesh Bhatt sahab in 2015, he told me that we will be working together in the future, and his prophecy is coming true.”
With Vikram as the director, one would assume that the film is in the horror genre, but Vardhan reveals that it is much more than just that. He shares that the film is essentially a love story but is also garnished with Vikram’s signature elements of horror. “I am blessed to be working with such terrific filmmakers. I loved the script due to the fine balance it holds between commercialism and realism and I was sold completely during the first narration itself,” he insists.
Getting to work with legends like Vikram Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt is any actor’s dream, and Vardhan is getting to live it. The shoot for the film is going on and the actor is making the most of his time with these two mavericks. “Being directed by Vikram sir’s experienced mind is like going to acting school every day. He’s a hyper creative cinephile, obsessed with his craft. What I love most about him is his kind and loving nature which makes one feel safe and secure on set. He is so loving with his artists that they want to give him their 500%,” he gushes.
He is equally in awe of Mahesh Bhatt. The actor raves, “A fabulous thing about my experience on this film until now has been the fact that Mahesh Bhatt sahab is on our sets spending so much time with us. He is so passionate about cinema and his understanding of the medium is so deep. He directs us often and gives the most wonderful notes and instructions to us artists, taking the film to another level altogether.” Vardhan informs that the film’s shoot is divided in various schedules and he will resume with the next one in a few weeks.
The yet-untitled film has Avika Gor star opposite Vardhan and he is quite excited about this fresh pairing on screen.Talking about his co-star, he says, “I am really enjoying working with Avika. She is extremely professional and a talent to reckon with. We’ve become good friends since we are both passionate about acting and writing. Since she’s been acting for the screen since such a young age, her experience is tremendous. There’s always much to learn from your co-actors.”
Vardhan truly is working with the best of the best in the industry. Apart from these two stalwarts, the actor is working with a bunch of established filmmakers including national award winning director Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri on his next. The film titled Nautanki also stars Anupam Kher, Pallavi Joshi and the late Satish Kaushik, and Vardhan has got to learn a lot from all these fine talents.
