New game, old arguments

Vikram Bhatt’s “Love Games” portrays the diminishing fidelityin relationships

April 08, 2016 08:55 pm | Updated 08:55 pm IST

Vikram Bhatt.

Vikram Bhatt.

Although Vikram Bhatt’s Mr. X was thrashed by the critics and public alike, he is back with yet another thriller, this time on the erotic side. With Love Games , the filmmaker who seems to have an affinity for ghosts and ghouls now brings to the audience a subject which has seldom been touched upon: partner swapping. Many years back Abbas Mustan treated it with kid gloves in Ajnabee and later Rajat Kapoor explored the lighter side of it in Mixed Doubles. Of course, Vikram, known for churning out hate stories, promises a dark side of the practice of swinging. . Stating that he has first hand knowledge on it, he remarks, “I have to be honest as I am someone who has seen this in life.” Swinging, he adds, is very prominent in the society now and is not solely limited to the elite strata.

Producer Mahesh Bhatt backs his protégé. “It is a film based on personal insights about a reality which is being played out in our society. People are aware about it but do not want the spotlight on it. This film seeks to capture that reality. It captures grim, dark and heartbreaking truths that exist and play out in the so-called treasure-land.”

The film has three lead characters played by Patralekhaa who has so far been seen in Citylights and two newcomers Gaurav Arora and Tara Alisha Berry.

The story revolves around how Ramona Raichand (Patralekha) along with her friend, Sam Saxena (Gaurav Arora) plan to swap partners at a party.” As always, the esoteric message is about finding love in the world of lust!

On how he crafted his characters, Vikram says, “I personally know the three characters portrayed in the film. I know somebody like Ramona Raichand who was a typical gold-digger, rich but not classy enough. Sam Saxena is close to a guy who was hollow despite having all the luxuries of life. And the character of Alisha Asthana played by Tara represents the abuse a so-called modern independent women suffers in a marital relationship.”

The film attempts to portray a convolution of relationships which is being played in the name of love. On the acceptability of the film based on a taboo, Mahesh Bhatt responds, “Homosexuality has been accepted today.

Yesterday they were called criminals.It took such a long time to accept it! I know this one-man one-woman relationship is universally accepted today but multi-partner relationship is becoming a reality as well. People are not talking about it because they know in a world where there is reluctance to accept it, it’s better to pose than to live what is not accepted of you.”

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