One of the most popular filmmakers of all times, Mahesh Bhatt celebrates his 70th birthday today. Turning a year older, Mahesh Bhatt officially announced one of the most awaited films, Sadak 2 today, Starring Alia Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Pooja Bhatt and Sanjay Dutt, Sadak 2 will be releasing on March 25, 2020. Not just Sadak, but Mahesh has given us many other movies like Arth, Saaransh, Aashiqui and Dil Hai Ke Maanta Nahi which are and will always be special to all the movie buffs. Below listed are 5 lesser known facts about him. Mahesh Bhatt Birthday Special: 5 All-Time Favourite Movies of The Director That Are Worth Watching Again and Again.

  1. Most of his films have been a portrayal of his real life. For example, Mahesh Bhatt's Arth was based on relationship of Mahesh Bhatt and Parveen Babi. On his birthday today, we tell you some lesser known facts about Mahesh Bhatt. Just like Arth, Aashiqui too was based on real life incident from Mahesh Bhatt's life.

  2. Saaransh, directed by him, was India's official submission for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film back 1985. Soni Razdan, who is his wife now, was also a part of the film. Happy Birthday Mahesh Bhatt! These Throwback Pics of Veteran Filmmaker Will Make You Feel Nostalgic.

  3. Not just his personal life, Mahesh Bhatt has also borrowed liberally from many Hollywood films like some of these- Kabzaa was based on On the Waterfront, Dil Hai ke Manta Nahin on It Happened One Night, Sadak on Taxi Driver, Criminal on The Fugitive and many more. He was also accused of plagiarism for some of them.

  4. Mahesh Bhatt also made several forays into television. He directed the TV series Swabhimaan and Kabhie Kabhie and also co-directed A Mouthful of Sky, the first English TV series to be produced in India. It was written by the celebrated author, Ashok Banker.

  5. The filmmaker made his debut as playback singer in the Emraan Hashmi starrer Mr X, for which he sang the title song.

Here's wishing Mahesh Bhatt a very happy birthday!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 20, 2018 09:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).