Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt, best known for his thrillers, often made headlines in the late 90s and early 2000s for his relationships. In a recent interview with Siddharth Kannan, Vikram Bhatt was asked whether his 2006 film Ankahee was based on his own life. To this, the director said, “Quite a bit. I would say semi-fictionalised.” When asked if the film was based on his relationship with former Miss Universe and Bollywood star Sushmita Sen, Vikram Bhatt said, “I think [it was based] on my situation with Sushmita and my wife. It was not incident-based. Sometimes you take the emotion and fictionalise it. So it was a real emotion in a fictionalised world.”
When asked if his ex-wife Aditi Bhatt was not upset with their lives being used as inspiration for cinema, Vikram Bhatt said in Hindi: “I only blamed myself in the movie. Not Sushmita or my ex-wife's character. So why be upset? I have the right to blame myself.” About Sushmita being upset with him over the film, Vikram Bhatt said, “I don't know. I have never asked her. But I have all the rights over my own life and my own story – not on anyone else's life.”
When asked if his tumultuous relationships – including the much-publicised ones with Sushmita Sen and Ameesha Patel – had left him exhausted, Vikram Bhatt said, “All my relationships have taught me something. The pain has brought me to where I am today. My spiritual journey would not have been the same had I not gone through those events. I believe that we all choose our lessons before we are born and I think I chose these. And I say it with honesty that you have to own every part of your life. Everything that has happened is my decision. I let it happen. Nothing that has happened to me has happened without my permission.”
Explaining that he does not regret his relationship with Sushmita Sen, Vikram Bhatt said, “I don't regret anything in my life. Not one thing. Not one mistake. I have made a lot of mistakes… This is my journey.”
Vikram Bhatt married art connoisseur Shwetambari Soni in 2020.