Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has never held back when discussing his intensely personal and nuanced relationship with the late actress Parveen Babi.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Parveen, who was well-known for her glitz and mysterious on-screen persona, also struggled with untreated mental health issues during a period when knowledge and comprehension were severely lacking.
Bhatt, who was already married to Kiran Bhatt during his relationship with Parveen, recently reflected on her mental health struggles during a conversation on The Himanshu Mehta Show.
He recalled the final stages of her mental deterioration and the painful reality of watching someone he cared for slip into what he called “madness”.
“Prior to coming to this interview, I was writing about her final spiralling into what is called madness. All attempts were made to make her see that once she had that kind of breakdown, there’s no way she should try and fit herself back into this fiercely competitive space,” he shared.
Mahesh Bhatt revealed that despite her fragile state, Parveen could not step away from the world of cinema, which had once brought her immense fame and adoration.
“She should have withdrawn, as she had a physiological vulnerability. But I think once you have tasted this business, the high of the arc lights, it’s very difficult to turn your back on it. But what happened to her was an unimaginable tragedy,” he added.
He remembered Parveen's quiet vulnerability behind her glamorous façade.
“Behind closed doors, she was a simple woman from Junagadh, Gujarat, who wanted to put oil in her head and cook food at home. But the clothes she used to wear were very glamorous, so that she looked like a superstar. But on the inside, she was a simple girl.”
In a previous BBC Hindi interview, Bhatt shared haunting memories of her paranoid delusions and breakdowns.
“I saw her leave in the morning for her shoot with her make-up on, but when I came back in the evening, she was shivering and sitting in a corner like an animal... She kept saying, ‘Someone is going to kill me.’ She was suffering from schizophrenia.”
Their relationship, lasting nearly three years, eventually ended in heartbreak. Bhatt said Parveen found some solace through spiritual philosopher UG Krishnamurti, who advised them not to stay together.
“He told me that it is impossible for you to stay together because you will never leave movies and if she keeps doing movies, she will be destroyed.”
Parveen Babi passed away in her Mumbai flat on 20 January 2005, at the age of 55. Her post-mortem report cited organ failure and complications from diabetes as the cause of death.
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