Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma recently attended a special screening of his film Bhoot at the Red Lorry Film Festival in Mumbai. The filmmaker reminisced about making the 2002 horror film starring Ajay Devgn and Urmila Matondkar. During the session, he shared interesting trivia about the film and its impact, which continues even after two decades. He revealed that the apartment in Mumbai where the film was shot remains vacant to this day.
Ram Gopal Varma on shooting Bhoot
Varma said that once it was decided the film would be set in Mumbai, he chose to shoot inside an apartment rather than a bungalow. He felt it would be more relatable for audiences, as most city residents live in apartments. He added that the film was shot in just 30 days, largely within that single apartment.
The filmmaker further revealed that the apartment remains vacant even today because people are too scared to occupy it after the shoot. He said, “I completed the film in just 30 days as I shot most of it in one apartment. I want to share an interesting tidbit. The film was shot in 2002. It’s been more than 20 years, and even today, that flat is still vacant. It became quite famous after the film’s release, and nobody wants to stay there. It’s in the Lokhandwala Complex. I’ve forgotten the name of the building.”
He also spoke about casting Urmila Matondkar and credited one of her expressions in Rangeela for choosing her for Bhoot. “I decided to cast Urmila because of one expression she gave in another completely different film of mine. The expression in the ‘Hai Rama’ song from Rangeela stayed strongly in my mind — the moment where she’s wearing a red dress and looking intensely at Jackie Shroff. That close-up convinced me she could pull off this role in Bhoot,” Varma revealed.
About Bhoot
This supernatural horror film is considered one of Bollywood’s finest for its atmospheric tension and absence of traditional song-and-dance sequences. The story follows a married couple, Vishal and Swati, who move into a high-rise apartment in Mumbai, where Swati becomes possessed by the spirit of a previous tenant who died by suicide. Apart from Ajay Devgn and Urmila Matondkar, the film also stars Nana Patekar, Rekha, and Fardeen Khan.
