Ajinkya Bhasme on his book ‘7 hours at Bhata Road’ turning into a film

Author Ajinkya Bhasme’s latest novel ‘7 hours at Bhata Road’ is being made into a Hindi film starring Vatsal Seth and Ishita Dutta Seth. It is still under production and untitled.

He shares: “To say the least, it really feels amazing that something written by me is turning into a film. It’s simply about being at the right place at the right time with the right material, which then falls into the right hand,” says Ajinkya.

Ajinkya, who is known for psychological thriller and horror genre, reveals further: “The producer of the film is Vishal Rana and the director is Dhwanil Mehta. One of the major things that is exciting to me is that Dhwanil really wants to turn it into something magical. And the fact that he has read the book maybe 10 times and is a big fan of the material. The first thing I heard from Dhwanil when I met him was, ‘Boss, what have you written? The way the chapters alternate between past and present and then finally come together. I was reading at 7 am and I still got scared.’”

The author continues: “And that is after him being a horror junkie and having literally read and watched every horror thing out there, it’s a big compliment for me that I’m still able to scare somebody who is so much educated about horror literature and horror cinema. Vishal and Dhwanil are a great match and I really appreciate them involving me in some of the key processes. I am really looking forward to how this turns into reality.”

With a creative bent of mind and a formal education in Forensic Psychology and Psychotherapy, his inclination grew towards writing stories about degressive minds. As a child, he was mesmerized by the stories that his mom narrated and always wondered if he could write something like that.

According to Ajinkya, the film will feature power couple Vatsal Seth and Ishita Seth in the main lead role.

“Vatsal and Ishita’s involvement in this was before even this was discussed, and that involvement is purely because of their love for the material (novel). So, it probably culminated together. The book has a couple who has been in a relationship for some time, they are married and they understand each other very well. I think Vatsal and Ishita being a real-life couple, that’s probably the best people who understand the dynamic of husband-wife.”

“And since the book is about survival for 7 hours on this godforsaken road, it’s Imperative that there is not a lot of conversation that happens because any conversation or any loud noise can provoke an entity which might not be friendly,” he adds.

“So, in terms of that, there has to be a mutual understanding between the couple, there has to be an exchange of looks that they understand and who better to portray such a couple who is full of love and understanding with each other without speaking sentences than the real-life couple. And the relationship is no secret from social media. We see them together; we draw inspiration from their relationship. So, I’m really thrilled about this,” he reveals.