He won critical acclaim as a writer-director with films such as Arth, Saaransh and Naam. However, since late ’90s, Mahesh Bhatt’s association with “meaningful cinema” has declined. Of late, in fact, most films made under Vishesh Films, the banner that Bhatt owns with brother Mukesh, have mostly been accused of titillating the audience. Take for instance, Jism, Kalyug and Murder. In the recent filmography of Vishesh Films, City Lights feels like an aberration. Directed by Hansal Mehta, the film comments on the increasing trend of rural population moving to urban spaces in India and the challenges these faceless, nameless migrants face in the big cities. Bhatt explains that they are once again looking to support the kind of cinema he started out with. “At the turn of the century, we decided to do away with convention and started to make films that explored the dark side of people. Here too, we were innovative, but the films weren’t critically acclaimed, nor were they looking at any pertinent social issues. We may be looking to change that and City Lights is our first such attempt,” he explains. After City Lights, Bhatt will be producing a film on the Wisconsin gurudwara shooting in 2012 and tie it with the 1984 massacre of the Sikhs in India. “Sikhs are two per cent of India’s population, yet their contribution is second to none in freedom struggle. This is the reason Ajay Kanchan and I are making a film on hate crimes against Sikhs post 9/11 and denial of justice to them post ’84 riots,” says Bhatt. The filmmaker confesses that he has faced resistance from within the fold ever since he decided that Vishesh Films will produce City Lights with Mehta at its helm. “It sure is an added pressure to have a team that doesn’t fully agree on a film. But the success of City Lights will hopefully convince them that it’s the right route to take,” says Bhatt, who hopes to continue to back “more such films”. DIPTI NAGPAUL-D’SOUZA dipti.nagpaul@expressindia.com
