Pooja Bhatt spoke about late actress Parveen Babi, her relationship with Mahesh Bhatt, and the tragedy she witnessed in the star’s final years.
“Parveen’s life was a definite tragedy.”
Recalling Parveen Babi’s emotional struggles and public scrutiny, Pooja told Vicky Lalwani: “Parveen’s life was a very tragic thing in the real sense.
Whatever has happened to it in the last few years, someone might dismiss it as a mess, but it is a tragedy in the absolute sense.
“She added, “She wasn’t feeling well. I mean, I’m not a doctor so I can’t comment on her exact illness, but she wasn’t feeling well.”Pooja recalled seeing Parveen during a difficult phase in her life and said, “When she returned after that time, I remember her sitting in Stardust’s office, using their Xerox machine and giving a long interview about…
Amitabh Bachchan
She still wanted to kill it and eat nothing but eggs because she thought everything else had been poisoned by this industry.
So this is the paranoid and dissociative mind.Explaining the reaction over the actor’s condition, Pooja added, “People were enjoying the circus at Stardust’s office. They printed this article staring at this person who was speaking from a place of pain. Of course, it is tragic.”
“She was a very beautiful and generous woman.”
Pooja also shared a deeply personal memory of meeting Parveen as a child. “I remember my father taking me to her house. She was a beautiful woman and was very generous to me,” she said.
The actress recalled how Parveen gave her a bottle of perfume during that visit. “I will never forget the way she gave me that perfume. This is my memory of Parveen – this beautiful movie star whose motive was to give something away.”
Mahesh Bhatt stood by Parveen Babi till the end
Talking about her father’s relationship with Parveen, Pooja said, “There are few people who truly stand by your side.”Parveen Babi died in January 2005. Her body reportedly remained unclaimed at the Cooper Hospital morgue in Mumbai for several days.
Despite their complicated romantic history and her estranged relationships with several family members, Mahesh Bhatt has come forward to claim her body so that it can be given a proper burial.It also reflected Parveen’s iconic status in Indian cinema. Pointing to Zeenat Aman beside her, Pooja said that they belong to the era of “real men and women” in the film industry.Recalling Parveen’s immense popularity, she added, “She was the first Indian actress to grace the cover of Time magazine. There must have been something right inside her to get this distinction.”
