Directing Aamir Khan, Dating Miss Universe, and Not Having a Rupee to His Name — Vikram Bhatt’s Throwback Is One of Bollywood’s Most Honest Confessions

There’s something deeply refreshing about a filmmaker who made crores at the box office admitting he once couldn’t afford a CD. Director Vikram Bhatt just opened up about one of the most ironic periods of his life — and it’s a story that is equal parts humbling and fascinating.

Vikram Bhatt: Overview

“I Was Broke. I’ve Lived Like a Fakira.”

In a candid chat with host Siddharth Kannan, Vikram Bhatt pulled zero punches about his financial reality in the mid-to-late 1990s. At the very moment he was directing Aamir Khan on the sets of Ghulam and romantically linked with Miss Universe Sushmita Sen, he had almost nothing in the bank.

“I was a struggling director. Mere paas zeher khane ke paise nahi the (I did not have money to even consume poison). I was directing Aamir Khan and dating Miss Universe, so to say, but I had no money. I was broke. I remember I didn’t even have the money to buy a CD. I’ve lived life like a fakira (ascetic).”

The contrast is almost cinematic — a man surrounded by glamour and superstardom on all sides, while quietly navigating severe personal financial hardship. There’s a beautiful, very human irony in it that most people in the film industry would never publicly admit.

How Vikram and Sushmita Crossed Paths

Vikram Bhatt and Sushmita Sen grew close on the sets of the 1996 psychological thriller Dastak, which marked Sushmita’s debut in Bollywood. At the time, Vikram was assisting his mentor Mahesh Bhatt on the production. Their relationship eventually became one of the more discussed romances of that era.

The Sushmita Gold-Digger Debate — And What Vikram’s Confession Proves

Vikram’s revelation arrives at a particularly relevant moment. His ex, Lalit Modi, recently fired back at trolls labelling Sushmita a gold-digger, stating she was fiercely independent and would regularly pick up the bill herself whenever they went out. Vikram’s account from nearly three decades earlier tells a similar story — he was the one with no money, yet the relationship existed entirely on its own terms.

What Vikram Bhatt Is Up To Now?

Bhatt returns to his signature genre with Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past, hitting cinemas on June 12, 2026, starring Mahaakshay Chakraborty, Chetna Pande, and Shruti Prakash.

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