Mahesh Bhatt is an extraordinary director and producer. He has directed some of the most famous Bollywood films, including Sadak, Aashiqui, Zakhm, Arth, and many more. While Mahesh is the master behind some of the blockbuster movies, his personal life is no less than a drama. He got married to his school sweetheart but got involved with a famous actress, and later, he married Soni Razdan without divorcing his first wife. Read on to know more about his controversial life!
Mahesh Bhatt fell head-over-heels in love with Lorraine Bright when he was in school. While she was a Catholic, he was a Hindu. Despite this, their friendship grew stronger with time, and they found solace in each other. Lorraine Bright was expelled from the Bombay Scottish Orphanage after Mahesh Bhatt kept visiting her.
In a media interaction, Mahesh Bhatt revealed that he got her enrolled at the YWCA so she could become a typist and earn for herself. On the other hand, he worked hard and would make ads for Dalda and Lifebuoy brands. When they turned twenty, Mahesh and Lorraine decided to get married. Lorraine, who was madly in love with Mahesh, changed her name to Kiran and embraced Hinduism.
At the age of 21, Kiran and Mahesh became parents to their first child, a daughter, Pooja Bhatt. With lady luck came a series of huge successes, as his film, Aashiqui, based on his relationship with Lorraine, broke all box office records. However, the fame was short-lived as he had back-to-back flops, and soon, his personal relationship with his wife, Kiran, was deeply affected. It was the same time when he had an extra-marital affair with Parveen Babi.
In several media interactions, Mahesh Bhatt admitted that he was drawn to Parveen Babi despite knowing he had a wife and a daughter who were dependent on him. In fact, things turned so ugly that Mahesh Bhatt left his family for Parveen. His relationship with Parveen began in 1977, after the actress' relationship with Kabir Bedi ended.
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Parveen was a top actress at the time, while Mahesh was a flop director. But they found peace in each other and felt connected. However, their relationship fell apart when Parveen Babi started acting weird in 1979. He once found her curled up in the corner of the room with a knife and shared how the room was bugged (installed with a spying device), and people were trying to kill her.
Parveen was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. It was Mahesh Bhatt's friend and spiritual Guru, UG Krishnamurthy, who advised him to leave Parveen as he was a problem for her in the process of her recovery. So, Mahesh left and went back to his wife. In 2005, when Parveen Babi was found dead in her apartment, Mahesh Bhatt claimed her body and gave her last goodbye.
Mahesh Bhatt was lucky for a third time in love when he met Soni Razdan, who had already done three films. Soni gave a new perspective to Mahesh's life when he was healing from the pain of his relationship with Parveen and his failed marriage with Kiran. So, he kept his relationship with Soni a secret away from the media limelight.
However, when Soni's parents asked Mahesh Bhatt about his relationship with Soni, he admitted, like a man, that he was in love with her but could not divorce his wife, Kiran. This time, Mahesh decided to adopt his mother's religion and converted into a Muslim, which allowed him to keep two wives. Mahesh Bhatt changed his name Ashraf Bhatt and got secretly married to Sakina, (Soni Razdan's Muslim name). The duo welcomed their first daughter, Shaheen, in 1988 and their second daughter, Alia, in 1993.
For the unversed, Mahesh Bhatt received backlash when he kissed his then-eighteen-year-old daughter, Pooja Bhatt, on the lips for a magazine shoot. It created a stir in the entire nation as, back in those days, kisses were not even shown on screen. However, it was Mahesh Bhatt's statement in the same magazine that left everyone in shock. He had admitted that if Pooja wasn't his daughter, he would have married her. The picture led to many pass hate comments for Mahesh and Pooja. They had received a lot of hatred and mean comments for the same.
Well, Mahesh definitely made some of the most unconventional life choices, but he owned up to it!
Next Read: Mahesh Bhatt On Parveen Babi's Illness, Recounts How She Had A Kitchen Knife In Her Hand Once
