Here comes another son!
Rahul Bhatt (Pic: Top, in his younger days. Bottom, a more recent picture), son of veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, makes his debut in his dad's latest film, Suicide Bomber.
The film is 'inspired' by the London bombings last year (2007).
"The film will deal with the story of a terrorist and what makes a normal human being a suicide bomber -- what goes on in his mind and why he becomes a destructor," says Mahesh Bhatt. "These are very contemporary issues bothering the world, and my film will try to answer these questions."
Three British muslims of Asian origin and one of Jamaican origin carried out a suicide mission in London that sent shockwaves across the world last year.
"Suicide bomber will deal with the subject of Asian immigrants staying in Western countries and what they go through in their lives to live in that system," adds Mahesh Bhatt.
The filmmaker had launched his daughter Pooja Bhatt a decade ago as an actress in films like Daddy, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin and Sadak.
He is known to make films that deal with contemporary issues. His last offering, Kalyug, was about the evils of the pornography industry.
Religious terrorism is born from the pain and loss of terrorists, he says. "They are impatient with god, who is slow to respond and does not answer their problems."
In the film, leading man Rahul is born to Asian Muslim parents and is settled in London.
The film will be shot in England and India, and Anurag Basu, of Murder fame, will direct the film.
"After the release of our latest film Gangster in April by Basu, he will start shooting for Suicide Bomber somewhere in June and by the year end, we hope to release the film," Bhatt Senior informs.
Rahul has a tough task -- for two reasons.
Reason One: Living up to his father's track record of making hit films like Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Sadak, Murder and Zeher.
Reason Two: The subject of his debut film, Suicide Bomber, which deals with terrorism and in which he plays the protagonist. Yes, Rahul makes his debut as a terrorist in the film that is loosely based on the 7/7 London bombings.
And you can imagine how challenging his task is, to gain a foothold in Bollywood with such an unconventional first step.
More than a decade ago, Mahesh Bhatt had launched his daughter Pooja Bhatt with films like Daddy (1989), Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991) and Sadak (1991).
Let's see if he can do a repeat act.
