Mahesh Bhatt (English: Mahesh Bhatt, born: 20 September, 1948) is an Indian English film producer-director and screenwriter. During his early directorial career, he has given many highly acclaimed films like Arth, Saraansh, Jaanam, Naam, Sadak, Zakham. He started his directorial work with Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain (1974). The film Saraansh (1984) directed by him was shown at the Moscow International Film Festival and he also received the Filmfare Award for the best story for writing its story. He also became a producer with the production of a film named Kabzaa (1988) with his brother Mukesh Bhatt. Mahesh Bhatt always promotes new talented artists.
Mahesh Bhatt was born on September 20, 1948 in Bombay (now Mumbai). His father’s name is Nanabhai Bhatt and mother’s name is Shirin Mohammed Ali. Bhatt’s father was a Gujarati Brahmin and his mother was a Gujarati Shia Muslim. His brother Mukesh Bhatt is also an Indian film producer. He did his schooling from Don Bosco High School, Matunga. During school, he started doing summer jobs to earn money. He also made product advertisements.
Mahesh Bhatt married Kiran Bhatt (Lauren Bright) whom he met during school. They have two children – Pooja Bhatt and Rahul Bhatt. His romance with Kiran inspired him to make the film ‘Aashiqui’ but due to difficulties in his early career and his affair with Parveen Bobby, this marriage did not last long. Later Bhatt fell in love with actress Soni Razdan and married her. They also have two children – Shaheen Bhatt and Alia Bhatt.
At the age of 26, Mahesh Bhatt made his debut as a director in Bollywood with the film ‘Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain’. After this, ‘Lahoo Ke Do Rang’ came in 1979, starring Shabana Azmi and Vinod Khanna, which won two awards at the 1980 Filmfare Awards. The film performed above average at the box office. His first big hit was ‘Arth’. After this, his ‘Jaanam’ and ‘Naam’ were also well liked. It is said that through these films he tried to portray his personal life on screen. The film ‘Saaransh’ was also well liked by the people and it was also an important film in the life of Anupam Kher. Saaransh also got entry into the 14th Moscow International Film Festival. He became a producer in 1987 when he started his own production house named ‘Vishesh Films’ along with his brother Mukesh Bhatt. He became a well-known director in the English film industry when he gave films like Daddy, Awaargi, Aashiqui, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, Sadak, Gumraah. He is the co-owner of the film production house ‘Special Films’ with Mukesh Bhatt. He is also a member of the advisory board of US nonprofit TeachAIDS. Mahesh Bhatt has also been the chairman of the Pune-based Film and Television Institute of India.[3]
