Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On His Birth Anniversary
Mahesh Bhatt ranks among the best & most talked about Bollywood directors credited with movies like “Saransh”,”Arth”, “Janam”, “Kaash”, “Jurum”,”Sadak” & “Aashiqui” ;the musical blockbuster of the 1990 starring a new pair Rahul Roy & Anu Aggarwal.
Father of actress Pooja Bhatt & Alia Bhatt respectvely, Mahesh Bhatt divorced his first wife ( mother of Pooja Bhatt) for Soni Razdan, a suave, pert and talented actress in her own right. Interestingly, Mahesh Bhatt drew inspiration from his real- life experiences. His most films are, autobiographically inspired-not on others’ life-experiences.
The young Bhatt debuted with “Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain” in 1974 starring Kabir Bedi & Prema Narayan. His “Lahu Ke Do Rang”, though did not do exeptionally well ,it was welcomed and won two Filmfare Awards. The film starred Vinod Khanna & Shabana Azmi in the lead. Bhatt received critical acclaim with art film “Arth” featuring Shabana Azmi, Smita patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda & Raj Kiran. Shabana bagged National Film Awards for Best Actress while Bhatt recieved Filmfare Award as dialogue writer later.”Saransh” & “Janam” followed in 1984 & 1985 respectively. The former helped Anupam Kher rise to success in the years that followed.
In 1990 came “Aashiqui” with newcomers and turned out to be a gold mine .It was a musical bonanza with many hit songs,most rendered by Kumar Sanu under the music score Nadeem Shrawan like- “Main Duniya Bhula Doonga”, “Bas Ek Sanam Chaahiye”, “Tuu Meri Zindagi Hai”, “Jaane Jigar Jaaneman” & “Dheere Dheere Se Meri Zindagi Mai Aana ” to mention some.The film produced with 30 lacs collected more than 5 crore on the box office front.The film won Filmfare Awards in four categories-Best Playback Male( Kumar Sanu),Female(Anuradha Paudwal),Lyrics (Sameer) & Music ( Nadeem Shrawan).His next venture “Sadak” also did very well.It featured Sanjay Dutt,Pooja Bhatt & Sadashiv Amrapurkar in a specially created role of Maharani,the eunuch. “Tumhein Apna Banaane Ki” Kumar Sanu-Anuradha Paudwal was pick of the lot.Sameer penned the lyrics while Nadeem Shrawan handled the music department. I attended the music preview at Bandra and later joined Bhatts at Hotel Centaur where I interacted with the entire cast including his family.
Bhatts “Naam” ( 1986) is remembered for song “Chithi Aayi Hai, Aayi Hai, Chitthi Aayi Hai” rendered by Pankaj Udhas.The film starred Nutan, Sanjay Dutt, Kumar Gaurav, Amrita Singh & Poonam Dhillon.
Mahesh Bhatt often talked of things like extramarital affairs,out-of-wedlock birth & bastard like narratives. In a Press Conference held at Chandigarh Press he was thoroughly outspoken with a tinge of venom. I met the director later at Hotel Mountview, Chandigarh. He had come with Pooja Bhatt for the promotion of one of his forthcoming films.Bhatt also produced many films & was active on television also.He shaped the career of many including Aditya Pancholi who worked in his venture “Saathi”,the latter’s only major hit.
Bhatt married Soni Razdan in 1986.Alia Bhatt is her daughter and a successful actress. Soni Razdan also worked in many films like-‘Chowringhee Lane’, ‘Saransh’, ‘Mandi’, ‘Daady’ & ‘Sadak’ to mention few. Born to Nanabhai Bhatt and Shirin. Mahesh Bhatt Bhatt is co-owner of Vishesh Films, with brother Mukesh Bhatt. Born this day in 1948.
