Interview: Mahesh Bhatt said- It feels great when I see Alia and Pooja living their lives on their own terms

What have you learned from having young actresses like Avika Gor with you on the sets of your new film ‘1920 Horrors of Heart’, young directors like Krishna Bhatt and artist daughters like Alia Bhatt and Shaheen at home?
Shaheen and Alia are accompanied by Pooja (Bhatt) and Sunny (Rahul Bhatt). I have four children at home. I learned from him that life is humming something from his throat, if I listen to it with an open heart, then the war that has taken place on me will be washed away, because after a period of time you become dated. The dust of life tends to settle somewhere and the connection you have with today’s era, the current energy in today’s youth. With that you go somewhere through the cut. I learned their way of viewing content, their way of interpreting things, their fearless thinking. Not only this, there are Sritija, Sweta, Aman, our music director Puneet in the writing room, all of them have spoken their hearts out to me in an unabashed manner, so I felt that all of them have changed me somewhere. I consider this a phase of reverse mentoring. It is generally believed that after becoming a senior, you are sitting on a higher position and teaching your juniors, but I think the process should be reverse. We should learn from them, because life is humming something through them and our ears are a bit old. I unlearned a lot during this film. I am doing it continuously.
The leftovers used to come to our place by calling it an ‘illegitimate house’, after the death of the mother, the father filled her with vermilion: Mahesh Bhatt
Talking about your daughters Alia and Pooja, Alia recently launched the trailer of Hollywood movie Heart of Stone while Pooja Bhatt has entered ‘Bigg Boss OTT’. How does it feel to see daughters carrying forward your legacy?
It feels great when I see daughters living their lives on their own terms. Seeing Alia’s international debut, it seems that she is going to work internationally. Pooja is very courageous and she will return after learning something or the other from ‘Bigg Boss’. See what is the role of parents? Not only this, after educating them, give them so many tools, which are necessary for their survival. We feel very proud when we see that those people are able to fly in the sky. When children touch their peak, it feels good, when they fall, it hurts. They have to be encouraged that this is a game of falling and falling. We have reached here by falling down. You have to tell the younger generation that you can achieve everything, provided you do not lose your courage. The thing that teaches you humiliation and success, the same failure makes you hollow. I believe that where pain is not felt, there is an incomplete person. There is hardly any person in the field of entertainment who has not come in contact with pain.

As a thought provoking director in your career after having done award winning and successful films like ‘Saaransh’, ‘Naam’, ‘Daddy’, ‘Sir’, ‘Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke’, ‘Aashiqui’, you are the director of this film. Why did you agree to join the horror genre?
See, we made ‘Raj’ almost 20 years ago. Vikram Bhatt was its director and I wrote the story. That film was very successful. That film gave horror a foothold, otherwise before that people used to look down upon the horror genre. We were given a land as a franchise in 1920 and to be honest, after Covid we reached that stage that what would have happened if we had died? By taking away, we had only one franchise, on the basis of which the market could be wooed. So, with the contribution of my young writing team and Krishna (Krishna Bhatt, the director of the film), a script was created. Vikram also had an experience, as he has been closely associated with the horror medium, so we have followed this team like a disciplined soldier. There are multiple time zones in it, like this 28 years old girl (Krishna), 50 years old Vikram, I am there, so many time zones are working together in it. In this, many cultures are working together as writer, director and filmmaker. In such a situation, a unique product is made. The end of the film will definitely make your eyes moist. When we screened this film for big names of the market, the South distributor Ganesh ji had tears in his eyes, he said, this is a family drama. This is a big deal for us.

You always used to say that you have always felt a khala (emptiness) as a filmmaker and as a human being, so after achieving so much in life and career, do you still feel that emptiness?
There is always an uneasiness. Have you ever asked the sea, asked the river why they remain so restless? This is nature and as much restlessness is there, it makes you run, gets the work done. Till now, it is because of this restlessness that the body has supported me. They have been falling and falling. This game is like this. This is an unquenchable thirst. Thirst goes away, thirst does not go away. I think, the thirsty goes away by giving that thirst to the new generation.

You have been very outspoken about your personal life. You yourself had said, you made yourself naked, so there was no need to steal eyes, how much benefit did you get or did you have to bear the brunt of it?
I have reached till now. I don’t keep any such account. I don’t have any grudges or regrets. People gave me a lot in life, I got hurt, even then I learned. I don’t have any complaint against anyone.

Do you believe in ghosts? ever scared?
I do not believe in ghosts, but I must say that if there is a God, then you cannot deny the existence of the devil. I may not be afraid of ghosts and vampires, but the fear of disappearing, of dying is still there. This is the reason why you are constantly running for survival. The lion runs away fearing that if it does not eat, it will die. The deer runs away fearing that if it does not run, it will be killed. That fear is within all of us. That is the fear of death. I do not deny that.