Mahesh Bhatt on the real story of ‘Tamanna’: It belonged to a man named Tiku, a hairdresser in the industry- Exclusive! | Hindi Movie News – The Times of India

Cinema, at its strongest, is not only leisure—it’s a reflection, a rebel, and typically a reckoning. In the Nineties, when Bollywood was basking in the glow of bigger-than-life spectacles, Pooja Bhatt—an actress at the peak of her fame—selected to step into uncharted territory. She had the glamour, the hits, and the viewers. But, she turned away from formulaic success to inform a story that wanted to be heard.‘Tamanna’ was not simply a movie; it was a assertion. A daring, unflinching take a look at feminine infanticide, a crime so deep-rooted in societal hypocrisy that it typically goes unstated. However for Mahesh Bhatt and Pooja Bhatt, silence was not an choice. Impressed by the real-life story of Tiku, a hairdresser who saved and raised an deserted new child woman, ‘Tamanna’ turned a cinematic wound—a mirror held up to a nation that usually appears to be like away. On this unique dialog, Mahesh Bhatt revisits the journey of ‘Tamanna’—from the second the story discovered him to its quiet but enduring impression. He speaks of conviction over commerce, of the battle to carry the movie to life, and of the legacy it continues to carve many years later.
What made you and your daughter Pooja Bhatt flip to a topic so distinctive?
In the Nineties, Pooja Bhatt stood at the pinnacle of her stardom. She had ‘Daddy’. She had ‘Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin’. She had ‘Sadak’. The nation watched her, admired her, and embraced her as their very own. She may have chosen something—one other glamorous spectacle, one other surefire hit. However she didn’t. As a substitute, she selected ‘Tamanna’. I keep in mind the day I informed her the story. It wasn’t simply a story; it was a wound. A quiet gash in the cloth of our collective conscience. It belonged to a man named Tiku, a hairdresser in the {industry}.
And what was Tiku’s story?
One morning, throughout the holy month of Ramzan, as Tiku made his approach to the Makhdoom Shah Mahimi Dargah for Sehri, he heard the faintest cry. A sound so fragile it may have dissolved into silence. Nevertheless it didn’t. It was coming from a rubbish bin. And inside, deserted, lay a new child woman. A child left to die, her tiny flesh being gnawed at by rats. Tiku, a man with no wealth however an infinite tenderness, picked her up. He carried her to the dargah, the place he and his buddies, with no matter little that they had, saved her alive—feeding her milk with cotton wool, shielding her from the chilly arms of demise. After which, as if destiny had positioned her in his arms, he adopted her. He referred to as her Tamanna—need, longing, the want that must not ever be deserted.
How did you get Pooja concerned in this mission?
When Pooja heard this, her eyes burned with one thing fierce. She mentioned one thing I’ll always remember: She mentioned, “Feminine infanticide is the final act of violence towards girls. It is barbaric. It denies ladies their most basic proper—to exist. If we don’t inform this story, who will?” And so, Tamanna was born once more. Not simply as a woman, however as a movie.
Had been you disheartened when Tamanna was not a hit?
It didn’t make thousands and thousands. It didn’t set the field workplace on hearth. Nevertheless it burned its approach into one thing deeper—the conscience of a nation.Years later, I might hear of an NGO in Rajasthan utilizing Tamanna as a device to educate and awaken folks about the horrors of feminine infanticide. The movie turned greater than cinema. It turned a mirror. A wound laid naked.
The movie featured sensible actors.
Sure. Paresh Rawal, in one of his best performances, acquired rave evaluations for his delicate portrayal of a courageous transgender particular person. Manoj Bajpayee stepped into the world of cinema and made positive we might always remember him. Sharad Kapoor arrived with a brilliance that, although fleeting, couldn’t be denied. And Pooja—Pooja bled herself into the movie, making it not simply her first manufacturing, however her first battle.
Trying again, the place do you place Tamanna in your scheme of issues?
Years later, I nonetheless meet individuals who communicate of Tamanna with one thing shut to reverence. They inform me it was forward of its time. That it carried a reality so uncooked, it refused to be forgotten. Maybe that’s the solely measure of real success—when a story, as soon as informed, by no means actually leaves you.