# Vishesh Films

Vishesh Films is an Indian film company, founded in 1986. It is currently owned by Mukesh Bhatt and is named after his son Vishesh. Vishesh Films is one of the most successful Indian film production houses.

## History

In 1987 Mukesh Bhatt turned producer when he set up his own banner, "Vishesh Films", naming it after his son Vishesh Bhatt. He went on to become one of the most recognised banners of the Indian film industry in the coming decade, giving both serious productions (along with his brother Mahesh who directed these films) – like Daddy (1989), launching his niece Pooja Bhatt as a movie actress, — as well as commercial romantic hits like Kabza (1987), Aashiqui (1990) and Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin (1991), in which he cast Pooja with actor Aamir Khan. He next produced Sadak (1991) which remains his highest grossing work, which was also directed by his brother Mahesh Bhatt under the banner Vishesh Films. He won critical acclaim for Sir (1993), which saw Pooja Bhatt act with Naseeruddin Shah along with the hit Criminal (1995).
He went on to produce the film Tadipaar. Following this, he produced dramas like Dastak (1996), the debut film of Miss Universe 1994-turned-actress Sushmita Sen, and Tamanna (1997). In 1998 his brother Mahesh Bhatt directed his last directorial venture Zakhm (1998) returned to the censor board because of right-wing pressure critical of its references to the Mumbai riots of 1993 and joined Mukesh Bhatt's production house as a full-time creative head of "Vishesh Films". Thereafter, the Bhatt brothers joined hands and churned out stories and screenplays for over twenty films, many of which were box-office successes, like Dushman, Raaz, Murder (2004), Gangster (2006), Woh Lamhe (2006), Murder 2 (2011), Jism 2 (2012) and Murder 3 (2013).
Vishesh Films is known for producing small-budgeted commercially successful films with great music. They produced thrillers like Raaz (2002), Jism (2003), Murder (2004), and Gangster (2006), all of which were major commercial successes.
They further produced Zeher (2005), Awarapan (2007), and Jannat (2008), all starring Emraan Hashmi. While the first two were moderate successes, the latter emerged as a super hit. They then began producing quasi-sequels and have given the maximum number of franchises to Indian cinema. However, a common criticism of the films produced under the banner has been that the films are unofficial adaptations and rip-offs of many Hollywood and South Korean films.
For 30 years, Mukesh along with his brother, Mahesh, produced films under the production house. However owing to differences between the brothers, Mukesh officially took over Vishesh Films and in May 2021, it was publicly announced that Mahesh Bhatt was no more associated with the production house.

## Filmography

The following is a list of films produced under the banner Vishesh Films.

### 1986–2000

| Release date | Release date | Release date | Title | CBFC rating | Director | Writer | Composer | Lyricist | Cast |
| 1988 | May | 20 | Kabzaa | U | Mahesh Bhatt | Salim Khan | Rajesh Roshan | Anand Bakshi | Amrita Singh Raj Babbar Sanjay Dutt |
| 1989 | February | 08 | Daddy | U | Mahesh Bhatt | Suraj Sanim | Rajesh Roshan | | Anupam Kher Pooja Bhatt Manohar Singh Raj Zutshi |
| 1990 | July | 13 | Jurm | A | Mahesh Bhatt | Salim Khan | Rajesh Roshan | Indeevar Payam Sayeedi | Meenakshi Sheshadri Sangeeta Bijlani Vinod Khanna |
| 1990 | August | 17 | Aashiqui | U | Mahesh Bhatt | Akash Khurana Robin Bhatt | Nadeem-Shravan | Sameer, Rani Malik & Madan Pal | Rahul Roy Anu Aggarwal Deepak Tijori |
| 1991 | July | 3 | Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin | U | Mahesh Bhatt | Robin Bhatt Sharad Joshi | Nadeem-Shravan | Faiz Anwar | Aamir Khan Anupam Kher Pooja Bhatt Tiku Talsania |
| 1991 | December | 3 | Sadak | A | Mahesh Bhatt | Robin Bhatt | Nadeem-Shravan | Sameer, Surinder Saathi, Rani Malik | Pooja Bhatt Sanjay Dutt |
| 1992 | September | 18 | Junoon | A | Mahesh Bhatt | Robin Bhatt | Nadeem-Shravan | Sameer, Surinder Saathi, Rani Malik and Santosh Anand | Avinash Wadhawan Pooja Bhatt Rahul Roy |
| 1993 | | | Jaanam | U | Vikram Bhatt | | Anu Malik | Faaiz Anwar Indeevar Qateel Shifai Rahat Indori | Paresh Rawal Pooja Bhatt Rahul Roy |
| 1993 | July | 9 | Sir | U/A | Mahesh Bhatt | Jay Dixit | Anu Malik | Qateel Shifai Rahat Indori | Atul Agnihotri Naseeruddin Shah Pooja Bhatt |
| 1993 | December | 17 | Tadipaar | U | Mahesh Bhatt | | Nadeem–Shravan | Sameer | Anupam Kher Gulshan Grover Juhi Chawla Mithun Chakraborty Pooja Bhatt |
| 1994 | August | 19 | Naaraaz | A | Mahesh Bhatt | Jay Dixit | Anu Malik | Dev Kohli Maya Govind Qateel Shifai Rahat Indori Zameer Qazmi | Atul Agnihotri Gulshan Grover Mithun Chakraborty Pooja Bhatt Sonali Bendre |
| 1995 | March | 17 | Naajayaz | U/A | Mahesh Bhatt | Jay Dixit | Anu Malik | Sudarshan Faakir Indeewar Rahat Indori Maya Govind Pushpa Verma | Ajay Devgn Juhi Chawla Naseeruddin Shah |
| 1995 | July | 21 | Criminal | A | Mahesh Bhatt | | M. M. Keeravani | Vennelakanti Sirivennela Sitaramasastri | Manisha Koirala Nagarjuna Akkineni Ramya Krishnan |
| 1996 | June | 28 | Fareb | A | Vikram Bhatt | Iqbal Durrani | Jatin–Lalit | Neeraj Indeevar | Kundan singh Milind Gunaji Suman Ranganathan |
| 1996 | November | 29 | Dastak | A | Mahesh Bhatt | Vikram Bhatt | Rajesh Roshan | Javed Akhtar | Bhavna Datta Manoj Bajpai Mukul Dev Sharad Kapoor Sushmita Sen Tiku Talsania Vishwajeet Pradhan |
| 1997 | May | 8 | Dil Kitna Nadan Hai | U | Ravi Rai | Vikram Bhatt | Anu Malik | Faiz Anwar, Hasrat Jaipuri, Rahat Indori | Raja Bherwani, Raageshwari, Kiran Kumar |
| 1998 | May | 29 | Dushman | A | Tanuja Chandra | Sachin Bhowmick | Aadesh Shrivastava Uttam Singh | Anand Bakshi | Ashutosh Rana Kajol Sanjay Dutt |
| 1998 | June | 19 | Ghulam | A | Vikram Bhatt | Jatin–Lalit | Anjum Rajabali | Indeevar, Nitin Raikwar, Sameer, Vinod Mahendra | Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji, Deepak Tijori, Sharat Saxena Pooja Bhatt |
| 1999 | September | 3 | Sangharsh | A | Tanuja Chandra | Girish Dhamija Mahesh Bhatt | Jatin–Lalit | | Akshay Kumar Ashutosh Rana Preity Zinta |
| 1999 | December | 10 | Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan | U | Mahesh Bhatt | Girish Dhamija | Jatin–Lalit | Indeevar, Nitin Raikwar, Sameer, Faaiz Anwar | Saif Ali Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Chunky Pandey, Akshay Anand |

### 2001–present

| Release date | Release date | Release date | Title | CBFC rating | Director | Writer | Composer | Lyricist | Cast |
| 2001 | February | 2 | Kasoor | A | Vikram Bhatt | Girish Dhamija Mahesh Bhatt | Nadeem-Shravan | Sameer | Aftab Shivdasani Apurva Agnihotri Ashutosh Rana Divya Dutta Irrfan Khan Lisa Ray |
| 2001 | November | 16 | Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar | U/A | Tanuja Chandra | Mahesh Bhatt | Daboo Malik Sajid–Wajid | | Ameesha Patel Gulshan Grover Jimmy Shergill Nafisa Ali |
| 2002 | February | 1 | Raaz | A | Vikram Bhatt | Girish Dhamija Mahesh Bhatt | Nadeem-Shravan | Sameer | Ashutosh Rana Bipasha Basu Dino Morea Malini Sharma |
| 2002 | September | 20 | Gunaah | A | Amol Shetge | Mahesh Bhatt | Anand Raj Anand Sajid–Wajid | Praveen Bhardwaj, Anand Bakshi | Bipasha Basu Dino Morea Irrfan Khan |
| 2003 | July | 4 | Saaya | U/A | Anurag Basu | Amol Shetge | Anu Malik M. M. Keeravani | Sayeed Quadri | John Abraham Mahima Chaudhry Tara Sharma |
| 2003 | August | 15 | Footpath | A | Vikram Bhatt | Mahesh Bhatt | Himesh Reshammiya Nadeem-Shravan | Sameer | Aftab Shivdasani Bipasha Basu Emraan Hashmi Rahul Dev |
| 2003 | October | 24 | Inteha | A | Vikram Bhatt | Mahesh Bhatt | Anu Malik | Rahat Indori, Praveen Bhardwaj and Dev Kohli | Ashmit Patel Nauheed Cyrusi Vidya Malvade |
| 2004 | April | 2 | Murder | A | Anurag Basu | Anurag Basu | Anu Malik | Rahat Indori Sayeed Quadri | Ashmit Patel Emraan Hashmi Mallika Sherawat |
| 2005 | | | Film Star | | Tanuja Chandra | | Anu Malik | | Mahima Chaudhry Priyanshu Chatterjee Vasundhara Das |
| 2005 | March | 25 | Zeher | A | Mohit Suri | Mahesh Bhatt | Anu Malik Roop Kumar Rathod | Sayeed Quadri | Emraan Hashmi Sameer Kochhar Shamita Shetty Udita Goswami |
| 2005 | May | 20 | Nazar | A | Soni Razdan | Mahesh Bhatt | Anu Malik | | Aly Khan Ashmit Patel Meera Rupak Mann |
| 2005 | December | 9 | Kalyug | A | Mohit Suri | Mohit Suri | Anu Malik | Sayeed Quadri | Amrita Singh Emraan Hashmi Kunal Khemu |
| 2006 | April | 28 | Gangster | A | Anurag Basu | Mahesh Bhatt | Pritam | Mayur Puri Neelesh Misra Sayeed Quadri | Emraan Hashmi Kangana Ranaut Shiney Ahuja |
| 2006 | July | 21 | The Killer | A | Hasnain Hydrabadwala, Raksha Mistry | Mahendra Lakhan | Sajid–Wajid | Sayeed Quadri | Emraan Hashmi Irfan Khan Nisha Kothari |
| 2006 | September | 29 | Woh Lamhe | A | Mohit Suri | Mahesh Bhatt | Pritam | Sayeed Quadri | Kangana Ranaut Shiney Ahuja |
| 2007 | June | 29 | Awarapan | U/A | Mohit Suri | Shagufta Rafique | Pritam | Asif Ali Baig Annie Khalid Sayeed Quadri | Emraan Hashmi Mrinalini Sharma Shriya Saran |
| 2007 | August | 31 | Dhokha | U/A | Pooja Bhatt | Shagufta Rafique | M. M. Keeravani | Shagufta Rafique | Ashutosh Rana Aushima Sawhney Muzammil Ibrahim Tulip Joshi |
| 2007 | December | 28 | Showbiz | U | Raju Khan | Shagufta Rafique | Lalit Pandit | | Tushar Jalota Gulshan Grover Mrinalini Sharma Sushant Singh |
| 2008 | May | 16 | Jannat | U/A | Kunal Deshmukh | Vishesh Bhatt | Pritam | Kamran Ahmed Neelesh Misra Sayeed Quadri | Emraan Hashmi Javed Sheikh Sonal Chauhan Sameer Kochhar Vishal Malhotra |
| 2009 | January | 23 | Raaz – The Mystery Continues | A | Mohit Suri | Shagufta Rafique | Gourov Dasgupta Pranay M Rijia Raju Singh Sharib Sabri Toshi Sabri | Kumaar Sayeed Quadri | Adhyayan Suman Emraan Hashmi Kangana Ranaut |
| 2009 | July | 17 | Jashnn | U/A | Hasnain Hyderabadwala Raksha Mistry | | Nouman Javaid Sandesh Shandilya Sharib Sabri Toshi Sabri | Kumaar Neelesh Misra Nouman Javaid | Adhyayan Suman Anjana Sukhani Humayun Saeed Shahana Goswami |
| 2009 | November | 13 | Tum Mile | U/A | Kunal Deshmukh | | Pritam | Kumaar Sayeed Quadri | Emraan Hashmi Soha Ali Khan |
| 2010 | October | 8 | Crook | A | Mohit Suri | Ankur Tewari | Pritam | Kumaar | Arjan Bajwa Emraan Hashmi Neha Sharma |
| 2011 | July | 8 | Murder 2 | A | Mohit Suri | Mahesh Bhatt Shagufta Rafique | Harshit Saxena Mithoon Sangeet Haldipur Siddharth Haldipur | Kumaar Mithoon Sayeed Quadri | Emraan Hashmi Jacqueline Fernandez Prashant Narayanan Sudhanshu Pandey |
| 2012 | March | 30 | Blood Money | A | Vishal Mahadkar | Upendra Sidhye | Jeet Gannguli Pranay M Rijia Sangeet Haldipur Siddharth Haldipur | Kumaar Sayeed Quadri | Amrita Puri Kunal Khemu |
| 2012 | May | 4 | Jannat 2 | A | Kunal Deshmukh | Shagufta Rafique | Pritam | Sayeed Quadri | Emraan Hashmi Esha Gupta Randeep Hooda |
| 2012 | September | 7 | Raaz 3 | A | Vikram Bhatt | Shagufta Rafique | Jeet Gannguli Mithoon Rashid | | Bipasha Basu Emraan Hashmi Esha Gupta |
| 2013 | February | 15 | Murder 3 | U/A | Vishesh Bhatt | Mahesh Bhatt | Pritam Roxen (band) | Sayeed Quadri | Randeep Hooda Aditi Rao Hydari Sara Loren |
| 2013 | April | 26 | Aashiqui 2 | U | Mohit Suri | Shagufta Rafique | Jeet Gannguli Mithoon Ankit Tiwari | | Aditya Roy Kapoor Shraddha Kapoor |
| 2014 | May | 30 | CityLights | A | Hansal Mehta | | Jeet Gannguli | | Patraleka Rajkummar Rao |
| 2015 | January | 30 | Khamoshiyan | A | Karan Darra | | Jeet Gannguli Bobby-Imran Ankit Tiwari Naved Zafar | | Sapna Pabbi Ali Fazal Gurmeet Choudhary |
| 2015 | April | 17 | Mr. X | U/A | Vikram Bhatt | | Jeet Gannguli Mithoon Ami Mishra | | Emraan Hashmi Amyra Dastur |
| 2015 | June | 12 | Hamari Adhuri Kahani | U | Mohit Suri | | Jeet Gannguli Ankit Tiwari | | Emraan Hashmi Vidya Balan Rajkummar Rao |
| 2016 | April | 8 | Love Games | A | Vikram Bhatt | Vikram Bhatt | Sangeet Haldipur Sidharth Haldipur | Kausar Munir, Vikram Bhatt | Patraleka Tara Alisha Berry Gaurav Arora |
| 2016 | September | 16 | Raaz: Reboot | A | Vikram Bhatt Girish Dhamija | | Jeet Gannguli Sangeet Haldipur Sidharth Haldipur | | Emraan Hashmi Kriti Kharbanda Gaurav Arora |
| 2017 | April | 14 | Begum Jaan | A | Srijit Mukherji | Sumair Malik | Anu Malik | Kausar Munir | Vidya Balan Ila Arun Naseeruddin Shah Rajit Kapoor Ashish Vidyarthi Gauahar Khan Chunky Pandey Pallavi Sharda Mishti |
| 2018 | October | 12 | Jalebi | U/A | Pushpadeep Bharadwaj | Kausar Munir, Pushpdeep Bhardwaj | Jeet Gannguli, Tanishk Bagchi, Javed-Mohsin, Abhishekh Mishra, Samuel-Akanksha | Rashmi Virag, Prashant Ingole, Manoj Kumarnath, Arafat Mehmood and Kunaal Vermaa | Rhea Chakraborty Varun Mitra Digangana Suryavanshi |
| 2020 | August | 28 | Sadak 2 | V/UA | Mahesh Bhatt | Mahesh Bhatt, Sumitra Sengupta | Jeet Gannguli, Ankit Tiwari, Samidh Mukherjee, Urvi, Suniljeet | Jeet Gannguli, Rashmi Virag, Vijay Vijawatt, Shabbir Ahmed, Suniljeet and Shalu Vaish | Sanjay Dutt Pooja Bhatt Aditya Roy Kapoor Alia Bhatt |
| 2024 | May | 31 | Savi | UA | Abhinay Deo | Parveez Shaikh, Aseem Arora | Vishal Mishra, Javed-Mohsin, Piyush Shanker, Arkadeep Karmakar | Raj Shekhar, Rashmi Virag, Ritajaya Banerjee | Anil Kapoor Divya Khosla Kumar Harshvardhan Rane |

## Top-grossing films

| Rank | Name | Year | Domestic Gross | Starring |
| 1 | Aashiqui 2 | 2013 | ₹854.0 million (US$9.9 million) | Aditya Roy Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor |
| 2 | Raaz 3 | 2012 | ₹729.0 million (US$8.4 million) | Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta |
| 3 | Murder 2 | 2011 | ₹500.3 million (US$5.8 million) | Emraan Hashmi, Jacqueline Fernandez |
| 4 | Jannat 2 | 2012 | ₹420 million (US$4.9 million) | Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta, Randeep Hooda |
| 5 | Jism 2 | 2012 | ₹349.7 million (US$4.0 million) | Sunny Leone, Randeep Hooda, Arunoday Singh |