“I was a normal guy. I made films like Vishwaghat and Manzil and Bhi Hain which flopped. So, I was at the spiritual supermarket; I went to Osho Rajneesh, a charismatic guru from Pune. I went to him and Devoted myself to him…saffron robes and meditation five times a day,” said Mahesh Bhatt.
He revealed that he was instrumental in introducing Vinod Khanna to Osho as well. Khanna was at the peak of his stardom when he left everything behind to go to America to follow Rajneesh. “I took Vinod Khanna to Osho Rajneesh. While I broke (connection), he continued. I broke the garland and threw it under the commode. I thought I was still jealous but saying the holy words… I feel like a hypocrite. I can’t lie to the world and myself,” Bhatt told the reason for ending the relationship.
He said that Rajneesh roped in Vinod Khanna to bring him back into his fold. “Vinod called me from Filmistan and said that God is very angry. You broke the garland and threw it in the commode. I said ‘yes, I did that. it’s useless; I am very stupid.’ He said God has said to ask Mahesh to come back and personally hand over the garland, else he said’, and Vinod lowered his voice, he will destroy you.
Rajneesh told Vinod that ‘I worked hard on Mahesh but what is in you, was probably not in him.’ I said he is using you against me. He is saying that you are something special; I was nothing,” said Mahesh, adding that his relationship with Vinod Khanna never soured.
He told Arbaaz that he had also gone with his father Salim Khan to meet Rajneesh. “I visited him with your father before his show in Oregon flopped and he went from Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh to Osho. I asked him if you have anything beyond words to give me. I said I am in business because people are lonely and you are in business because people are sad. But if you have light, can you give it to me? If not then what is happening here? It was a 15 minute appointment which lasted for an hour and a half. He was trying to woo me back but I was not falling in love with him.
“When I had to leave, I realized that he was not responsible for anything. I wanted to hear the things he told me. He was an entertainer and a wordsmith, and a very successful man. They gave relief to the people for some time but it became a spiritual medicine. I say gurus have a role to play, just like us entertainers.”