Maaya not inspired by Fifty Shades Of Grey: Vikram Bhatt
Source: Thehansindia.com.
INDIA – Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt, who explores the theme of BDSM a variety of erotic practices or role playing involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission in a new web-series titled “Maaya”, says it’s anything but inspired by international film “Fifty Shades of Grey”. In an interview, Bhatt spoke about the reason behind doing the series and why making it as a feature film was not an option he considered.
What prompted you to do a series on BDSM?
I was writing a book on this at first. But, I realised that it needed a visual medium. It’s not as much about BDSM as it is about the internet and the anonymity that it gives. You can be who you want and in that you end up becoming more yourself than you ever were. ‘Maaya’ is about that irony.
Is ‘Maaya’ inspired by “Fifty Shades Of Grey”?
No. Unfortunately, anything that is BDSM is ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. And I see no point in fighting that perception. It’s like saying ‘Dangal’ is ‘Sultan’ because they are about wrestling.
Why did you select Shama Sikandar to play the lead?
I needed someone who was more than willing to surrender to the script, to understand the realm that is BDSM. It’s complex. It’s about surrender and control. She had to be someone who had kept her desires to herself, who felt judged, had a nervous breakdown… She did it marvellously.
Do you think sexually deviant behaviour is now an integral part of our social structure?
I know that the millennials have made it more acceptable, but there will always be the ones who will judge. I believe that whatever is safe, sane and consensual between two adults in the privacy of their bedrooms is not deviant.
Why a web series? Why not a feature film?
‘Maaya’ works best in Hinglish. It cannot be tailor-made to any one particular kind of audience that films tend to do now. Also, ‘Maaya’ would have never gotten past the censors and in this; the censors would have been right because I think ‘Maaya’ is more a private watch than a collective movie-going experience.
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