Mahesh Bhatt says he was defamed for being a telephone director and said he learnt this from grandfather Nanabhai Bhatt
Director and producer Mahesh Bhatt recently spoke over the phone about his reputation as a director. Radio NashaBhatt explained that he introduced this practice to save the producers from losses.
Mahesh said, “Yes, I have shot films over the phone. I had signed so many contracts that if they all fell on the same schedule, I would not cancel them. I would tell my assistant to arrange and shoot the scene while I went to another film to do a shot. That was the phone phase. I learnt this from my father (Nanabhai Bhatt), who was also busy and also had the reputation of being a phone director.”
He also spoke about why he adopted this practice. “It was a time when producers’ schedules clashed and if you told a producer to cancel the shoot, he would incur a loss. So it was kind of an internal adjustment thing. Apne kisi ki majboori samajh ke usko bachane ke liye kaam kiya par aap he ki badnaami ban gayi (I tried to save them from a loss but ended up being defamed as a telephone director). That’s how Vikram Bhatt was moulded into a director,” said Mahesh.
Mahesh Bhatt directed the film ‘Kartoos’ in 1999, after which he took an indefinite break. He then returned to direct ‘Sadak 2’, which starred his daughter Alia Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Jisshu Sengupta and several others. The film was a direct sequel to the 1991 hit film ‘Sadak’.
