Mahesh Bhatt takes a dig at Yash Chopra’s Silsila, denies being inspired by it to make Arth: ‘You don’t have an affair and dance in tulip gardens’

In a recent interview, Mahesh Bhatt denied being inspired to make Arth because Yash Chopra was making Silsila. He said that the movie was inspired by his own experiences with infidelity.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | August 10, 2024 09:34 AM IST

Mahesh Bhatt denies taking inspiration from Silsila for Arth. (Photo: IMDb)

The 1982 film Arth changed the trajectory of director Mahesh Bhatt’s career. It was rumoured at the time that the filmmaker decided to make Arth after watching Yash Chopra’s similarly themed 1981 film Silsila. In a recent interview, Mahesh Bhatt opened up about his inspiration behind the film and offered his two cents about what went wrong with Silsila, which tanked at the box office.

In an interview with Radio Nasha, he said that there is ‘no truth’ to the rumour that he made Arth after watching Silsila. “I made Arth taking an inspiration from my own experiences. I had never criticised Silsila as such. Arth was mostly an experiment. The first four films that I made were flops. I made those films as per the bazaar’s demands. But, unfortunately none of them worked. So, when it was almost like the end of my career, I thought why not take a risk before leaving. I thought of making a film in my style. Luckily, I found a producer who was willing to take the risk.”

He added, “When I was making this film, people came to me and said, ‘You are a flop director already and on top of that you are making a film like Arth? Are you aware that Yash Chopra is making a big banner film on the same lines with Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan, Sanjeev Kumar and Rekha?'”

“I was aware. But, my take was that you don’t have an extramarital affair and dance in tulip gardens. Its a secret relationship. People keep it a secret and the feeling is filled with guilt. I was so sure about it because I have experienced it myself. When you put a little bit of realness in your film, then audiences relate to it better and sense the truth.”

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The director joked, “After Arth’s release, wives and girlfriends of people walked up to me and claimed, ‘You’re showing our story’, and I was like, ‘No, I am telling my story’.”

Arth was reportedly based on Mahesh Bhatt’s extramarital relationship with actor Parveen Babi, which led to the breakdown of his marriage with Kiran (Lorraine Bright), with whom the filmmaker has two children, Pooja and Rahul Bhatt.

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In an earlier interview with Filmfare, Mahesh Bhatt said, “Arth dug into my own wounds, my life burns. I had the audacity to use that as fuel. The emotional truth has been sourced from my life.”

Arth, produced by Kuljit Pal, was a landmark movie for many reasons. Starring Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in the lead roles, the film had music by Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh.

The director said, “Another risk that I took was approaching Jagjit Singh for music. People were like, ‘Are you crazy?’ At that time, directors mostly teamed up with Bappi Lahiri for music and Jagjit was a ghazal singer. So, people were unsure. I said, ‘My characters are such that only his music would work’.”

The film featured memorable songs such as “Jhuki Jhuki Si Nazar” and “Tum Itna Jo Muskura Rahe.” Arth, made on a budget of Rs 1 crore, earned Rs 2 crore at the box office.

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