When Mahesh Bhatt reshot the entire film with Rekha replacing Parveen Babi; know why

Disclaimer: There are references to death and mental health issues in this article. 

Mahesh Bhatt reflects on his turbulent three-year romance with Parveen Babi, a legendary figure from the 1970s. But looking back, the director says that Babi’s mental health episode forced him to reshoot the entire movie with a different actress.

In an interview with Radio Nasha, Bhatt talked about the challenging time in his life when he fell in love with Parveen and made the decision to work with her on a movie called Ab Meri Baari, which would feature her in the lead role along with Dev Anand, Rishi Kapoor, and Tina Ambani.

Mahesh recalled, “I was in a relationship with her, and when you are with someone you want to spend time with them… During the shooting of the film, she had a mental (health) episode, got sick and the film was stopped. Then we took Rekha ji and reshot it but because of lack of finance, it couldn’t be completed.”

According to a number of sources, Babi and Bhatt fell in love following the latter’s 1977 breakup with Kabir Bedi.It is said that Mahesh Bhatt put the actress ahead of his family without realizing that his love would soon come to an end. After receiving a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, Parveen Babi experienced severe delusions and paranoia that drove her to distance herself from Mahesh and the rest of the world.

Even though Babi had a celebrity-like reputation, she spent her final years alone because her mental health was becoming worse. Tragically, Parveen died in 2005 at the young age of 50 and departed for her eternal home in heaven. Even though the actress lived a life worthy of the movies, her fans still have affectionate memories of her, and no one should ever have to say goodbye like that.