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After 10 flops in a row, this film could well restore the versatile director on the fast track

Once upon a time Vikram Bhatt made a mark with whatever he attempted. ‘Fareb’ (adulterous drama), ‘Ghulam’ (action social), ‘Kasoor’ (courtroom drama), ‘Raaz’ (musical horror) and ‘Aawara Paagal Deewana’ (action comedy) traversed genres and proved to be blockbusters.

Then began a bad phase for Bhatt, who delivered 10 duds back to back. With his last success being ‘Aawara Paagal Deewana’ (2002), it has been nothing short of a harrowing five years for him since he enjoyed a hit.

His ‘Speed’ is releasing on September 28, without any fanfare and after taking two years to complete. Inspired by the Hollywood hit ‘Cellular’, the film stars Urmila Matondkar in a central role with Zayed Khan playing her saviour. Sophie Chaudhary, who adds to the glamour quotient says, “Regardless of the film’s delay, ‘Speed’ will remain close to my heart.”

One wonders if audiences share the same sentiments for this thriller that has Aftab Shivdasani as a villain with Tanushree Dutta and Amrita Arora painting a pretty picture.

Bhatt’s earlier film ‘Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage’ (2002) was hardly an event though it involved the coming together of Hrithik Roshan and Amisha Patel after ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’ whereas ‘Footpath’ (2003), Emraan Hashmi’s debut film failed too. ‘Inteha’ (2003), Ashmit Patel’s debut film was a badly made film but ‘Aetbaar’ (2004) came as a shock in spite of the heavyweight presence of Amitabh Bachchan along with real life couple John Abraham and Bipasha Basu.

Much before Ram Gopal Varma decided to remake ‘Sholay’, Vikram Bhatt attempted an ode to the classic with his ‘Elaan’ (2005). This Mithun Chakraborty comeback as Gabbar too failed. ‘Jurm’ (2005) seemed like a childish thriller adding to the tally of Bobby Deol’s flops.

Comparatively, Akshay Kumar’s ‘Deewane Huye Paagal’ (2005) managed to just about break even, but ‘Ankahee’ (2006), one of Bhatt’s best efforts, was a disaster. Bhatt had even quoted before the film’s release, “Even if ‘Ankahee’ breaks even, I would be happy.” The collections were quite depressing though.

The year 2007 has been particularly unkind to Bhatt with his erotic thriller ‘Red’ making his distributors see red. But the biggest blow came with ‘Life Mein Kabhie Kabhie’, one of Bhatt’s most sensitive films. On it’s dismal show, he had commented, “We went completely wrong with the promotion. People confused it between a serious film and a campus comedy. The fact is it was neither.” Later, his horror film ‘Fear’ had to bear an aftermath of Bhatt’s bad run. After being in the cans for months, it had to see a quiet DVD and internet release. Will ‘Speed’ break the jinx for the director? Sanjay Suri, who features in ‘Speed’ says, “The film is an-edge-of-the-seat thriller. Sadly, there have been number of speed breakers in the making. I’m now happy that ‘Speed’ is finally releasing.”