Veteran producer-director Prakash Mehra says "It is characteristic of the way the industry functions. Honestly, the industry is a ruthless place where everything is driven by money and success. Being out of sight is also being out of mind. Emotions, feelings and relationships have no value here.
"I am not surprised at the indifference of the industry to Parveen's death or her state of health prior to her death. I do agree that she was a mentally disturbed person but I am told that she was in a sorry state of affairs in the last few years of life with people refusing to believe her and even the best of friends deserting her.
"People here are so self-centered that they will hunt you down to Antartica if they need you, but will stop recognising you the moment your value is over."
Mehra has an interesting story to tell about Parveen Babi's generosity when he had signed her to play the female lead in his film "Jwalamukhi".
"The film had a similar subject to the Jeetendra starrer, 'Jyoti Bane Jwala', and we were racing against time to complete and release it first. But mid-way through the film, Parveen had an attack of severe mental depression. Her hands would tremble on the sets and it was one of her earliest stages of schizophrenia.
"She decided that she couldn't do the film anymore. I was forced to sign Reena Roy in her place and lost out to
'Jyoti Bane Jwala'. The film bombed badly and clicked only in Assam where the other film could not release due
to some reason. But Parveen was so repentant over the whole episode that she offered to do my next film
'Namak Halaal' for free but I paid her the market price that she charged at that time," Mehra recalls.According to Mehra, Parveen's anxiety about work and having to survive in the industry began when she realised that she was suffering from schizophrenia. "She would cry on my lap like a small baby at times worried about where the disease would take her.
"She was worried about forgetting her dialogues and wondered whether the industry would continue working with her. She once told me that she was really scared of being abandoned and left alone by the industry. Ironically that's what happened at the end," says a tearful Prakash Mehra.
The industry's apathy was perceptible when not a single person from the industry, apart from the sole exception of Mahesh Bhatt, came forward to perform her last rites, when there did not seem to be any claimants for her body.
"I am glad some of her relatives came in later but I took the decision at that point of time for my inner peace. I shared a close relationship with her for three years during which she made a significant contribution to my life. It is in no way comparable," says Bhatt.
According to Bhatt, he and his friend Ashok Pandit and producer-director Vinod Pande, were among the few
people who decided to come forward to perform Parveen Babi's last rites, before her relatives came in the
picture. Pandit however feels that this is not a trademark of the film industry alone, it is evident everywhere.
"Why single out the industry, we all know that 'chadte suraj ko sabhi salaam karte hain' (everyone hails the
rising sun)." "Ironically, some people in the industry were busy giving their reactions on the phone and on camera, without even venturing out to the hospital to find whether there were any claimants for her body.
"Even a celebrity director's distant relative would have commanded a better audience," says Ashok Pandit, adding that they were glad that M.P. Sunil Dutt joined later and offered his respects on behalf of the industry.
