Desire to Make Movies Had Withered in Me, Says Mahesh Bhatt

Mahesh Bhatt says he decided to take a two decade long break from direction because the storyteller in him was short of a breath of fresh air.

The veteran filmmaker, who will soon return behind the camera with Sadak 2, says he was aware of the fact that the desire to make movies had "withered" in him and did not want to cheat the audiences.

"I have been fighting and that is a half-hearted fight... sitting outside and instructing people. There is another spring in me now. Why it happened? I inhaled enough of life that my lungs were bursting and I had to exhale and 'Sadak 2' happened. All good things do happen. I have a great appetite to celebrate the magic and mystery of this," Bhatt said in an interview here.

The 70-year-old director, whose last venture was released in 1999, adds, "Twenty years later here I am, with another energy that's grabbed me. One day I left and other day I came back. I have learnt a lesson in life that there are no full stops."

Bhatt, however, did not miss being off his directorial duties.

"I am not a person who believes in austerity or denial. My life screams out and says one thing, 'indulgence'. I am a person who would never deny myself anything.

"There was a time to step away and I stepped away because the desire to make movies had withered in me. Whatever I want to say I will be saying through movies."

In Sadak 2, Bhatt will be working with daughters Pooja and Alia. The project, produced by Vishesh Films, also features the lead hero of original Sadak, Sanjay Dutt, and new entrant Aditya Roy Kapur.

While Bhatt has worked with Pooja in films like Daddy, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin and Phir Teri Kahaani Yaad Ayee among others, he will directing Alia for the first time.

The filmmaker says he will not let the director in him define his children, who he calls the "unique expressions of life".

"From the time they were born till now, I find them unveiling their marvellous, innate side that leaves me awestruck. I will not freeze them or define them. I can't define my children," he adds.

Bhatt is currently busy promoting his home production Jalebi, which is scheduled to be released on October 12