Vipul Shah reveals in this interview with indianexpress.com that there were plans to remake Aankhen, his debut film as a filmmaker, in Hollywood with Robert De Niro playing Bachchan’s role. He also speaks about why most films from the 90’s and early 2000’s feel dated and irrelevant to today’s audience.

Shah hit the jackpot with his first film when some of the biggest names in Bollywood — Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Sushmita Sen — agreed to act in his Hindi debut film. The filmmaker says, back then making multi-starrers with big actors was common.

“It is today that we don’t have many multi-starrers. In those days actors were happy to do them. I was lucky that Amit ji (Amitabh Bachchan) or Akshay Kumar, Sushmita Sen, Paresh Rawal and Arjun Rampal happily gave me time to narrate the film and accepted it. Of course I did not realise that I was getting such a massive set-up as my first film, which I realised today. At the time I had no idea any dynamics of multi- starrers or whatever, I was just going with a dream and conviction and that is what kept me going.”

Shah says while Aankhen opened to great reviews and was a success at the box office, the best feedback he ever got was knowing that a Hollywood filmmaker had inquired about his script and wanted to remake it with Robert De Niro in the lead.

Shah recollects, “The best feedback for the film was that Hollywood was genuinely interested in making this film and some western filmmakers had also inquired about remake rights. Of course I was not the producer so I don’t know why that didn’t materialise but at that time there was a conversation that Robert De Niro was going to be approached for Mr Bachchan’s part.”

Shah also remembers how the film was appreciated for its thrilling plot and performances, there was one Amitabh Bachchan fan who called him out for making the superstar do a “negative role.”

Shah shares, “One of the most negative feedback was when I met a diehard fan of Mr Bachchan and he was very upset that I had made Amit ji play a negative character.”

Aankhen’s sequel Aankhen 2 was made in 2021, however, Vipul Shah did not helm it. The film was directed by Delhi Belly fame Abhinay Deo. When asked what made him take a sabbatical even after directing some of the most successful films in his career as a filmmaker, Shah says, “it is a mystery” even to himself.

“I did take a break, I don’t know how to explain that mistake when I can’t even explain it to myself. It was a big mistake! I last made Namaste England which didn’t do well at all but I did Human as a director with Mozez Singh, we both directed five episodes each and that was received extremely well. I will now be directing much more than I did in my earlier days, I am pretty regular at directing now,” Shah concludes.