So far many of the Bhatts' works have been unofficially adapted from foreign sources. Long before Anurag Basu acquired fame with Gangster and Barfii he made Saaya and Murder for the Bhatts which were a frame-by-frame copy of the Hollywood films Dragonfly and Faithful, respectively.
Many of the other films produced by the Bhatts were lifted unofficially from Hollywood films.
For the first time the Bhatts have acknowledged their source material in Murder 3. Significantly this acknowledgement comes after the film's promotional clipping was seen by netizens and the similarities to the Spanish film were instantlty identifiable.
Mahesh Bhatt says the timing of the adaptive origins of Murder 3 was a `tactical PR move. `
Adds the intrepid Mahesh Bhatt, `Yes, we have officially bought the rights of the 2011 Spanish film La Cara Oculta. However Murder 3 is not a cut and paste job. `
Mahesh compares his nephew Vishesh Bhatt's Murder 3 to his own Arth. `We have taken the core of the idea from the Spanish film and fashioned a 21st century Arth in the idiom of a crime thriller. Arth deconstructed the institution of marriage. Murder 3 deconstructs the idea of romantic love. `
Mahesh feels Murder 3 is a film of its times. `An era can be considered over when its basic illusions have been exhausted. In the year 1984 in Arth I attacked the illusion of the institution of marriage being a safe haven for all women. Now love is being beheaded. ` Interestingly the Bhatts' blue-eyed boy Emraan Hashmi is no part of Murder 3. He has been replaced by Randeep Hooda who is rapidly becoming a favourite with the Bhatts.
