Happy Birthday to Mahesh Bhatt, Indian director, screenwriter, and producer, born on September 20, 1948, in Bombay. Mahesh started his career as an assistant director for film director Raj Khosla. He made his debut with the film ‘Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain’ in 1974. Mahesh is known for making both art-house films and commercial films, with his most acclaimed period being the 1990s. He has mentored several well-known names in Bollywood, such as: Anupam Kher, Rahul Roy, Sonali Bendre, Sharad Kapoor, Sushmita Sen, Mukul Dev, Ashutosh Rana, Manoj Bajpayee, Dino Morea, Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi, Mallika Sherawat, and Kangana Ranaut. Some of his award-winning films are: ‘Lahu Ke Do Rang’ (1979), ‘Arth’ (1982), won Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue and a National Award for Best Actress – Shabana Azmi,  ‘Saaransh’ (1984), India’s entry in the Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, Filmfare Award for Best Story and National Film Award for Best Lyrics – Vasant Dev, ‘Daddy’ (1989) National Film Award- Special Mention – Anupam Kher, ‘Aashiqui’ (1990) Filmfare Award for Best Music Director, Best Male Playback Singer, Best Female Playback Singer, and Best Lyricist, ‘Sadak’ (1991) Filmfare Award for Best Villain – Sadashiv Amrapurkar, ‘Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke’ (1993) Filmfare Award Best Actress – Juhi Chawla, Filmfare Best Film and National Film Award – Special Jury Award/Special Mention, ‘Zakhm’ (1999) Filmfare Best Story Award, National Film Award for Best Actor – Ajay Devgan and Nargis Dutt, Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, ‘Raaz’ (2002), ‘Murder’ (2004), and ‘Woh Lambe’ (2006). In recent years, Mahesh has directed the Star Plus television show ‘Naamkaran’ and produced many movies under the banner of Vishesh Films, which he started in 1987 with his brother Mukesh Bhatt. Mahesh had two children with his first wife Kiran, Pooja Bhatt, actress and producer, and Rahul Bhatt, an actor. In his second marriage to Soni Razdan, they had two daughters, Shaheen and Alia Bhatt, who is a well-known artress in her own right. Emraan Hashmi is his cousin. Mahesh had an affair with 70s actress Parveen Babi between marriages.