Bhatt opens up on setbacks

Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt says he still considers himself a “stumbling, fumbling” person who delivered a string of failures when he first entered the Hindi film industry. Bhatt began his career as an assistant director to the late Raj Khosla before making his directorial debut in 1974 with Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain. Starring Kabir Bedi and Prema Narayan, the film failed at the box office. This was followed by Vishwasghaat, Naya Daur and Lahu Ke Do Rang — films similarly struggled to make a mark with audiences. “My 20s were disastrous,” said Bhatt. “I had three to four films — back-to-back failures. I was declared stillborn, dead on arrival, till ‘Arth’ happened to me. I stumbled into my autobiographical medium.”

Finding his voice

Bhatt eventually found his niche with semi-autobiographical dramas like Arth, Janam and Zakhm, which established him as a director with a deeply personal and emotional storytelling style.

“I’m just a struggling, stumbling, fumbling person. Some movies I made happened to be good — it was because of the vibe on set, the contribution of my co-travellers. Many were mediocre, even ranked bad,” he said candidly. — PTI