Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, known for films like ‘Aashiqui’, ‘Saaransh’, ‘Sadak’, ‘Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin’, and more, faced a struggling period, just like anyone trying to make it big in the entertainment industry. Reflecting on the ups and downs of his life, he recently shared a shocking story from his early filmmaking days.
Mahesh Bhatt faced struggles seeking film investors
In a recent conversation with his daughter Pooja Bhatt on her podcast, Mahesh Bhatt explained that in his twenties, he was struggling to make films. His friend Arun Desai, who was also going through a struggling period like him, suggested meeting a potential financier in Gaya, Bihar. Arun wanted to travel via Varanasi first to visit his guru.“There was a queue of very poor people waiting to have an audience with that guruji. He was a tantrik, a young man, who held a bottle of rum in his hand and would keep on dancing,” Bhatt recalled. He added that the tantrik immediately knew he did not believe in his practice. The tantrik asked them to return the next day and promised he would have a solution.
Tantrik instructed feeding human flesh to investor
Bhatt further said, “He pulled out a piece and he made a pudiya out of it, and he said this is human flesh, which has been taken out from the ghats. He said, ‘take this and feed it to your potential investor and he will give you money’.” Feeling hopeful, Bhatt recalled thinking that they “had this key to this kingdom of money.” Armed with the supposed human flesh, they set off to Gaya.
Mahesh Bhatt recalls his meeting with the investor
Bhatt remembered the encounter vividly. “Somewhere in the outskirts of Gaya, there was this zamindar, who used to sit behind this mosquito net and had security men holding guns,” he said. They spent time figuring out how to give the flesh to him.
Tricked the investor with flesh wrapped in paan
Finally, an idea came to them. “Then it struck us, to buy a paan and put this on a paan and give it to him,” Bhatt shared. Bhatt further added, “And slowly, he brought it close to his mouth and then, he started chewing it. We felt that we have hit the bull’s eye.” Bhatt left Gaya thinking their fortunes were about to change. However, a month later, he learned from his friend that they had not secured any financing.
