Thursday couldn’t have begun on a better note as lesser mortals as such were informed that filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt is all set to make his comeback with his upcoming directorial Sadak 2 - starring Sanjay Dutt, Pooja Bhatt, Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur, in the principal roles. Sadak 2, indeed, is the “greatest present” that Alia and Pooja could ever receive on Bhatt’s 70th birthday, as they announced the film on social media on September 20.
Sadak 2 is significant not only because it is a sequel to his 1991 film but also because Bhatt will be returning to the director’s chair after a span of almost 19 years as he last directed Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan, Kartoos and Zakhm – all of which released in 1999.
More on Sadak 2 later. For now, our point of discussion will surround Bhatt and his decision of maintaining a distance from direction for almost two decades. Bhatt made his debut as a director with Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain, starring Kabir Bedi and Prema Narayan, in 1974 and subsequently made classics such as Arth, Daddy, Aashiqui and Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin. It was after Zakhm, though, that Bhatt’s career as a director came to a screeching halt.
Not that Bhatt hasn’t spoken about his decision to turn his back towards the chair in the past. While addressing the press in 2012, Bhatt, now 70, espoused his interest in promoting new talent in the film industry through his production banner instead of directing himself.
"I am 64 years old now and at this age, I should encourage upcoming talents. So, I have quit direction. I am happy that my production banner Vishesh Films provides a good platform to many upcoming directors and actors in B-town,” Bhatt said six years ago according to a report in a leading website.
Maybe, his decision to “quit” direction, in his words, was also because the filmmaker severely underestimated himself. In an interview in 2015, Bhatt opined that he had metamorphosed into an “extinct volcano in the directorial space” by 1997. If you were to ask us Bhatt Sahab, we would certainly agree to disagree because we love your films and will continue doing so always and forever.
"The '90s started well with Aashiqui, Sadak and Hum Hain Raahi Pyaar Ke, but by 1997, I'd become an extinct volcano in the directorial space. And I decided to return to my defining melody-autobiographical cinema which throbbed with the beat of my existence-for a dignified exit," Bhatt told a leading daily in 2015.
Despite the fact that everybody appreciated his films, Bhatt depreciated himself to an extent that he said during a media interaction in 1998 that his career was “finished”.
“Mahesh Bhatt was finished in 1998. I stopped directing after Zakhm. It’s a story that ended with my national award-winning film, where Ajay (Devgan) and I won the award,” Bhatt said in 2014 as reported by a news agency.
His decision to “exit graciously” from direction can also be explained away as the fact that he probably feared that the audience might not approve of his films any longer. “I believe one should graciously leave, especially when the audience wants you to do some more work, mostly because if you make another film and if it fails than the same audience will ruthlessly kick you out. So it’s better to graciously exit,” Bhatt added.
Nevertheless, we are glad about the fact that the filmmaker decided to reconstruct his ideology about his skills and of course, realize our yearning for his projects. Hence, Sadak 2, maybe!
Of Sadak 2, Bhatt said in a statement, “Like the spider gets its thread from his own guts. The narrative of Sadak 2 is pulled out from my lived life. It’s a film about living, loving and dealing with the anguish of the loss of a loved one.”
Well, as Bhatt says, “a volcano that is about to explode again,” and do we even need to mention that we cannot wait for it. Sadak 2 will release in 2020.
Sadak cast Sanjay Dutt and Pooja Bhatt in the principal roles. It was an intense narrative of a man’s romantic relationship with a sex worker as he bails her out of a dire strait – from the control of a transgender pimp-lord Maharani played by veteran actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar in an iconic negative role.
Bhatt has two children from his former wife Lorraine Bright – daughter Pooja and son Rahul Bhatt. Alia and Shaheen are his daughters from his second wife Soni Razdan.
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