Mahesh Bhatt reveals harrowing memory of being assaulted as a teen: "They said 'pull down his pants' and pushed me against the wall"

"They said 'pull down his pants' and pushed me against the wall", Mahesh Bhatt reveals harrowing memory of being assaulted as a teen

Director Mahesh Bhatt has never shied away from confronting the darkness that shaped him. During a recent appearance on his eldest daughter The Pooja Bhatt Show, the veteran filmmaker opened up about one of the most traumatic incidents from his childhood, a moment of humiliation and helplessness that, he says, left an indelible mark on his psyche and his storytelling.

Mahesh Bhatt recalled that as a young boy in Mumbai, he was attacked on the street by four older boys.

Their cruelty wasn’t physical alone, it was psychological, targeted at his very identity. “Suddenly, four elderly boys waylaid me. They grabbed me violently and pushed me against the wall. I panicked, and from the depths of my heart rose a cry asking the Gods to rescue me. But the Gods were indifferent; they remained silent,” he said.

The group began taunting him about his mother, Shirin Mohammad Ali, a Muslim woman who had been in a relationship with filmmaker Nanabhai Bhatt, Mahesh’s father. Their words cut deep. “One said, ‘Pull down his pants.’ I screamed, ‘Why are you doing this to me?’ They said, ‘We want to see if you are one of us. Isn’t your mother your father’s mistress?! She is a Muslim who**, and she used to dance in cheap movies. So, why is your name Mahesh?’ I was overwhelmed. Owing to profound grief, I began crying bitterly,” Mahesh Bhatt recalled.

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The filmmaker’s voice trembled as he revisited the memory. Growing up as the child of a Hindu father and a Muslim mother, Mahesh Bhatt’s life was marked by societal judgment and alienation.

When Mahesh Bhatt, in desperation, threatened to report them to his father, the boys mocked him. “Tell us, where is he now? Where does he stay? In your house? Tell us the truth and we will let you go,” they sneered. In that moment, he revealed the secret that defined his childhood: “I told them, ‘My father does not live with us. He lives with his wife and my other mother in Andheri.’ The air changed, and the bearded boy eased his grip over me and signalled me to go.”