Mahesh Bhatt (born on 20 September 1948), is a prominent
Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. Bhatt's early directional
career consisted of acclaimed films, such as Arth, Saaransh, Janam, Naam and
Zakhm. He was later the writer of numerous commercial films in a range of film
genres, from dramas like Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke and comedies like Duplicate,
though he was mostly recognised for thrillers like Inteha, Jism, Murder and Woh
Lamhe.
Biography
Early life and family
Mahesh Bhatt was born to Nanabhai Bhatt, (1915–1999), a
Hindi film director-producer and a Shia Muslim woman. His parents separated
when he was young and was raised by his mother. He went through various phases
of beliefs, including following Osho and U.G. Krishnamurti.
Career
Bhatt began his career as an assistant to Hindi director Raj
Khosla. At age 21 he made his debut as a director, with the film Sakat
(1970), this was followed by Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain in 1974. His 1979 film,
Lahu Ke Do Rang, starring Shabana Azmi and Vinod Khanna, bagged two Filmfare
Awards in 1980.
Though his first major hit came with Arth (1982), when he
turned to his personal life for inspiration.
Later, he made many more films taking insights from his
personal life, where he highlighted personal narratives, ranging from
illegitimate birth to extramarital affair and created critically acclaimed
films such as Janam (1985) and Naam (1986).
A stand-out film from his earlier period is Saaransh (1984),
an exploration of an old couple's anxieties in a universe governed by arbitrary
violence, and dramatic films like Kaash (1987), which dealt with real-life
family situations with a tragic end.
In 1987 he turned producer, when he set up his own banner
Vishesh Films, with his brother Mukesh Bhatt. He went on to become one of the
most recognised film directors of the Indian film industry in the coming
decade, giving both serious films like Daddy (1989), launching his daughter
Pooja Bhatt as a film actress, and Swayam (1991); as well as commercial
romantic hits like Awaargi (1990), Aashiqui (1990) and Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin
(1991), in which he cast his daughter Pooja with actor Aamir Khan. He next
directed Sadak (1991) and won critical acclaim for the films Sir (1993), which
saw Pooja Bhatt acting along with Naseeruddin Shah and Criminal (1994). In 1994
he won the National Film Award - Special Jury Award for his film, Hum Hain Rahi
Pyar Ke (1993)
In 1995 he moved to television, then a newly opening up
medium in India. He made two TV series in 1995, the English language "A
Mouthful of Sky" written by Ashok Banker and the popular Hindi language
serial "Swabhimaan" scripted by writer Shobha De. He directed another
TV series Kabhie Kabhie in 1997 which was written by Anurag Kashyap.
Following this, he directed drama films like Dastak (1996),
the debut film of actress Sushmita Sen, and Tamanna (1997), and tried his hand
at comedy with Duplicate in 1998.
His film, Zakhm (1998), was returned to the censor board
because of right-wing pressure critical of its references to the Mumbai riots
of 1993.
His last film as director was Kartoos (1999). Thereafter,
Bhatt retired a director, and took to screenwriting full-time, churning out
stories and screenplays for over twenty films, many of which were box-office
successes, like Dushman, Raaz, Murder (2004), Gangster (2006) and lastly Woh
Lamhe (2006), based on the life of actress Parveen Babi, and on whom he has also
scripted the 1982 film Arth.
Recently Mahesh Bhatt also Produced a play "The Last
Salute" directed Arvind Gaur,based on Muntadhar al-Zaidi's Book,Starring
Imran Zahid.Pooja Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt announced a film on this play.
Cinematic style
Bhatt's films show an unusual engagement with the
psychological damage arising from infringement of social norms, situations
which are characteristic deep mental/emotion damage and trauma. These films
provided challenges of characterization to their actors, who included both
parallel and mainstream stars. Bhatt himself is known for making both art films
with realistic topics and commercial films which include a wide division of
action, comedy and thriller films.
His serious films demanded strong performances from the
performers, and actors who worked under Bhatt's hand have won awards for their
performances in his films, like National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards.
Whatever the concept may be his movies always contain a relationship of
friendship. That can be marked in his Zeher, Woh Lamhein, Paap, Jism etc.
Personal life
He married Kiran Bhatt, in 1970, and the couple had two
children, a daughter Pooja Bhatt, a former actress, now a producer, and Rahul
Bhatt, an aspiring actor. His second wife is Soni Razdan, an accomplished film
actress and director. He has two daughters from Soni Razdan, Shaheen Bhatt and
Alia Bhatt. Alia will be launched as an actor in Karan Johar's film Student Of
The Year. Bhatt also had an intimate affair with Parveen Babi.
Emraan Hashmi a Hindi film actor is his nephew.
In 1970s, he became a follower of Osho Rajneesh, and later
found spiritual companionship and guidance with philosopher, U.G. Krishnamurti,
whose biography he later wrote as, U.G. Krishnamurti: A Life, in 1992. Apart
from this he has edited several books based on conversations with U.G.
Krishnamurti. Mahesh Bhatt's latest book 'A Taste of Life: The Last Days of
U.G. Krishnamurti' published in June-2009.
Bhatt is co-owner of film production house, Vishesh Films,
with Mukesh Bhatt. He is also a member of the advisory board of U.S. nonprofit
TeachAIDS.
Awards
- 1984 Filmfare Best Screenplay Award: Arth
- 1985 Filmfare Best Story Award: Saaransh
- 1994 National Film Award - Special Jury Award: Hum Hain Rahi
Pyar Ke
- 1999 Filmfare Best Story Award: Zakhm
- 1999 Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National
Integration: Zakhm
Filmography
Director
Sakat (1970)
Manzilein Aur
Bhi Hain (1974)
Lahu Ke Do Rang
(1979)
Arth (1982)
Janam (1985)
Naam (1986)
Saaransh (1984)
Kaash (1987)
Kabzaa (1988)
Daddy (1989)
Awaargi (1990)
Aashiqui (1990)
Dil Hai Ki Manta
Nahin (1991)
Sadak (1991)
Sir (1993)
Criminal (1994)
Hum Hain Rahi
Pyar Ke (1993)
Dastak (1996)
Tamanna (1997)
Duplicate (1998)
Zakhm (1998)
Dushman (1998)
Kartoos (1999) |