Recently, it was reported that director Vikram Bhatt secretly tied the knot last year with Shwetambari Soni. The development was soon confirmed by Vikram’s mentor, Mahesh Bhatt. And now, in an exclusive interview with Pinkvilla, Vikram opened up about his secret love story and revealed that he met Shweta through a common friend. “She is an art curator and has an art gallery with her friend. They were supposed to have a painting exhibition and I was supposed to write some poetry. The exhibition didn’t happen, but Shweta and I connected,” says Vikram.
He adds, “We kept in touch. It was a slow burn relationship.” The filmmaker informs that he kept the relationship secret due to the Covid-19 pandemic. There were people dying on a regular basis and families were suffering. How can one expect us to have celebrations in such times? It’s just inhuman.” Vikram had however kept his mentor, Mahesh Bhatt in the loop. “My boss, Mahesh Bhatt, didn’t really react to it because he knew Shweta even before we got married. I think he understood the need for companionship,” he shares.
Vikram requested his boss to not come for the ceremony. “I didn’t want to risk him in the Covid times. I told him Boss, I am getting married but you shouldn’t come because I don’t want you to risk it. He understood and of course, Shweta and I met him later,” he recalls. Vikram insists that his daughter is now a grown up individual and understands the complexities of a relationship. When asked about the reaction of children on the second wedding he answers, “She is not a little girl any more, understands relationships, love and what dating is. Her reaction has been mature. As far as Shweta’s sons are concerned, I think they were at first not really happy to have me around but have since sufficiently warmed up to me. But we are friends now.”
Vikram signs off informing that he discusses all his scripts with Shwetambari. “She enjoys films and has the innocence of outside. She is not tainted by biases of the film industry and this is what makes her see things clearly. She is very encouraging of new ideas. I have now decided to make films which are really different, regardless of the genre. They need to be unique and challenging. I started my career in 1992 and the next year it will be 3 decades of being in this place. It’s time to have fun,” he signs off.
