What is your greatest fear?
Of conforming to the powers that be out of fear.
What is your favourite virtue?
That I do not pretend to be virtuous. I proclaim myself as a sinner.
What is the principal aspect of your personality?
Audacity, audacity and more audacity.
What is your main fault?
I am reckless, passionate, incorrigible, and at times as some people put it – insane.
For what fault do you have the most tolerance?
For human frailties which are common to the human kind.
What do you hate the most?
The holier than thou attitude of the self-proclaimed saints, seers and godmen.
What would be your greatest misfortune?
That I couldn’t give my step mother her due while she was alive. I woke to up to her greatness much later in life.
What is your treasured possession?
My gorgeous daughters: Pooja, Shaheen and Alia.
What is your favourite colour?
Black is black.
If not yourself, who would you be?
I would rather not be.
Who are your favourite poets?
Allama Iqbal, William Blake and Kaifi Azmi.
What is the military event you admire the most?
When I see my jawans pick up a child trapped in a human disaster situation. I have a lump in my throat when I see that aspect of our Army. I see them as saviours of life.
What is the reform you admire the most?
When women are made to stand shoulder to shoulder with man.
Which talent would you most like to have?
To shut up!
Which character in world history do you most despise?
The delusion that you are immortal and that you are god. Many characters had that…
What is your favourite food and drink?
Dal, roti and neembu paani .
What is your present state of mind?
Ecstatic, hungry for more life served on my plate and the appetite to live dangerously.
How would you like to die?
Still running on the tracks.
What is your favourite motto?
To have no motto.
(Mahesh Bhatt is a film director known for films such as Arth , Saaransh and Daddy. He recently returned to television by directing a show called Naamkaran .)
