It’s been 35 years since Aashiqui (1990) hit the screens and became a cult classic, turning lead actors Anu Aggarwal and Rahul Roy into overnight stars. As the film marks this milestone today, Anu revisits the whirlwind fame that followed.

“I still remember the call from Mahesh Bhatt saying, ‘Aashiqui is a hit!’ It felt like a 1000-watt lightning bolt struck me. There were hundreds of fans outside my house, guys writing ‘I love you Anu’ on the walls! It was crazy,” she recalls.

Directed by Mahesh Bhatt, Aashiqui’s massive success led to a 2013 reboot starring Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor, directed by Mohit Suri. Kartik Aaryan and Anurag Basu’s Aashiqui 3 was dropped following legal troubles, but the two are collaborating on a new project. Does she think the remakes do justice to the original?

“Let’s be honest, remakes often try to be like the original, but they can never be the same. There will always be differences. Whether they do justice or not, I don’t judge. Everyone’s trying to express art in their own way, and I think it’s unfair to compare.”

Ask Anu how she feels about younger actors carrying the franchise forward, and she reflects, “Our tagline was ‘Love makes life live’ — and love, especially in Hindi cinema, has always been a driving force. Every generation expresses love differently. So an Aashiqui made 35 years ago, one made 10 years ago, and one being made today will each reflect their time and emotional language.”

Part autobiographical, starring brand news faces Rahul Roy and Anu Agarwal, director Mahesh Bhatt’s Aashiqui became a smash hit in 1990. Its music topped the charts for years and continues to resonate with listeners. The romantic musical saw a sequel headlined by Aditya Roy Kapur and Shraddha Kapoor and directed by Mohit Suri in 2013. A third successor, Aashiqui 3, was announced in September last year by the same collaborators (T-Series and Vishesh films) with Kartik Aaryan in the lead and to be helmed by Anurag Basu.

However, a row over the ownership and creative rights of the franchise seems to have ensued, given Vishesh Films’ recent public notice followed by Mukesh Bhatt’s statement (he heads the banner, after Mahesh and he parted ways). Taking to their official Instagram handle, Vishesh Films issued a notice on September 25.

Excerpts from the statement said, “Vishesh Films is the producer and joint rightful owner of the intellectual property rights associated with the Aashiqui franchise. Any communication made without our involvement is unauthorized and fraudulent.”

Mahesh Bhatt, who made the iconic 1990 original, spoke to Bombay Times exclusively, shedding light on the issue.

He said, “In this time and age when the moral compass of the world has shattered, and it’s become a moral desert, it’s important that elders behave like elders. Right isn’t always legal, and 50 per cent rights are in any case with T-Series. But I choose to stand for what’s morally right. In the case of Aashiqui, that moral legacy belongs to Gulshan Kumar and, in his absence, to Bhushan Kumar. Gulshan’s vision, support, and timeless music are at the heart of Aashiqui’s enduring impact.”

Mahesh Bhatt recounted, “I remember that I was shooting at Horizon Hotel in Juhu, and a man who was standing at the corner of my set introduced himself as a music baron, who had just moved to Mumbai from Delhi. He said, ‘Main Shivji ka bhakt hu. Unhonay mujhe sapne mein kaha ke main aapke paas aau. Aapse film banwau. Aapka naam Mahesh hai na?’ I said yes. He said, ‘Music ka bank hai mere paas. Anurada ji (Paudwal) humare company ke saath hai. Aapko jo gaane pasand hai aap le lijiye, ya naye banwalijie. Ek acchisi musical bana dijiye. Main aapko promise karta hu, Hindustan kay konay konay mein main yeh gaane le jayunga. Har ghar mein bajwaunga. Badle mein, aap 50 per cent le lijiye.’ The simplicity and innocence with which he spoke was the beginning of Aashiqui. I distinctly remember I was shooting Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin (1991) in Madhumalai forest (Tamil Nadu) with Aamir Khan and Pooja (Bhatt). In that forest, I heard one of the songs from Aashiqui playing. I turned to Pooja and said, ‘That man promised me that he will take the music across India."

“When we decided to have a resurgence of the Aashiqui franchise, Bhushan was aware that he was up against a formidable brand called Aashiqui (1990) and its music, but he wanted to keep his father’s legacy alive. I personally feel that since I was the person whom Gulshan Kumar came to, I must speak up. They (T-Series) own the 50 per cent rights anyway, and the moral right of a product belongs to the person who gave birth to it. Let the legal experts sit down and discuss the details, I am talking about the moral compass, and I want to set the record straight. I have nothing to gain from this,” Bhatt says.

He further elaborates, “I am known as an autobiographical filmmaker for my films like Arth (1982) or Zakhm (1998), but the romance you see in Aashiqui (1990) between Rahul Roy and Anu Agarwal is based on my first love with Lorraine Bright (Pooja Bhatt’s mother). I was 16 and she was 14 and studying in Bombay Scottish. The classroom scenes, her being thrown out and becoming my responsibility… my personal life was in Aashiqui. That film had the truth of my life and the musical vision of Gulshan.”

The ownership debate doesn’t interest me because I have never been a man of business. I have consciously stayed away from it. I don’t have the stomach to sit down and argue the legal aspects. That’s for the legal experts to sort out. We are talking about the moral background. We come from a time when everything wasn’t spelt out. If you gave someone your word, you stood by it. Those values need to be resurrected even more today as everyone looks at the other with distrust.”

Anu Agarwal became an overnight sensation in 1990 with the film Aashiqui. Unfortunately, she met with a serious road accident a few years later, which changed the course of her life. The actress suffered major injuries, her face was severely damaged and it took a long time for her to recover. But she is back now, all charged up, hoping to catch up on the time and opportunities that she may have lost. It’s tough to get a foothold in showbiz, she’s aware, but she wants to give it her best shot. Excerpts from an interview:

To begin with, let me clear one of the biggest misunderstandings there is about me. The accident was in no way instrumental in my leaving the entertainment business, I was out way before that. At a time when I was super successful, I was facing the dark night of the soul. Ironically, when the world thought I had everything, I was the unhappiest ever. So in 1994, I stopped signing new films. I travelled abroad and a top Hollywood agency even wanted me to sign up with them in 1996. I was excited, but I also wanted to self-develop, so I ended up joining the Bihar School of Yoga in 1997. That transformed me.

It was not just tough, it was a matter of life or death. I was in a coma. The question was not my recovery, but whether I would survive, and even if I did, would it be in a paralyzed state. I miraculously woke up from a 29-day coma, after which I was bedridden, half-body paralyzed and suffering from severe trauma. Nobody thought I would ever stand up, but I tried to stay positive. That’s because when I was in a coma, I had an out-of-body experience where I saw the other side. Even when the body broke into a million pieces and suffered multiple fractures, contrary to what everyone may have thought, I was absolutely sure that I would survive. I remember when I woke up, I felt like a newly born. But it did take me a long time to bounce back, it took me years.

Acting is a skill I am born with and this is an exciting time in the entertainment business with different mediums opening up and the film industry, too, is going through a revamp. Anyway, it was never easy. Supermodels were not welcome in Bollywood at that time, so in a way, I did break the mould then. I was too tall, too dusky, too forthright, too humourous, too supermodel in my fashion sense, too independent, too blunt... I was not in any way your quintessential heroine material. Regardless, my acting skills worked. To live life according to your principles and not as per social conditioning or expectations, is not easy.

In this Life 2, as I call it, I know the universal law. It says for best results, accept whatever is happening, but put your heart and soul into whatever you do. That is my approach to acting too. I just believe in using my mind creatively and not worrying about the outcome because that would be self-defeating. I believe in seeing the heart in the art, that has always been my approach.

Yes, but that was earlier. Today, nobody suggests this, as I am rejuvenated for all to see. On the other hand, now people think I have had a surgery as my face looks different from what it did a decade ago. I had many surgeries after the accident to mend my broken bones and to just get my body to be functional... basically, to just survive. Any surgery traumatises you and affects the rest of your body. Why would one pay to get that done? Also, I feel cosmetic surgeries are plastic and I am not attracted to anything which doesn’t go with the normal tune of nature. In my yoga studies, I was taught the holistic approach, where we do not treat a separate part, like a face, but treat the whole body alongside the mind and senses. I believe totally in the law of nature, which fundamentally focuses on the fact that we get what we give out. In the last few years, I have been busy with my foundation, focussing on helping underprivileged children and also on improving lives through yoga.

Not much, but I am just a phone call away.

Yes, sometimes, but then I have been too much of my own person practicing self-love. Also, I have been financially and emotionally independent since I remember growing up. Yoga has taught me one thing you are born alone and that is how you are going to die. When you truly understand this truth, it calms and changes your perspective towards life. I consider myself truly rich today; I have found my inner wealth, which is way bigger than any trillions that you can earn in materialism.