Mahesh Bhatt started working in the movies in the 1970s, but it wasn’t until the 1980s, when he made the semi-autobiographical film Arth about his troubled marriage and extramarital affair, that he stepped into the spotlight. With a slate of flops behind him and the weight of a troubled personal life, Mahesh looked inward for inspiration. Over the next few decades, he repeatedly drew from chapters of his own life to make semi-autobiographical films.

Among them was Zakhm, a film inspired by his absentee Hindu father, who was married to another woman, and his single Muslim mother, who wore a bindi and was afraid to openly embrace her identity. But the examination of a father-son dynamic stayed limited to Mahesh’s perspective as a son. The chapter about his troubled relationship with his son, Rahul Bhatt, was never seen on celluloid.

Mahesh Bhatt with his two children from first marriage – Pooja and Rahul.

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Rahul Bhatt called himself a ‘super bastard child’

Rahul Bhatt was born towards the end of Mahesh Bhatt’s marriage with his first wife, Kiran, in the early 1980s. Mahesh wanted to name him ‘Mohammed Bhatt’ to continue his Muslim mother’s legacy, but was convinced by his mother and wife to opt for a more “secular” name. As an adult, Rahul, too, introduced himself as a “bastard child” in S Hussain Zaidi’s book Headley and I. He believed that even though his parents were legally married (unlike his father’s parents), Mahesh never “fulfilled the paternal responsibilities that come with having a child” which made Rahul a “super bastard child.”

Rahul felt ignored by his father even as a baby and blamed Mahesh’s “unholy alliances” for his mistreatment of Kiran. Even in the darkest times of his life, especially after the 26/11 attacks linking him to David Headley, Rahul was hesitant to reach out to Mahesh. Despite their emotional differences, Mahesh recognised that they had something fundamental in common. “You and I do have one thing in common. A childhood without a father,” he said in the same book.

Mahesh Bhatt had ‘no idea of what a father’s role should be’

Mahesh Bhatt was born to film producer Nanabhai Bhatt and his mistress, a Shia Muslim woman named Shirin Mohammed Ali. His parents were not married to each other and as a child, Mahesh never saw his father at home for an extended period of time. “My father did not live with us. When he came home, he never took off his shoes – he wouldn’t be staying,” he once told The . Nanabhai had another family, with his wife Hemlata. Although he paid for Mahesh and his siblings’ education and gave some money for household expenses, Mahesh resented his father for not acknowledging his mother in public.

In a chat with in 2018, Mahesh shared that growing up, he didn’t know “what a father really is” as he never had one. “I have no worthwhile memories of my father, therefore no idea of what a father’s role should be,” he said. And in some ways, this translated to how he parented his two children from his first wife Kiran – daughter Pooja and son Rahul.

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Rahul Bhatt with mom Kiran and sister Pooja.

‘I was trying to love him, he could have tried too’

Rahul Bhatt was only three when Mahesh Bhatt separated from Kiran, so he largely grew up with his single mother. As per Rahul’s own admission in Hussain Zaidi’s book, he was “never very attached to Mr Bhatt.” Much like Nanabhai was to Mahesh, Rahul too experienced a father who only made a weekly appearance, which decreased even more after Mahesh’s career picked up in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Despite Mahesh’s relationship with his father, he believed that his parents shared a “bond which had legitimacy in the heart.” They might not be legally wed, but they were in love, and that’s what Mahesh chose to focus on. But for Rahul, that wasn’t the case as his parents had drifted apart long before he was even born. Rahul grew up hearing stories about his father’s affair with Parveen Babi, which happened before he was born. Mahesh’s alcoholism also played a strong role in the crumbling of his marriage as the arguments were getting out of hand, and as a baby, Rahul bore witness to all of that.

Much like Mahesh Bhatt, Rahul Bhatt grew up idolising his mother, and growing distant from his father. Mahesh would financially support Kiran and his children but he was never there, and this created a wedge between the father and son. The wedge grew over time, especially as Rahul grew older and started believing that Mahesh was “never around.” “I was trying to love him like a son should love his father. At least, he could have tried too,” he said. The unfulfilled emotions gave way to anger, and Rahul maintained that anger well into his adulthood.

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‘People made fun of my mother’

Rahul Bhatt with father Mahesh Bhatt.

Mahesh Bhatt and Rahul Bhatt both grew up in a society that saw each of their circumstances as taboo. In a chat with BBC Hindi, Mahesh said that he lived in “stigma” even though he didn’t understand it much. “My entire family hid that my father hadn’t declared my mother to be his wife. It was a stigma that I lived with. I never quite understood it. On the one hand, we are told to be truthful, and on the other, this truth about my life is being hidden. When I would speak about my background in public, I would get scolded,” he said.

Rahul’s parents were married when he was born so his troubles weren’t social, but more personal in nature. He was bullied for his weight and felt isolated from his peers. Recalling those days, with tears in his eyes, Rahul told Hindi Rush, “People would make fun of me, my mother. And I was very angry about it. They would say that my father has left my mother.” Both Rahul and Mahesh grew up with a soft corner for their mothers, and blamed their fathers for putting them in a socially uncomfortable situation.

‘I abandoned the family for another woman’

Mahesh Bhatt admitted that he had hurt his son emotionally and in the same chat with , said, “There was a wound there… I left home when he was around three and he felt I had abandoned the family for another woman. And this was a grievance I couldn’t deny because it was true.”

Despite his troubled childhood, Mahesh grew up to become a successful filmmaker, delivering several popular films while learning to live with his dissatisfaction. For Rahul, however, that realisation is yet to come, as even today he is yet to move on from that childhood trauma. He now works as a fitness trainer and has trained the likes of Aamir Khan, Emraan Hashmi, among others. As far as his relationship with Mahesh, they have tried to make up for lost time, and have reconnected with each other.

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