Bhatt is one filmmaker who dared to highlight his personal narratives of troubled childhood and extra marital romance in films like Arth and Naam. His thought provoking movie Zakhm became an issue with the censor board, but still won Ajay Devgan his first national award. Bhatt claims to have given up direction quite some time back. But he is still one of the very few who continues to hit the headlines, states an official release.

Excerpts from the interview:

Modesty has never been your hallmark. And it's too late to start now.
Yeah, I do have a realistic perception of what I have achieved. But I have an appetite for achieving more which keeps me going. I have always dared to walk on the road less traveled….

You were born in very unusual circumstances, weren't you?
Yeah, I was. My father was a Hindu Brahmin belonging to Narsi, Gujarat and my mother was Shiya Muslim. They were not technically married and you can call me their love child. I never had a comfortable childhood because of the family problems.

Many things that happened in your life like your personal life or your drunkenness are well documented. Does your instability stem from that?
It would be simplistic to reduce it only to my childhood. If you see the chemistry of my body, I have always been this way. But my sisters and my brother are very well adjusted. We were staying in the same house but not the same home. I think I have this manic side in me. After I quit alcohol, work has become a painkiller.

After Arth, you became successful and most sought after, people liked you as a director and your personal life falls apart. How did you cope up with all this?
My personal life had already fallen apart. My wife and I were just friends. With her it was just like a childhood romance, which climaxed and withered with the entry of Parveen Babi. But relationship with her did not work either and then came Soni. But success came as a vacuum of achievement. At the age of 32-33 with Arth, Saaransh and Naam I became a box office success. I had money with which I could buy anything. And that success was what I wanted.