Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has made a startling confession about his early struggling days in the film industry. Speaking on The Pooja Bhatt Show, he revealed that, on the advice of a tantrik in Varanasi, he once fed human flesh to a potential film financier in the hope of securing investment.
Bhatt recalled that in his 20s, while struggling as a filmmaker, his close friend Arun Desai, who was also struggling alongside him, presented him a plan to meet a wealthy financier in Gaya, Bihar. However, before reaching Gaya, Arun insisted on stopping in Varanasi to meet his guru.
Mahesh recalled, “There was a queue of very poor people waiting to have an audience with that guruji. He was a tantrik, a young man, who held a bottle of rum in his hand and would keep on dancing.”
Bhatt said that as the tantrik looked at him, he immediately knew that Mahesh didn’t believe in his practice. The tantrik called them the next day and promised a “solution” for their financial troubles.
“The next day, he opened a cupboard, took out a ball wrapped in paper, and pulled out what he claimed was human flesh from the ghats. He told us to feed it to the investor, assuring us that it would guarantee money,” Bhatt revealed.
Determined to follow the bizarre advice, Bhatt and his friend traveled to Gaya. They met the potential investor, a zamindar who lived in a guarded estate. Unsure of how to proceed, the duo devised a plan—hiding the flesh inside a paan.
When they offered it to him, he hesitated, but after much persuasion, he finally ate it. “And slowly, he brought it close to his mouth and then, he started chewing it. We felt that we have hit the bull’s eye,” he said.
However, his belief was short-lived. Weeks later, Bhatt discovered that despite the gruesome act, the financier never agreed to invest in their films.
