'Man-woman relationship is too complicated' : Mahesh Bhatt

Mahesh Bhatt is one filmmaker who has always explored various faces of man-woman relationship through his films. The mentor of Vishesh Films in conversation with India Blooms correspondent Sreya Basu in Kolkata

You have always dealt with man-woman relationship through your films like ' Arth' . Even under the Vishesh Films banner, you are continuing your ' exploration' against today' s backdrop. What do you think is D-problem of today' s couples that' s leading to frequent relationship failure?

Man-woman relationship is too complicated! I think the problems of unmarried couples are worse than that of married ones…not only in today' s times, but always. One of the problems with today' s couples is that they don' t know what to expect of a relationship. Be it ' Murder' , ' Gangster' , ' Jannat' or now ' Tum Mile' , we have tried to highlight this issue in different lights.

Talking of ' Tum Mile' , story of estranged lovers uniting is nothing new in Hindi cinema, apart from the excellent visuals of the Mumbai flood in the film. What is that ' Mahesh Bhatt' element in the film?

' Tum Mile' deals with the love storm that rages in our hearts…it' s a love story told in the backdrop of storm…it' s not just the July 26, 2005 floods, but the storm and flood in man-woman relationships that rises all the time. The storm outside ebbs away, but that within devastates us…leaves lasting scars. It' s not about ' excellent visuals' of Mumbai floods, but about a scarred relationship that gets a second chance to balm the wounds. It has an emotional quotient that has almost evaporated from Indian films.

Also you dealt with live-in problems in ' Tum Mile' …

Live-in relationships in most Bollywood films are all about song and dance. They don' t deal with the problems of live-in couples. This film deals with that problem. I think from the age group of 25-30, there are couples who are struggling to find their own fate, struggling to stay rooted…there' s a problem of career, family, money and then there is the question of marriage or settling down. And at that time you not always make the right choice. With ' Tum Mile' we tried to make a relatable young love story.

Why do you always make films with Emraan Hashmi?

Emraan Hashmi is family…he is our discovery. We have groomed him, shaped him up for Bollywood, and till the time he is becomes complete (…waise sampurn toh koi nehin hota hai…zindagi bhar chalti rehti hai…) through our medium, we won' t take a breath of relief. And also, we cast Emraan in most of our films because he suits the roles in the kind of films we make….we don' t cast ' stars' in our films, but ' actors' who fits the bill. And let me tell you, he is much more than the ' serial kisser' tag the media has given him.

But it' s also not that we make films only with Emraan. In ' Jashnn' , there was Adhyayan Suman in the lead. But since that film didn' t work you people don' t mention it. We have never shut the door of our company for anyone. But fact is, media mentions only those who succeed, not the ones who fail. That' s your problem, not ours.

Pakistan singer Noman Javed created a buzz that Pritam copied his song in ' Tum Mile' . He even posted a video of the song featuring him…

It' s unfortunate that Noman Javed, whom we gave a break in ' Jashnn' , was trying to suggest to the world that the tune was somehow linked to him. But there is absolutely no connection…the entire soundtrack is Prtiam' s and if there' s anyone who can claim its creativity, it' s Pritam himself. It' s very unfortunate that a person whom we trusted, ended up with this kind of a thing. We were trying him out as a possible voice and behind the back he did something treacherous.

I pulled him up and he was very apologetic… because he was caught. But director Kunal Deshmukh and producer Mukesh Bhatt were both very graceful not to make an issue out of it.

After this incident, will you give Noman a chance to work with you again?

If somebody violated our code of trust, we leave him at that point; we won' t repeat that person again. A bitter moment with Noman is behind us; it' s unfortunate that a talent from Pakistan, from where we got so many good people coming and making their mark, chose to do this. But one person does not represent the mindset of others, so we should leave it as an isolated case and forget about it.

Will you really look forward to working with talents from abroad after this incident?

We also have Shaukat Ali singing one of the versions in ' Tum Mile' ; James sang for ' Gangster' . Talent from all over the world can come and use the platform of our company (Vishesh Films) to excel and that' s what true globalization means; it' s all about movement of capital and talents freely. If you are going to return to your old mindsets and be restricted, then you are not really a global citizen. You need to keep mind open and allow as many people to come and join you.

Finally, how do you think the man-woman relationship is going to evolve in the coming days?

Oh My God! (Laughs) India essentially is a society that is sacred to its traditional values. The institution of marriage is something which won' t be whisked away because of a handful of people, who chooses to go for live-in relationships. But that doesn' t mean that live-in relationships have no place in the scheme of today' s changing society.

References, concerns are changing…in metros, in some parts of India, there are people who are choosing to live together, not necessarily tie the knot. But I know, deep within the hearts of these people there is a longing to make that relationship permanent, because the quest for permanence is the quest of mankind. And the institution of marriage is the hint of that. So I feel the couples, who are unwed, have problems that are more complicated than those of the married people. When people get married, they have a sense of closure; they have a sense of a chapter ending and a new phase beginning. But the unmarried couples don' t have that and most of the fights are over insecurities and short turbulence of relationships.

So I think young people, who are experimenting with what is called the live-in relationships, will have to curve out their own paths…they will find it difficult since most of the society is traditional. But I am certain that the real bulk of India is still shackled to marriage and these aberrations will be there, but will ultimately go to what is called a permanent relationship.