Mahesh Bhatt has admitted to the fact that he used to be an alcoholic. The film-maker known for movies like ‘Arth’, ‘Sadak’, ‘Zakhm’ and more has had his journey with alcoholism but he gave up on it when his daughter Shaheen was born. Bhatt also known to always be honest spoke about how he overcame it.
During an episode on ‘The Invincibles’, Arbaaz Khan told Mahesh Bhatt how once Salim Khan asked him and Salman Khan to drop Bhatt home as he was drunk. Arbaaz said, “You were so drunk but dad said he has to go home. We tried to take you home in a cab. You forgot where you lived. We were embarrassed but also giggling. You’ve made a 360 transition post that.”
Reacting to it, Bhatt recalled how once he found himself sleeping on a footpath. “One day, I woke up and I found myself sleeping on the footpath of JVPD scheme. I remember my face was on the concrete, and dawn was just breaking. I realized I had gone for some party and I had fallen down on the road and slept there. I remember walking up to my house; I was living with Soni. She said. ‘What happened to you?’ I said, ‘I don’t know, I’ve become an alcoholic,” said Bhatt.
He added, “And then a miracle happened. My first baby was born with Soni, Shaheen. When I came to the hospital, I was holding Shaheen in my arms and I went to kiss her, I got this feeling as if she moved away. She couldn’t bear the fumes of alcohol. She couldn’t have done, she was a baby, but this is what I hallucinated and projected. That did it.”
Apart from Mahesh Bhatt, his daughter Pooja Bhatt also spoken about her battle with alcoholism. She is sober for many years now and hugely endorses sobriety, thus motivating others on the path.
