Vikram Bhatt wrote and directed the 2008 Indian horror movie 1920. The storey centres all around happenings of a husband and wife living inside a haunted house during the year 1920, and is shot in Hindi. Rajneesh Duggal and Adah Sharma, both debutants, play the married pair, with Indraneil Sengupta inside a supporting part. This is the first chapter of the 1920 movie franchise, that was a commercially successful, and is based loosely on the 1973 horror movie The Exorcist. 1920 Gayathri, a Telugu remake of the movie, too was released. 1920: The Evil Returns, a successor, received mixed reviews as well as economic success when it was published in 2012.
Previous movies directed by Vikram Bhatt, such as Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (2002), Deewane Huye Paagal (2005), as well as Life Mein Kabhie Kabhiee, were critically panned. In agreement, Bhatt believed that meaningless filmmaking necessitated reflection. The images of a chariot riding through to the fog that kept playing in his head inspired him to produce a horror movie. Bhatt said it was his biggest ambitious effort to date, stating it required him a year and a quarter to finish the script, which was much more forceful then his previous picture Raaz (2002).
Despite the fact that Bhatt wanted to cast novices, he didn’t even hold any auditions for the project. Nevertheless, his quest for the main actors came to an end when Rajneesh Duggal and Adah Sharma arrived at his office. Bhatt was ecstatic to collaborate with them because of their passion and efforts. Bhatt was a very calm, controlled, and patient director to work alongside, according to Sharma. Mr. India 2003 winner Duggal worked as a model inside the fashion business in New Delhi. Since both these felt at ease working with each other while shooting.
The production firm employed six location managers to hunt for a suitable filming location, who travelled to roughly 12 nations over the course of six months before settling on Allerton Castle in North Yorkshire, England. Bhatt was sure that this home would be the true protagonist of his film after seeing photographs of it.
A millionaire who lived with his wife owned this home, and he murdered a carpenter. The area is said to be haunted by the spirit of the carpenter. While filming at this residence, Bhatt and Sharma had an unexpected encounter. A large painting of the woman hangs under one of the mansion’s ceilings.
No matter whatever angle they tried to snap this portrait from, the picture always turned out blurry.
“Never has a supernatural thriller been tried in a historical setting and created at this magnitude,” Surendra Sharma, another of the film’s producers, stated. Pravin Bhatt, his father and cinematographer, chose to shoot in candlelight to mimic the conditions the year before the film’s setting, 1920. At the very same time, they intended to use art to fill each frame as well as create the eerie atmosphere of a chilly haunting.
Director Bhatt saw a lot of video of real poltergeist and haunting cases. He also sought to create a portrait style that was similar to that of the time. Instead of using computer graphics to achieve this, he had Anjorie Alag, a supporting actress, stand for five hours outside an artist. As during winter, the whole shoot was done in a 12-hour night duty for 18 days. Ashoke Chowdhury and Indraneil Roy were engaged to work on the visual effects for this picture to further accentuate the scary impact. They got recruited after approaching Bhatt with instances of their prior work and explaining that he anticipated high, international class work.
The footage was digitally processed utilising specialist software throughout their work. They were able to smash glasses and produce smoke using this method. For levitation, they used methods including chroma, rotoscoping, and wire-rigs. Among the most difficult parts in the movie was recreating Mumbai’s Victoria Terminus inside the 1920s. This took them 40 days to complete.
Several sequences in the film are similar to those in The Exorcist, Emily Rose’s Exorcism, Stigmata, and One Missed Call.
The movie’s soundtrack was created by Adnan Sami, whereas the lyrics were written by Sameer. The music features Pandit Jasraj, Shubha Mudgal, Parveen Sultana, Asha Bhosle, as well as Kailash Kher.
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