Vishal Bhardwaj on shooting Fursat on iPhone: ‘I’ve been wanting to do a film like this and was looking forward to it’

Acclaimed filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has come up with a new film. What makes his latest offering interestingly different from all his previous works is the fact that he shot it on an iPhone, iPhone 14 Pro to be more precise. Yes, you heard that absolutely right!

Titled Fursat, the 30-minute short film follows a young man, who can see the future through his magical device called “Doordarshak”. It features Ishaan Khatter, Wamiqa Gabbi, and Salman Yussuf Khan in lead roles.

At the screening of the film on Thursday, Bhardwaj spoke at length about experimenting with his filmmaking style and said that the team wanted Fursat to be a typical Bollywood film at the core but have its own layer and depth.

“We also wanted to have it in a musical format, something like we have seen in films like Chicago. Where once the song comes, the cast moves to a stage to perform. That gives a wider canvas to play with the inner emotions. I have been wanting to do a film like this and was looking forward to it. Hence, the question should be – how did I convince Apple for this?” he said.

Talking about the title of the film, the filmmaker said that Fursat for him means freedom or leisure.

“We are all running after what will happen next or pondering over what happened in the past. Amid this, we are losing our moment of leisure, our freedom to live the moment,” he said.

Recalling how hiring equipment would burn a big hole in his pocket in his initial years as a filmmaker, Bhardwaj said, “It was out of my reach. Cameras were so expensive, and then you had to hire a team and it was a lot of money per shift. Today, you have a gadget in your pocket, and all that you need is a good script. You can work on the content and it absolutely liberates you from all the jhanjat (hassles). Now one cannot say they have no money to make a film, you have your phone. It’s just an amazing time for filmmakers. We are sitting here and thus cannot judge, but when we look back at this, we’ll know it started a revolutionary phase. Now, I can shoot any film I want. There are many subjects where you don’t find a producer, they don’t want to spend money. But now I can shoot as many films as I want without seeking a producer.”

Fursat is streaming on Apple platforms, Disney+ Hotstar, and YouTube.