Mahesh Bhatt is known for films that introduced and shaped the careers of so many actors in the Hindi film industry. Among those who benefited from his work was actor Mushtaq Khan, who recalled a memorable chapter from the early days of his career involving the filmmaker. At the time, getting in touch with Mushtaq was not easy, for he did not have a phone or even a landline. So, he came up with an unusual way to find out if Mahesh Bhatt had called.
Mushtaq first met Mahesh Bhatt through veteran screenwriter Salim Khan, who had just written his first solo script for the filmmaker. Salim told Mushtaq that he had recommended him for a role in the 1986 crime thriller Naam. He then asked the actor to meet Mahesh Bhatt at the studio where the filmmaker was shooting.
“I finally met Mahesh Bhatt with great difficulty and after summoning up a lot of courage,” Mushtaq recalled. Mahesh Bhatt acknowledged that Salim Khan had recommended Mushtaq's name but explained that he did not have a suitable role for the actor in Naam. Instead, he directed Mushtaq to his brothers, producer Mukesh Bhatt and writer Robin Bhatt, who assured him that they would contact him when an appropriate role became available.
The challenge was that Mushtaq did not have a phone at the time, not even a landline, making it difficult for the Bhatt brothers to get in touch with him. “I'd pay Re 1 per message to a grocer nearby to tell me if I got any calls. After struggling the entire day, I'd go to the grocer every evening to ask if I got any calls. But he'd say no. After 15 days, he finally told me I got a call from Mahesh Bhatt,” the actor shared.
That long-awaited call eventually led to Mushtaq Khan landing his first film with Mahesh Bhatt, the 1988 action-crime drama Kabzaa. Starring Raj Babbar, Sanjay Dutt, Dimple Kapadia and Amrita Singh, the film featured Mushtaq as Tiwari, an associate of Paresh Rawal's character Veljibhai Soda.
“I did a scene in that film, which Bhatt sahab liked a lot. So, he gave me a good, bigger role in Swayam, a telefilm he made with Waheeda Rehman and Akarsh Khurana,” Mushtaq said.
Mushtaq Khan further collaborated with Mahesh Bhatt in films like Sadak and Sir.
