'Love is painful'

Famous for his dark films and intense grey characters, director Vikram Bhatt waxes eloquent about love and romance:


Pic/ Sameer Markande

Bitter affair
To me, love is one week of joy and the rest is pain; and romance is a smoke screen. Love is like a boxing match, where even if you get whacked up and beaten, you should have the guts to stand up and say one more please. Or else, the game is over and you are out of it. To be in love is to open yourself to hurt and that's the reason why all the great romances which got themselves in the pages of history books were the unsuccessful ones. If they were allowed to come together and get married, even Laila would scream at Majnu, "Bastard, where are you? I have been waiting for two hours!"

Fights, tears, sacrifices
Love as a feeling is everlasting, but love with one person forever is impossible. All the husbands and wives who say that they only love each other are living a lie. When in love, you become a double personality. You try to become what the person you're in love with sees you as. But when you shed the pretence, your equation changes and it loosens the bond. Love is all about fights, tears and scarifies. As far as romance is concerned, I believe in making the person feel special; be it walking hand-in-hand at Marine drive or doing it the real filmy style!