More than 35 years after ‘Aashiqui’ became a defining romance in Hindi cinema, actor Pooja Bhatt has revealed that the film was inspired by the extraordinary real-life love story of her parents, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and Lorraine Bright, who later changed her name to Kiran Bhatt.Pooja said the 1990 blockbuster drew heavily from the early days of her parents’ relationship, which began when they were teenagers. She said on Cyrus Broacha’s podcast, “Aashiqui was based on my mother and father’s love story. My mother was in a Scottish orphanage, and my dad lived in a building across from it. He saw her during a sports day event, jumped the wall to meet her, and got caught.”The incident led to an unforgettable exchange with her grandmother, Betty Bertha Bright. “My grandmother was called, and she said, ‘Listen, I just put my youngest child in boarding school. If you are old enough to jump the wall, you are old enough to look after her.’”She revealed that the consequences were severe. Her mother was expelled from the orphanage, after which Mahesh Bhatt assumed responsibility for her. “She was thrown out of school because of this, and my dad took it as his responsibility. He took her to the YWCA and forged a letter saying she was a working girl so that she could stay there. She got a job at Grover’s Vineyard. She knew only two bus routes—one to work and one back home.”Pooja added that the film closely reflected that chapter of her parents’ lives. “He looked after her when she was very young. He is 77 now, she is 74. Aashiqui is based on this. I could actually be playing my mother’s role.”She also disclosed that although Mahesh Bhatt and her uncle Mukesh Bhatt had wanted her to star in ‘Aashiqui’, she turned down the offer because her then-boyfriend did not want her to pursue acting. Interestingly, Pooja’s account echoes what Mahesh Bhatt himself shared during an emotional conversation on her podcast last year, where he revisited the beginning of his romance with Lorraine.Bhatt told Pooja on her podcast, “I was 16, she was 14. She was living in an orphanage, because her mother did not have the means to keep her as a day scholar. One day, I saw this gorgeous girl standing with her friends at the gate of Bombay Scottish. There was something about her that drew me to her. But somehow, love was preceded by the feeling of unworthiness.”Unable to meet Lorraine openly, Mahesh enlisted the help of a tailor who stitched school uniforms to secretly deliver his letters.He added, “Struck by her charm and beauty, I begged him to carry my letter to her. He expressed the hazards of doing that because if he was caught, he would lose his job. But he was a generous man, so he took my letter and I waited for her reply. And then she did! I wrote to her in blood and she also replied in blood.”Their secret romance, however, did not remain hidden for long. “All hell broke loose, and the tailor lost his job, and Lorraine was thrown out of school.”Mahesh recalled that Lorraine’s mother was understandably upset, but he promised to look after her daughter. He forged his father’s signature to secure accommodation for Lorraine at the YWCA, where she later trained as a receptionist and telephone operator.Years later, the relationship took a painful turn when Mahesh fell in love with actor Parveen Babi. “I really believed in fairytale love, but then I fell into a relationship with Parveen Babi.” He remembered confessing the affair to Lorraine while their daughter Pooja slept nearby. “I looked at myself in the mirror and thought, ‘All your life you hated your father for keeping your mother as the other woman. What have you done?’”Reflecting on the collapse of their relationship, he admitted, “My fairytale romance was reduced to ashes.”After his relationship with Parveen ended, Mahesh found love again with actor Soni Razdan and decided to remarry. Before breaking the news to Lorraine, he first chose to speak with Pooja. Recalling that conversation, Pooja said, “I saw you sitting at the edge of my bed and telling me about the woman that you have met, Soni, and the fact that you’re going to be marrying her and move out. I was just privileged to be treated as an equal because you told me this before you even told my mother.”Mahesh also remembered reassuring his daughter that his decision would never affect his relationship with her. “You remember when I told you that I would not be living here and please don’t mistake this as my rejection of you. There is another woman in my life, but I love you. And I will always take care of your mother and this house. I can’t thank you enough for that expression because you looked at me, and I thought you didn’t judge me,” he said. Despite going their separate ways, Mahesh and Lorraine continued to maintain mutual respect. Pooja recalled that when some people questioned the legitimacy of Mahesh’s marriage to Soni Razdan, it was her mother who came to his defence. Pooja had revealed, “When they questioned the legitimacy of your marriage, and they said, ‘Who gave permission?’ I’ll never forget, my mother got up and said, ‘Who gave permission? I gave permission. He has my blessing.’”
