Yet
another
debutant
director
gets
ready
to
realise
his
big
screen
dreams
today.
Milind
Gadagkar,
a
30
something
young
man
who
had
written
Phoonk,
is
having
some
nervous
moments
as
his
debut
directorial
effort
plays
on
screens
starting
today.
Though
the
first
in
the
series
was
directed
by
Ram
Gopal
Varma,
when
Milind
came
with
the
idea
of
Phoonk
2,
he
was
given
a
free
hand
to
also
direct
it.
Milind
put
things
together
entirely
by
not
just
bringing
the
original
cast
(Sudeep,
Amruta
Khanvilkar,
Ashwini
Kalsekar,
Ahsaas
Channa)
together
but
also
wrapping
up
the
principal
shooting
in
a
record
time
(37
days).
Hours
before
the
release
of
the
film,
Milind
gets
chatting
with
Joginder
Tuteja
about
the
'horror'
of
Phoonk
2,
the
lack
of
black
magic
element
in
the
sequel
and
how
he
doesn't
believe
in
either
ghosts
or
God.
Milind,
Phoonk
had
black
magic
as
it's
USP
and
it
was
one
of
the
major
reasons
why
it
struck
a
chord
with
the
audience
because
it
was
something
new
being
offered.
In
Phoonk
2,
is
the
same
theme
of
black
magic
being
explored
or
do
we
see
something
different
here?
There
is
absolutely
no
black
magic
element
in
Phoonk
2.
Let
me
tell
you
how
the
story
moves
ahead
here.
See,
this
family
headed
by
Sudeep
is
happy
all
over
again
after
the
story
came
to
a
positive
ending
in
Phoonk.
However,
this
woman
(Ashwini)
who
was
killed
now
returns
as
a
ghost
and
totally
terrorises
this
family.
The
kind
of
fear
which
sets
in
is
far
more
complex
this
time
around.
And
how
have
you
projected
this
fear?
See,
none
of
us
has
ever
seen
a
ghost.
We
don't
quite
know
what
it
is
capable
of
doing.
So
the
basic
context
of
Phoonk
2
is
that
if
a
ghost
exists
then
there
are
so
many
evil
things
that
it
can
do
which
are
totally
unimaginable
to
us
and
unexplored.
Personally
even
I
haven't
seen
a
ghost.
Moreover,
I
don't
even
believe
in
ghosts.
Or
for
that
matter
God.
So
the
question
is
-
'If
anything
supernatural
actually
exists,
then
how
badly
can
it
terrorise?
Can
you
even
expect
what
is
going
to
come
your
way?
Do
you
know
what
is
going
to
happen
next?
Can
you
plan
anything
at
all?
Can
you
escape
something
which
is
so
dangerously
and
cunningly
laid
out
in
front
of
you?'
You
are
rendered
helpless.
Before
the
release
of
Shaapit,
Vikram
Bhatt
had
apparently
challenged
the
entire
theory
around
'scaring
people
in
an
empty
theatre'.
He
had
said
that
the
real
challenge
lied
for
someone
to
be
scared
while
sitting
with
hundreds
of
other
people.
What
do
you
have
to
say?
Honestly,
I
haven't
read
any
such
statement.
However,
I
totally
subscribe
to
the
theory
that
the
real
test
for
a
person
is
to
sit
alone
in
a
horror
movie.
Otherwise
typically
in
a
packed
auditorium
when
a
scary
film
starts,
people
start
giving
those
false
cry.
They
do
that
in
order
to
control
the
fear
within
them.
However,
watching
a
movie
alone
is
a
different
experience
altogether.
A
person
has
to
be
really
brave.
Personally,
for
you
too
it
must
have
been
a
brave
decision
to
helm
Phoonk
2,
right?
After
all
there
are
many
out
there
who
would
be
expecting
something
far
better
than
Phoonk
here.
It
was
never
a
challenge
thrown
to
me
by
anyone,
including
Ramu,
to
make
the
sequel
better
and
prove
anything
to
the
world.
In
any
case,
Phoonk
2
is
a
horror
film
while
Phoonk
was
definitely
not.
It
was
mainly
a
scary
film
that
projected
the
state
of
mind
of
worried
parents
who
were
going
through
unpleasant
incidents
in
their
lives.
What
had
truly
happened
was
that
when
Phoonk
became
a
hit,
a
couple
of
writers
including
me
got
the
structure
of
Phoonk
2
in
place.
Since
I
had
a
certain
conviction
around
the
story,
Ramu
told
me
that
I
was
the
best
person
to
direct
it
as
well.
Neither
did
he
throw
me
a
challenge
now
was
I
expecting
one
from
him.
The
point
is
that
since
he
had
so
much
confidence
in
me,
I
saw
no
reason
why
I
should
not
have
any
confidence
in
myself.
Now
that
the
film
is
releasing
today,
how
confident
are
you?
Well,
I
am
confident
for
sure.
The
film
is
just
1
hour
and
50
minutes.
We
have
tried
to
keep
it
slick
and
to
the
point.
Ramu
has
seen
the
film
and
loved
it.
That's
reassuring
as
well.
But
then
you
do
arrive
along
with
Paathshaala.
Don't
you
see
any
competition
there?
I
don't
know
much
about
this
competition
business
yaar.
May
be
after
I
have
done
2-3
films,
I
would
truly
get
an
idea
of
what
really
is
competition.
Since
this
is
my
first
film,
I
am
not
even
thinking
about
the
other
film.
I
totally
believe
though
that
every
film
finds
its
own
audience
if
it
deserves
so.
We
all
know
that
Lagaan
and
Gadar
released
on
the
same
day
and
still
they
were
huge.
Now
how
do
you
explain
that?
No,
I
am
not
trying
to
compare
my
film
with
these
classics
but
the
fact
is
that
if
a
film
is
good,
it
will
do
well.
In
any
case
I
have
been
so
busy
till
yesterday
as
well
that
I
haven't
had
time
to
think
about
competition.
And
honestly,
I
don't
care
either!
Story first published: Saturday, April 17, 2010, 11:56 [IST]