Vikram Bhatt inspired me to make `Freedom`, says Vivek Agnihotri

Mumbai: Director Vivek Agnihotri says it was filmaker Vikram Bhatt who inspired him to make "Freedom". ‘Freedom’ is a socio-political saga set in the backdrop of 1970s to 2000s. It features Salman Yusuf Khan in the lead. "I always wanted to make `Freedom`, but I had to drop the idea due to financial crisis. I would have never made an erotic thriller like `Hate Story` if I had finance for `Freedom`. Vikram gave me `Hate Story` as a challenge. Apart from Vikram, one of my friends also encouraged me to make a film on this subject," Agnihotri told reporters. "While thinking about `Freedom`, I took `Hate Story` as a challenge and did justice to it. We shot it like a beautiful international thriller. I am happy people loved the film and it also earned good money to start my ambitious project," he added. ‘Hate Story’ released in 2012. IANS