The love lives of Parveen Babi

Parveen Babi’s life has been a matter of much speculation for years. Many people feel she was some sort of an enigma, a mystery. Though she is dead now, anything written or said about her still generates a lot of interest. It is perhaps because of this that Hollywood film-maker Reynolds Baines decided to make a movie inspired by the late actor.

The movie — an Indo-Hollywood venture — is inspired by the affairs and relationships that Parveen had with people in the film industry. Reynolds says, “Parveen Babi was a superstar in her time. She was probably the Greta Garbo or Marilyn Monroe of Bollywood. Our movie, The Three Kings, is not on or about Parveen Babi. It’s just inspired by her love life. She was years ahead of her time. Her life and death were mysterious. This movie is vaguely inspired by her failed affair with Mahesh Bhatt and rumoured relationships with Kabir Bedi and Amitabh Bachchan.”

However, Reynolds wants to steer clear of controversy and not run the industry giants the wrong way. He emphasises that despite the movie being inspired by Parveen’s life, “It is essentially a work of fiction.”

Small-time actor Shikha Puri will essay the character inspired by Parveen. Casting for the other roles is yet to begin. Bhatt told us that Reynolds hasn’t approached him to double check facts about his affair with Parveen. However, he added that he does not have any problem if anyone unearths skeletons from his past.

“I have no greatness that I will lose if they misrepresent me on screen. Every film needs an inspiration. I am fine if this movie is inspired by my relationship with Parveen. I can’t speak for the others though. I don’t think the makers are committing any crime if they aren’t approaching the others on whose characters the other roles are loosely based on. Because I am sure the makers will not blatantly name anyone. Even if they do so, I don’t have a problem. I won’t wake up one morning to drag them to court,” Bhatt says.

His 1982 film Arth is said to be a semi-autobiographical film about his relationship with Parveen Babi. He also wrote and produced Woh Lamhe in 2006, which is actually based on real facts about his relationship with her. Parveen was speculated to be schizophrenic and had become a recluse. She was found dead in her Mumbai apartment on January 20, 2005.