Bharathi S. Pradhan
Mahesh Bhatt is in more of a hurry to leave a party than Cinderella was. It was therefore inconceivable to think that well past midnight he was spotted at nephew Vishesh Bhatt's wedding dinner in Mumbai.
Sure enough, on Thursday night, in the midst of a well-arranged reception spread over the sprawling lawn and poolside area of the Taj Lands End, daughter Pooja Bhatt went red in the face and ran to stop her dad who was calmly walking out at 9.30pm. 'Mukesh Bhatt would have slaughtered me if Dad had really gone home,' she declared. Gulshan Grover, a Bhatt camp insider, had tipped off Pooja that her father was doing just that when she hitched her skirt and ran to stop him. She wouldn't have succeeded — even her uncle Mukesh Bhatt (the groom's father) couldn't have managed to bring back the unstoppable Mahesh when Shah Rukh came, hero-like, to everyone's rescue.
Shah Rukh, who lives next door to the hotel, had strolled in uncharacteristically early: 9.30 is late by Mahesh's standards but early by SRK's; he normally fetches up after 2am at most private dinners. But knowing that this was a Bhatt family affair, he rushed in just as Mahesh was making his exit. Pooja heaved a sigh of relief as Shah Rukh wouldn't entertain the thought of even going into the party if 'Bhatt Saab' was not going to be with him. And so, what nobody else could do, SRK did. He got Mahesh Bhatt to do a U-turn and return to the party.
Thus, well past midnight, after Mukesh and wife Neelu Bhatt had come off the stage with Vishesh and his attractive bride Kanika, Mahesh was still holding court at a far corner of the lawn. There was a wonderful nip in the air, and Mukesh was togged up in Indian style formalwear for a change (unlike his brother). 'You can thank Neelu for it,' he chirped. Mukesh adores his wife who has been with him through lean times and bad weather. Most evenings you can see them walk hand-in-hand down Carter Road. Now that comfortable times are here to stay for the Bhatts, Mukesh happily indulges Neelu.
Mahesh Bhatt didn't look displeased to be out so late. In fact, he was in his element surrounded by actors Shah Rukh, Gulshan Grover, Randeep Hooda and Vishwajeet Pradhan, with pretty ones like Aditya Rao Hydari stopping by for a few polite minutes.
'I need this once a year,' wisecracked Shah Rukh to me. 'One long session like this with Bhatt Saab keeps me energised and going for the rest of the year.'
Shah Rukh who had a problem with the daily that first disclosed information on his third child, a surrogate baby, is finally comfortable talking about Abram, the new arrival. 'Of course, I was all for it. My sperm after all,' he dimpled.
One got a glimpse of the pile of new creative talent Vishesh Films, the Bhatt brothers' banner, has given the film industry over the years. The list doesn't begin and end with Emraan Hashmi.
Nephew Mohit Suri, after giving his loyal Bhatt uncles the biggest hit in their account books, Aashiqui 2, has crossed the floor and is making Villain with Siddharth Malhotra and Shraddha, for Ekta Kapoor. But he'll return and make another film on home territory after that outing.
Anurag Basu who got his directorial break from the Bhatts with films like Murder and Gangster, has moved on. After Barfi! he is making Jagga Jasoos with Ranbir and Katrina. 'Can I ever make a straight masala film? Obviously there'll be some twist to it,' laughed Anurag who is making a musical this time. Naturally, constant colleague Pritam (another Bhatt campwallah) will be composing all the songs for it. 'Pritam and I have been married for 20 years. There can't be a divorce now,' chuckled Basu the cancer survivor who is completely free of the disease now. 'All of us think our story is rare,' he said frankly. 'But when you go to Tata Memorial, the kind of patients you see there will tell you that there are many more out there.'
Creative Bengali men Anurag and Pritam may have a long marriage going, but they had to come to Mumbai to be thrown together. They have the Bangla tongue, a successful Hindi film career and early patronage by the Bhatts in common.
Mithoon, the young composer of Tum hi ho, the haunting number that gave the music of Aashiqui 2 its chartbusting status, is another Bhatt discovery who is doing wonderful work outside the banner too. His music for T-Series' next film Yaariyan is outstanding. Boss Bhushan Kumar's pretty wife Divya makes her debut as a director with this film.
It was a marriage reception hosted by the Bhatt family. But it turned out to be a gathering of the finest talent of the film industry. Take a bow, Bhatt brothers.
