There have been endless debates and controversies that Bollywood has been grappling with ever since actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death in June. Four and a half months later, many are wondering if all the negativity would have an impact on the audience. But filmmaker Vikram Bhatt disagrees.

“Nothing has happened that would stay in the audience’s memory for so long,” he reasons, adding, “It’s not like suddenly anti-nationals have been found in the film industry. To say that the audience’s faith has been shaken up [is not right].”

The 51-year-old feels that the industry will bounce back as it always has. “The film industry has been rocked with so many scandals in the past. And I don’t think that has ever made the audience stop watching films,” he asserts.

Bhatt, in fact, hopes that rather than speculating about the film industry’s future, people and newsmakers should focus on the real news and the real issue that is plaguing the nation, which is the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “I hope Coronavirus — which is the most important news right now — finds more space on news channels rather than what’s going on. Now, these channels are finding themselves under the spotlight for the TRP issue,” he points out.

Calling the whole dealing of the Bollywood situation as a “theatre of ridiculous”, the director doesn’t believe that people take it seriously. “We’re entertainers and our job is to entertain and in a strange way, that’s what the entertainment industry has done in the lockdown. In the Covid-19 era, we’ve become an agency of entertainment invitingly but we have. I suppose that’s okay,” he ends.