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filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt Bhatt has the gift of gab and the gift of making films, but he vows that he will no longer use them. The dazzle and razzle-dazzle of cinematography has come to an end for the maverick storyteller, who was a leading cinematic voice in the 1980s and 1990s. After directing more than 50 films in his career, Bhatt says he is done with cinema.
His work changed the grammar of Hindi films. Mahesh Bhatt quit directing in 1999 with Kartoos, starring Sanjay Dutt. Though he vowed never to return as a director, Bhatt broke his promise and directed Sadak 2, starring his daughter, actress Alia Bhatt. The film was a sequel to his beloved 1991 drama, but received scathing reviews upon its release in 2020.
It was also the last time he made a film for his production banner Vishesh Films, run by his brother Mukesh Bhatt. The brothers later publicly parted ways, with Mahesh Bhatt severing ties with the production house, known for churning out back-to-back “low-budget, high-concept” hits in the early 2000s.
Recently, Mahesh Bhatt sat down with filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and actor Avika Gor to promote his upcoming film, Bloody Ishq, which will stream on Disney Plus Hotstar. When indianexpress.com asked the veteran if he would ever return to Vishesh Films to direct a film if required, as he had once said, Bhatt said that a lot has changed within him.
“This is a new era, a vibrant new dawn,” said the filmmaker, who called this the “most rewarding phase” of his life, where he can guide filmmakers to make their art, rather than creating it himself.
Watch Mahesh Bhatt’s full interview:
“Nothing can be more rewarding than creating people. Vikram is a true protégé, who has provided me with a space under the metaphorical Banayan tree where I sit and, for my fulfilment, give people who come to me the courage to look within.
Bhatt, who describes himself as an “extinct volcano”, claims to know a lot and possesses a wealth of information. “However, I don’t have the thirst to leave my footprints in the sands of time, which is paramount in the world of entertainment. Those who succeed have an insatiable thirst to leave their footprints in the sands of time. Vikram has it, Avika has it, I am obsolete, I am a failure,” says the filmmaker.
‘The boom of Vishesh Films and its explosion’
Though Vishesh Films was born in 1988 with Mahesh Bhatt’s Kabzaa written by Salim Khan, the production house really hit its stride in the early 2000s when they came up with a novel formula of putting together mid-sized films featuring non-famous actors, accompanied by good music and some excitement.
With Emraan Hashmi as the face of most of its films, Vishesh Films also brought into the spotlight actors like Bipasha Basu and John Abraham, music composer Pritam, filmmakers Anurag Basu and Mohit Suri. The films dominated the box office as Vishesh Films delivered one hit after another with projects like Raaz, Murder, Kalyug, Gangster, Woh Lamhe and Jannat among others.
His golden streak ended after Aashiqui 2 and the films started failing. “Every film is a by-product of its time. India was changing, consumer taste was changing,” said Mahesh Bhatt, explaining the reason behind the death of the Vishesh Films genre.
“Vikram was the one who spearheaded that kind of space. Even Pooja Bhatt did her part with Jism, which was an exceptional film. It had my angst and her style. There was a low-cost, high-concept and excellent musical language that we came across. We made sure that we didn’t work with stars and only good actors. Because we thought that ultimately, chalti toh film he hai na (it’s the film that works).”
Bhatt said the idea was to focus on making a film and not “beg” stars to headline his projects. It worked, until non-star faces of Vishesh Films, like Emraan Hashmi, became stars.
“We wanted to make a film and not stand in a queue at a star’s office, begging him to give us dates or some crumbs to stay alive. There was a phase where we found self-sufficiency, but then came the decline. The so-called ‘non-stars’ become stars and then the market comes to you to get those stars. They want access to the stars and you succumb to that too. That’s the stumbling block.”
“But every decade you reinvent yourself. When 1920 became a hit, Vikram told me that he saw a hit after 10 years. The last hit we did together was in 2013 with Raaz 3 and then there was a phase of indifference. I don’t blame him for that, it’s our fault. I am the mentor, he didn’t do anything without my eye so I failed. I told him to create a language of his own, which he bravely took off with the web series. I am loving this phase,” he added.
