`Hate Story` is touted as India`s first onscreen erotica. The film written by Vikram Bhatt and directed by Agnihotri, marks Bengali actress Paoli Dam`s entry into the Bollywood. "We are not using sex as a marketing tool for this film. We have made an erotic thriller and we are marketing it as an erotica film. Why should we market our film as something else? Like I have not made a musical film and I am saying that it is a war film," director Vivek Agnihotri told PTI in an interview.
"An erotic thriller is a form of art. It is beautiful, it is a higher point of art. And every art beyond a point becomes erotica, it was challenging, but I enjoyed it a lot. Also as far as my film goes, it was easy to shoot those (sex) scenes. If people want to see it then why should we not make a film of this kind. We are making it for a section of audience who wants to see these kind of films," he said.
The movie has generated a lot of buzz online thanks to Bengali actress Paoli Dam`s dare bare scenes. "The content that is out is part of the film. We have put together entire story. We wanted to be honest with the audience that we are making erotic thriller. This film is not for kids. It has some stuff on the lines of sexuality, sort of nudity...we want audience to know about it, I don`t want to make audience think that they are coming to see a social-family drama," Agnihotri, who has made films like `Chocolate`, `Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal`, said.
Agnihotri says that in today`s changing times people are not shying away from bold content. "They are tired of seeing sati-savitri kind of women..they want to see women of today. And today, women are using their body as strength and not weakness. For our film, when I started looking around for fresh faces in India for the female lead, I came across Paoli, she is one of the best actresses. She looks very sultry, sexy. She was a woman who was willing to do anything for her character, if she is convinced with it," he said.
At a time when filmmakers are making love stories in Bollywood, the director says he was keen on making a `Hate Story`. "Hate is a very intense emotion. Hate has destroyed more than what love has ever created. So I thought why not probe the intensity of hatred, that is what the film is based on. As to what extent one can go when somebody hates someone," he said.
The film, which also features Nikhil Dwivedi, will release on April 20. The director feels IPL will not affect the fate of their film at the box office. "IPL is not going to affect the film. There are lots of things happening round the clock, be it matches, festivals. So in that case, if we think so much, then we won`t be able to release the film. In fact, most of the films that came last year during IPL, were hit. Even this year, we have seen `Housefull 2` doing good. There is no fear of IPL," Agnihotri concluded.