I was blown away by the script of Bhoot - Part One: The Haunted Ship: Vicky Kaushal

As the actor was in the city earlier this week for the promotions of his upcoming film, Kaushal, when he was asked as to why he chose the film, said, "When I read the script, I was blown away, as a true horror film was trying to be made.

The aesthetics and geography of the film were very much like a Hollywood film. The geography of the film was really fresh, very much like Stanley Kubrick’s 'The Shining'."

The film, which also features Bhumi Pednekar and Ashutosh Rana in the lead roles, is based on an incident which took place in Mumbai.

It narrates the story of a couple on an abandoned ship lying static on a beach.

Detailing about how he approaches a script, Kaushal, who believes in ghosts and also suffers from aquaphobia, said, "Whenever I read a script, I read it from the audience's perspective. I don't see myself as an actor. I think of me being an audience who has paid Rs. 300-500 for buying the ticket to that film.

I make it a point to read the script in one go so that I get visuals of the film."

Kaushal, the son of action director Sham Kaushal, made his debut as a lead actor in 2015 Hindi film Maasan.

He rose to prominence with Raazi and Sanju in 2018 and carried on with his works on multiple platforms.

Later he mesmerised his fans by playing the lead characters in Manmarziyaan and Uri: The Surgical Strike.

Bhanu Pratap Singh, the director of Bhoot - Part One: The Haunted Ship, who was also present along with Kaushal at the promotional event, said about the film, "Horror was not a conscious decision, it just happened.

Dharma does make such films, they make all sorts of films except horror. So, the idea was to shock them by giving them the script, and that is exactly what happened."

The film, which is jointly produced by Karan Johar and Hiroo Yash Johar, is slated for Feb 21 release.

(Reporting by Natasha Sethia and Images Avishek Mitra)