By Jagmohan Singh Barhok
On His Birth Anniversary
मैं दुनियां भुला दूँगा, तेरी चाहत में
ओ दुश्मन ज़माना, मुझे न भुलाना
मैं खुद को मिटा दूँगा, तेरी चाहत में
An outspoken, idiosyncratic & straightforward personality, Mahesh Bhatt is one of the most talked about Bollywood directors credited with movies like “Saransh”, “Arth”, “Janam”, “Kaash”, “Jurum”, “Sadak” & “Aashiqui” (1990), the musical blockbuster starring a new pair Rahul Roy & Anu Aggarwal. Interestingly, Mahesh Bhatt drew inspiration from his real- life experiences. His most films are, autobiographically inspired-not based on others’ life-experiences.
Father of actress Pooja Bhatt & Alia Bhatt respectively, Mahesh Bhatt debuted with “Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain”(1974) starring Kabir Bedi & Prema Narayan. His “Lahu Ke Do Rang”, though did not do exceptionally well, it was welcomed and won two Filmfare Awards including the Best Supporting Actress Award for Helen. 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 received 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.
His “Aashiqui” (1990) featuring newcomers 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 at 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. Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahi (1991), Gunaah, Gumrah, Tadipaar (1993) , Naajayaz (1995) & Duplicate are some of his other films as director. Teamed up with Mkesh Bhatt to produce Raaz (2002), Murder (2004 ), Zeher (2005) – some of the erotic thrillers. ‘Begum Jaan’ (2017) featuring Vidya Balan as a Brothel madam, is reminiscent of pre & post independence era happenings. Directed by #Srijit Mukherji it starred Gauhar Khan, Pallavi Sharda, Gracy Goswami , Ila Arun, Chunky Panday, Ashish Vidyarthi & Vivek Mushran as Masterji. The film met with moderate success.
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’, ‘Daddy’ & ‘Sadak’ to mention few. Born to Nanabhai Bhatt and Shirin, sister of actress Purnima, Mahesh Bhatt is co-owner of Vishesh Films, with brother Mukesh Bhatt.
चिट्ठी आई है वतन से चिट्ठी आयी है
बड़े दिनों के बाद, हम बेवतनों को याद
वतन की मिट्टी आई है-
