EXCLUSIVE: Mahesh Bhatt confesses to being a part of Parveen Babi’s illness; says doc blamed him, “If you really love her, leave her”

During the latest uncut version of The Invincibles, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt openly spoke about her equation with ex-girlfriend Parveen Babi. He happened to speak about how he became part of her mental illness and how the doctor asked him to leave her for her own good. Mahesh also shed light on how the doctor wanted to give her an Electric Shock Treatment as huge money was running on during the shoot of Shaan (1980).

Mahesh Bhatt on his equation with Parveen Babi

The Sadak director said,”I did not meet her after we parted ways in the 80s because I was a part of her illness. According to my understanding was that when she had a breakdown. My friend Yugi who helped me out a lot said that ‘Look you will never be out of this business and she’s unfit for this business. You are the gunpowder and she is the fire. So if you really love her, leave her’‘.Bhatt added that he tried to take her away and he tried to heal her but she did not work.” He continued, “She came back and they don’t understand that this mental disorder has a cyclic nature. You start feeling that you can stay afloat in this viciously competitive business, very unforgiving.“

Mahesh Bhatt recalls how Parveen Babi was advised of Electric Shock Treatment

“At that point, I ran away with her yeah because there was a set of Shan put up and she was a big part of that movie. I remember walking up to GP Sippy’s (Producer of Shaan) office and I was just a toy boy I was just I was a nobody I was a boyfriend. He just looked at me and said ‘what’s happening’. And at that time mental illness was an enigma even now it continues to be. Then I said, ‘Look, she’s had a kind of a psychotic breakdown’. I said what is that and I tried to explain and then he took the name of the doctor.”

“How many times the doctor had said it’ll take 6 to 8 weeks for her to come back through functional normalcy? But they didn’t have time for 6 to 8 weeks they had foreign stuntmen. I could understand the impatience of the film industry a lot of money was riding on her. I think they put pressure and the doctor said that if you want quick results you have to give Electroconvulsive Shock Treatment. It’s like ‘Are you treating them are you treating her’? If she is an object of concern then it should be done through the natural effect of medication without using the extreme measures which are the last resort for people.”

Talks about how doctor blamed him for her illness

“I believe she was yielding because she couldn’t understand. I understand why people want to take these extreme steps because they want normalcy in their homes. They need a quick fix because it’s a nightmare to live with a person. I’ve a very radical position against the EST though the whole medical fraternity now swears by it. I disagreed with that kind of thing and then I hijacked her. I took her away to Bangalore and there was Yuji my friend who helped me and told me ‘Look the problem is you. You have to go away from her life’. Then he tried to take her away to Switzerland and she was okay for some time.“

Reason for having this condition

Bhatt revealed, “It’s a genetic thing. When I looked back I discovered that there were traces of her. Recently, when Kabir was doing a book of his, he mentioned to me that he had experienced something like this when she was having a relationship with him in Italy. She was genetically predisposed towards it and she had suppressed it. But to me, it came like a bolt from the blue. It’s like I left her in the morning, I was living with her and she was functionally okay and I came back and she was another human being.“

Watch the full interview here

Also read: EXCLUSIVE: Mahesh Bhatt discusses daughters Alia Bhatt, Pooja, Shaheen’s success and arrival of granddaughter Raha