Mahesh Bhatt usually ends up having the last laugh, while his critics go in complete silence. With his latest film, Aashiqui 2, the veteran filmmaker duly confirmed his penchant to script success stories amid all brick bats. Looking content and relaxed, as the articulate Mr Bhatt settles down for a conversation, you know, the man has come a long way.
“My filmmaker father’s forte lied in making low-budget stunt and fantasy films. And perhaps filmmaking was in my genes. Cinema fascinated me, there was Satyajit Ray’s cinema — unique, distinct and rooted in India. And then Mehboob Khan, Guru Dutt, Raj Kapoor offered escapist cinema. Each left to his own route, they offered the illusion manufacturing product to cinema lovers. Those were stalwarts. My humble journey began in 1970, as an assistant to Raj Khosla while he was directing Do Raaste. Those were anxious and uncertain times, and in the elusive search of success, even indulging in absurdities seemed like a good idea. I remember, a friend convinced me to travel with him to the holy city of Varanasi. He had set an appointment with a tantrik, who gave us a piece of burnt flesh, taken from a corpse on a funeral pyre. All we had to was slip this dead man’s flesh into the paan of our potential investor, who lived in Bodh Gaya. We followed the advice but the ridiculous exercise didn’t translate into a happy beginning,” he recalls with a chuckle.
“Forty years later, big boys from Hollywood like James Cameroon are willing to enter into partnership with me,” he adds, as an afterthought.
The man who delivered classics like Arth and Saaransh, admits that at the end of the day, more than the critical acclaim, the box-office figures matter. “Mainstream movies are all about delivering numbers. Arth and Saaransh may have brought the awards, but there was hardly any financial benefit. While a movie that had eight songs and goes by the name of Aashiqui made me rich.”
“A filmmaker should respond to the time he is living in. I realised this blatant truth and survived while people who remained firmly committed to parallel cinema perished. Fact is, I have survived by continuously reinventing myself,” he reasons.
Unravelling his success mantra, he says, “For cinema, the 1990s were defining. We were entering an age of neo-liberal economy and the satellite era. I followed the path of reinventing myself according to the changing times. From catering to the discerning audience that appreciated Saaransh, I shifted my focus to the young crowd and offered them escapist cinema in form of Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ke Maanta Nahi. As we moved to a new century, the middle class audience that migrated came back to the multiplex. It also paved the way for a new kind of cinema. With all the exposure of global culture, the audience was ready for an exploration of eroticism. Jism’s success validated that thought. Jism, Murder, Raaz belonged to this category. Though I fail to understand what was so provocative about Jism that a section of people raised such a hue and cry. There was no frontal nudity, no explicit scenes. Jism portrayed Bipasha Basu as a woman who uses her body to challenge the patriarchal structure of the society. She is no doormat, period!”
“Now I feel erotic cinema is passe. I have re-entered the era of love and romance. Aashiqui 2 is a definite step in that direction.”
He continues, “After Zakhm, I decided to hang my boots as a director and veered towards film production. India is alive, but there is a lack of talent to spot the talent. When I introduced Emraan Hashmi, people sniggered. In my own way, I have extended the horizon of Bollywood and talents from neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal became a part of it. It is a different matter, that because of our equation with Pakistan, artists from there become a talking point.”
“In the end I am certain, my obituary will mention an Arth, a Saaransh, or a Zakhm, yet the man on the streets will remember me for Aashiqui and Jism. And that really matters,” with these words, Bhatt makes his priorities clear.