Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt needs no introduction infact he is one of the few Bollywood personalities who never shies away from calling a spade a spade.
In a career spanning over four decades, Bhatt has learned not only to survive but to flourish with changing times.
With films like Arth, Saaransh, Daddy, Aawargi to his credit, Bhatt has proven record of being an exceptional director. Besides he is also credited with launching talented artistes and singers in Bollywood. Actors like Kangana Ranaut, Emraan Hasmi, Ashutosh Rana are his discoveries. He has also promoted artistes from across the border and been a vociferous supporter of Indo-Pak ties.
However, Bhatt has a knack for staying in limelight: He has an opinion on every issue ,be it political or social or at times trivial, a habit which has won him both admirers and detractors
Here are 5 instances when Bhatt was in news for not very good reasons.
1) Mahesh Bhatt became the talk of the town and was slammed by fans after the filmmaker shot for a magazine cover shich showed him and his daughetr Pooja kissing each other on the lips. However, the quote which further fuelled the fire, is this: "If Pooja wasn't my daughter, I'd love to marry her."
2) Rahul Bhatt who made headlines for his alleged association with 26/11 Attacks accused David Headley has often spoke openly about his strained relationship with his father, Mahesh Bhatt.
"Perhaps if Mahesh Bhatt had been a father to me, I wouldn't have become friends with (David) Headley,” Rahul had said. In his book Headley and I , Rahul described himself as super bastard child alleging Mahesh Bhatt never treated him like his own child.
Also Read: Shocking: Mahesh Bhatt penned Sheena Bora murder mystery months ago
3) At chat show Koffee with Karan, when Mahesh Bhatt was asked to rank the superstars according to their acting capability, Bhatt ranked Aamir Khan too low and placed him in the last position. When Lagaan went to the oscars, Bhatt famously said, in national television "lobbying for the oscar award in this manner was akin to grovelling before the white man". Mahesh didn't forget this till now. He also criticized Delhi Belly, produced by Aamir, for being sleazy.
4) At the same show, Mahesh Bhatt, after calling Sanjay leela Bhansali an overrated director, also termed Kajol as the “most overrated actress” in the Hindi film industry. The answer left host Karan Johar speechless who is a close friend and admirer of DDLJ actress. In the show, Bhatt also rated Barfi as an overrated film.
Also Read: Mahesh Bhatt-Sonakshi patch up over AIB Roast argument on Twitter
5) During AIB Roast controversy, Bhatt told a private news channel that why no FIR was filed against Sonakshi Sinha alluding to the fact that she is the daughter of BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha..Though 67 year old director got a perfect rebuttal when Sonakshi informed him that even her name was in some FIRs where Alia's name was missing.
