The mother of all stories

Mahesh Bhatt has fleshed out Vidya Balan's character in an upcoming film with references to his mother Shirin
With Mahesh Bhatt as its writer, it is not surprising that real life blends seem less with the reel in Mohit Suri's upcoming love story, Hamari Adhuri Kahaani.
It is no secret that the veter an director's mother, Shirin, was not his father, filmmaker Nanabhai Bhatt's legally wedded wife."This was a reality we had to live with but she was the lodestar of my life. And I became who I did to give her legitimacy in society," says Bhatt.
READ : Vidya Balan: Kolkata is my second home
So, when he sat down to write Vidya Balan's character in the film, he borrowed cues from Shirin, among the other women who influenced his life. “She was a beautiful woman living in a man's world. And that is one hell of a hazardous journey, more so for a single woman and a single parent. But her courage, strength and dignity kept her going and these are the qualities Vidya draws from her,“ he points out.
The actress, who was last seen as a Hyderabadi sleuth in Bobby Jasoos, is a florist at a five-star hotel this time. She aspires to join the upwardly mobile middle-class but her look and her mentality reflect her origins, a strata governed by patriarchy.
"She will give voice to mil lions of Indian women who find themselves trapped in a loveless marriage," asserts Bhatt. Rajkummar Rao plays her husband, an embodiment of the orthodox Indian man.
But during the course of the film, his life takes a turn after which his character acquires dimensions reminiscent of Bhatt's stepmother Hemlata.“She caused me unimaginable anguish through my childhood because she was my father's lawfully wedded wife.
But when I finally came face-to-face with her, I realized that she had suffered too, knowing her man was in love with another woman. Yet, she had sterling qualities too---of grace and generosity of spirit which allowed her to make that great sacrifice.
Hers was just as much a larger-than-life a love story as was my parents' and that is what makes this film special for me, says Bhatt The film also stars Emraan Hashmi and has moved from Kolkata, Cape Town, Abu Dhabi and Dubai and finally takes root in a Mumbai studio where it weaves fiction with the facts of its writer's life.
WATCH :Mahesh Bhatt fleshed out Vidya Balan's character in upcoming film