Mahesh Bhatt on his bond with granddaughter Raha: I pretend to get scared of her
On his birthday, Mahesh Bhatt opens up about the challenges of fame, the impact of paparazzi on privacy, and his bond with Raha
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt not only marks his 77th birthday today, but has also completed 51 years in the film industry—a journey he describes as a "ride through highs, lows, and endless self-discovery." Recalling about his journey he shares, "I was privileged to meet a great filmmaker called Raj Khosla who asked me if I knew anything about movies. I looked him straight in the eye and said, 'No, sir.' He smiled and said, 'Zero is a great figure to begin from.' That’s where my journey began."
On the personal front, the filmmaker has witnessed the growing paparazzi culture, which he believes "won't stop" anytime soon. Earlier this year, actor-couple, Alia Bhatt and Ranbir Kapoor requested paparazzi not to click pictures of their daughter Raha, yet recently, photos and videos of her around her under-construction home circulated online without Alia's consent.
While Alia called it an "invasion of privacy" and a "security issue," Mahesh Bhatt says, "It's the cost one has to pay for being famous." He adds, "When you're big actors, you adjust to it. It's not right at times, but being a star comes with this baggage—you can't change it. Success has a price tag. The best things in life are not free." He praises Alia and Ranbir for handling the situation with remarkable grace.
Discussing his bond with Raha, Mahesh Bhatt describes it as a joy every grandfather experiences. "Yes, my hands are full. I am just like any grandfather out there, be it he is in the slums or he is in the towers of the rich," he says. "I pretend to get scared of her (Raha). Our bond is just as ordinary as any grandparent would have with their daughter's child."
Reflecting on his 51 years in cinema, Bhatt mentions how the road was far from smooth. "I stumbled and fumbled. The first 10, even 20 years, I call them the wasteland years. It was only after Arth that I truly came into my own. Since then, it has been the inevitable highs and lows of a long journey like this." For Mahesh Bhatt, turning 76 is not about the years gone by but about carrying forward the spirit of learning and resilience. Between the quiet laughter he shares with Raha and the enduring lessons from a half-century in cinema, he finds himself exactly where he began—at zero, open to the possibilities of what lies ahead.
