'Had it not been for her, I wouldn't be where I am today': Mahesh Bhatt remembers Parveen Babi, calls her an 'extraordinary lady

Mahesh Bhatt recently opened up about his relationship with late actress Parveen Babi, calling her an extraordinary lady who played a key role in shaping his career. He credited her for inspiring his breakthrough film Arth.

Arth was a rebirth for Bhatt

In conversation with News18, Bhatt credited Parveen for giving him a new lease of life to his career. He shared, "She was an extraordinary lady, and had it not been for her, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Arth was my rebirth in a way—after my disastrous beginnings in my 20s, when I got into my 30s, the first film I made at 32 was Arth. And Arth was possible because of my relationship with Parveen Babi and my traumatised relationship when I gave up a home with my first love, my first wife Kiran Bhatt. So that was the bedrock—the truth on which Arth was made. But fortunately, I was sane enough not to make it from a male perspective but from a female perspective, which was a very refreshing take on the extramarital issue. Until then, all men who made movies in Bollywood approached it from a male perspective."

A tragic end to their relationship

Earlier this year, Bhatt shared that his relationship with her was a major turning point in his life but it saw a tragic end. Talking to BBC News Hindi, the filmmaker said, “I saw her go through her collapse. I went through it with her. And when you see someone breaking down in front of you… I saw her leave in the morning for her shoot with her make-up on but when I came back in the evening, she was shivering and sitting in a corner like an animal. She kept saying ‘someone is going to kill me.’ She was suffering from schizophrenia. I tried a lot to help her out but such kind of diseases take a toll. When that relationship collapsed, the relationship ended on a painful note."