Pooja Bhatt has shared a shocking story about her father, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, almost giving away his Filmfare Awards to a student. She revealed that she had to physically grab the awards from the student to stop it from happening.
The revelation came during a conversation on her podcast, The Pooja Bhatt Show, with film archivist and author S M M Ausaja. Ausaja spoke about building one of the largest private archives of film memorabilia and lamented the lack of will within the Indian film industry to save and preserve artefacts from films of yesteryear.
Pooja Bhatt stops Mahesh Bhatt from giving away Filmfare Awards
During the podcast, Pooja Bhatt recalled the moment she intervened. "Well, my father... I GRABBED them from him!" she said, referring to the Filmfare Awards. She explained that Mahesh Bhatt was about to give the awards to a student, but she stopped it by taking them herself.
Rare film continuity albums rescued from rotting
Pooja Bhatt also revealed that she rescued rare continuity albums for films like Sadak, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, and Sir from rotting in boxes at Vishesh Films. These albums are valuable pieces of film history that document the production process of these classic movies.
Ausaja, who has built one of the largest private archives of film memorabilia, noted that many second-generation members of film families are not interested in preserving what their forefathers accomplished. "So, when a top producer passes away, the family throws everything away as raddi," he said. He also mentioned a case where a top star's jubilee trophies, awards, and citations were given to a raddiwallah after his death, though he did not reveal the name.
Our Take: A wake-up call for film preservation
This story highlights a serious problem in the Indian film industry: the lack of care for its own history. If someone like Mahesh Bhatt, a legendary filmmaker, could almost give away his awards, it shows how little value is placed on preserving film heritage. Pooja Bhatt's quick action saved not just awards but also rare albums that document the making of iconic films. The industry needs to do more to protect its artefacts before they are lost forever.
In our view, this is a reminder that film history is not just about the movies themselves but also the materials that tell the story of how they were made. Without people like Pooja Bhatt and S M M Ausaja, much of this history would be gone.
