Vikram Bhatt is returning to one of his most familiar creative zones, and this time Ahan Shetty is stepping into the shadows with him. Box Office Worldwide has exclusively learned that Bhatt has locked Ahan to headline 1920 Winter Is Coming, the next film in the 1920 horror franchise, after delivering Haunted 2 starring Mimoh recently which was panned by critics though managed strictly average 16 crore nett lifetime.
The development gives Ahan a striking new turn early in his career. After launching with romance and action with Tadap 2 and followed by Border 2, the actor is now set to front a supernatural title backed by a filmmaker who has spent years shaping mainstream Hindi horror. The project also signals Bhatt’s continued faith in a franchise that has stayed alive through multiple reinventions across nearly two decades.
Film is produced by Anand Pandit and set to be mounted on 14 crore budget which is decent for such tired franchise starring rather not so big star cast over more than decade.
Shimla Winter Schedule And Female Lead Hunt Take Center Stage
The film is being lined up for a Shimla shoot across October and November 2026, with the makers currently searching for the female lead down south and few new actresses are lining up for the leading role. The hill setting fits neatly with the title 1920 Winter Is Coming, and suggests a colder, mood-heavy chapter for a franchise that has always leaned on atmosphere as much as jump scares. Speaking earlier about the staying power of horror and his own space within it, Bhatt said, “ONLY Hindi star accepted in the South is horror.” In the same interaction, he also stressed the franchise’s reach, saying, “1920 was dubbed in Telugu and even in English!” The remarks, made during a public interview around his horror work, underline why Bhatt continues to revisit the genre with confidence.
That confidence is rooted in the 1920 brand’s track record. The first 1920, released in 2008, clicked with audiences and established a successful horror property for Bhatt. 1920: Evil Returns was later classified as a semi-hit, while 1920 London performed moderately and 1921, released in 2018, landed in the average to below-average range across trade assessments. Even with fluctuating box office outcomes, the series has retained enough identity for another instalment to feel commercially purposeful, especially at a time when genre cinema still offers room for sharp positioning and efficient packaging.
Stagnant Box Office Performance Of 1920 Franchise
None of films from the franchise ever crossed 31 crore nett lifetime and highest grossing instalment was directed by Bhushan Patel.
1920 (2008) directed by Vikram Bhatt: 14.50 crore nett
1920 Evil Returns (2012) directed by Bhushan Patel: 30.40 crore nett
1920 London (2016) directed by Tinu Desai: 22.67 crore nett
1921 (2018) directed by Vikram Bhatt: 22.80 crore nett
1920 Horrors Of Heart (2023): 17.35 crore nett
Ahan Shetty’s Recent And Upcoming Work
Ahan Shetty made his acting debut with Tadap in 2021, directed by Milan Luthria and co-starring Tara Sutaria. The film introduced him as a traditional big-screen launch and put him firmly in the commercial Hindi cinema conversation. He was next seen in Border 2, the ensemble war drama directed by Anurag Singh, which released in 2026 and paired him with names including Sunny Deol, Varun Dhawan and Diljit Dosanjh.
As of July 2026, 1920 Winter Is Coming stands out as a smart next move because it shifts Ahan into a very different performance space. For an actor still building his screen identity, a horror franchise with strong title recall offers both visibility and a chance to test a darker, more intense register.
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