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Waiting for his moment

Young Mohit Suri is all set to step beyond the shadow of his mentor Mahesh Bhatt with "Woh Lamhe", says ZIYA US SALAM

PHOTO: V. SUDERSHAN

A STEP HIGHER Mohit Suri hopes to move ahead in his career with "Woh Lamhe"

Even with a couple of hits under his belt, Mohit Suri's name still does not sound very familiar to cinemagoers. Price to be paid for growing under a tree called Mahesh Bhatt, perhaps.

There are compensations though. One of them comes in the form of a compliment from the mentor himself.

"He is in his mid-20s what I was in my mid-30s. He is doing the kind of cinema I did during the days of Arth and Saaransh. His film Woh Lamhe will probably go down in the same league too." Big words from Mahesh Bhatt!

Do they weigh heavily on the young man's shoulders?

"Not just me but every director from the camp experiences that. It is the same with Anuraag Basu and even Pooja Bhatt. When Woh Lamhe came up, I knew what I was getting into. For long I felt that Bhatt Saab had used Parveen Babi. But once I saw him at the morgue waiting for her body, I knew he was sincere. This is my best film so far. This is something I just wanted to make. After two hits in two years, this film is genuinely an attempt to move a step higher. I had tasted success with Zeher and Kalyug, but this film is different. It draws so much from real life. But we have fictionalised parts of it."

Incidentally, Woh Lamhe is based on the life of Parveen Babi, with whom Mahesh Bhatt is said to have shared a tumultuous relationship.

The actress passed away early last year, alone in death as in life, before Bhatt came forward for the burial.

No alternative

"I know there is a greater responsibility when it comes to showing somebody's life. But this film is a fiction based on real life, when Bhatt Saab and Parveen Babi had their relationship. He was an established director. In the film we have made him a struggling director to go with the profile of a young man."

The film, starring Shiney Ahuja and Kangana, the Gangster pair that hit off well, is set to be released September 29. However, isn't that a shade risky, considering the month of Ramzan begins just a few days before that?

Suri is unflustered. "We really had no alternative. There are lots of big budget, big banner films lined up around Diwali. Then we have some more big films in November. If the Woh Lamhe release had not been scheduled for now, we would have had to wait for a couple of months. By releasing the film now, we get four straight weeks at the box office."

Sounds logical, one would say. Maybe happy days are just round the corner for Bhatt and his protégé.

As Suri's caller-tone goes, "Neend kam khwab zyada hai, lagta hai Khuda ka koi nek irada hai."

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