Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt has frequently drawn from his personal life while making films, particularly stories exploring family, relationships and complicated parent-child dynamics. However, one part of his own story has remained largely outside his films: his relationship with his son Rahul Bhatt.

Mahesh has spoken publicly about growing up with his mother and an absent father. His complicated family background later influenced several of his semi-autobiographical films, including Arth and Zakhm.

Zakhm particularly examined Mahesh’s relationship with his father, who was married to another woman, and his mother, who came from a different religious background. The film explored questions of identity, family and the emotional impact of an absent parent.

Years later, Rahul Bhatt also spoke about experiencing the other side of that relationship. According to accounts of his childhood, Mahesh’s demanding career and personal circumstances meant that he was not consistently present as a father.

Rahul has described his father as someone who did not fulfil the responsibilities he expected from a parent. The father-son relationship therefore reflected a cycle that Mahesh himself had experienced during his childhood.

Mahesh Bhatt’s films have repeatedly transformed personal experiences into stories about fractured families and complicated relationships. Yet his relationship with Rahul remains a separate and deeply personal chapter of his life, one that has largely been discussed through interviews rather than portrayed directly on screen.