In
Ahsaas
Channa,
Ram
Gopal
has
found
his
own
Linda
Blair.
Remember
the
child
protegee
playing
the
Satan-
possessed
traumatized
girl
in
The
Exorcist?
Ahsaas
the
female
child
actor,
who
was
unintentionally
caught
in
a
controversy
when
she
was
found
to
be
playing
a
male
child
in
Karan
Johar's
Kabhie
Alvida
Naa
Kehna
without
anyone
being
aware
of
her
real
gender,
will
do
the
possessed
act
in
Phoonk
2
and
the
spin-offs
that
the
enterprising
Varma
has
planned
for
the
Phoonk
franchise.
Ahsaas
seems
to
have
sorted
out
the
gender
confusion
regarding
her
screen
persona.
She
plays
the
possessed
girl
in
Phoonk
2
with
such
deep
understanding
of
trauma
that
Varma
calls
her
his
leading
lady.
Says
Varma,
"As
far
as
I'm
concerned
Ahsaas
is
the
heroine
and
the
crow
is
the
hero
of
Phoonk
2.
Yes.
She
had
played
a
male
child
in
my
earlier
horror
film
Vastu
Shastra.
I
didn't
know
she
was
a
girl
then
and
it's
none
of
my
business
if
she's
a
girl
or
a
boy.
All
I'm
concerned
with
is
she's
the
best
actress
I've
worked
with."
Ramu
plans
a
series
of
Phoonk
movies
as
Ahsaas
grows
older.
Ram
Gopal
Varma
never
fights
shy
of
courting
controversy.
So
now
with
a
new
release
around
the
corner
it
is
no
surprise
to
hear
him
putting
the
'hero'
of
his
film
on
a
par
with
Shahid
Kapoor
who
stars
in
Paathshaala,
the
other
release
this
Friday.
Says
Ramu,
"The
hero
of
my
film
is
undoubtedly
the
crow.
It
clicked
so
big
in
the
first
Phoonk
that
we
expected
major
tantrums
from
it
in
the
second
film.
But
the
crow
was
surprisingly
well-behaved.
We
later
got
to
know
that
the
superstar-crow's
sixth
sense
had
told
him
he
was
up
against
a
formidable
opponent.
So
I've
to
thank
Shahid
for
our
hero
behaving
himself."
Ramu
is
hopeful
his
hero
would
be
liked
better.
"I've
a
feeling
audiences
will
find
the
crow
more
appealing
than
Shahid." The
next
Phoonk
movie
will
depend
entirely
on
the
script.
Informs
Ramu,
"When
I
made
Bhoot
with
so
many
established
stars
I
realized
somewhere
that
the
known
names
took
away
from
the
terror
factor.
The
trick
in
horror
films
is
to
cast
relatively
unknown
face
so
that
the
audience
becomes
one
with
the
characters' fears."
About
being
called
gimmicky
for
promising
prize
money
to
anyone
who
can
watch
Phoonk
2
alone
in
the
theatre
Ramu
smirks.
"Those
who
think
I'm
gimmicky
better
take
a
close
look
at
the
horror
genre.
It's
by
its
very
nature
gimmicky.
When
I
said
I'd
give
money
to
a
man
watching
the
film
only
if
the
ECG
machine
shows
his
heartbeat
to
be
normal
I
was
told
that
was
impossible.
Which
is
a
fine
by
me.
I
don't
want
anyone
to
win!"
Story first published: Thursday, April 15, 2010, 15:07 [IST]