Kangana Ranaut accuses Mahesh Bhatt of hiding his real Muslim name ‘Aslam’

Sharing old videos on Instagram of the filmmaker, she also stated that he ‘casually’ incited people to violence

Bollywood’s Kangana Ranaut, who made her acting debut in the 2006 film Gangster backed by Mahesh Bhatt, has now accused the filmmaker of hiding his “real” name and of “poetically inciting people for violence.” Sharing old videos of the Hamari Adhuri Kahani director on Instagram, Ranaut alleged that Bhatt’s “real” name isn’t actually Mahesh, but Aslam. 

She further questioned the filmmaker about the reason he stopped using his Muslim name, suggesting that he should have embraced the fact that he “converted” instead of changing names to “represent a certain religion”

On Sunday, the Queen actor shared a series of clips on the photo-sharing app that saw Bhatt giving speeches and interviews back in the day. Along with each clip, she commented on his alleged behaviours. With one of the clips from his old speeches about religion and piety, Ranaut wrote, “Mahesh jee casually and poetically inciting people for violence.” 

Commenting on another one where Bhatt is seen speaking about Islam as a peaceful religion and quoting a verse from the Holy Quran, she added, “I am told his real name is Aslam. He converted to marry his second wife (Soni Razdan) It is a beautiful name, why hide it?”

She further wrote, “He must use his real name, not represent a certain religion when he has converted.” 

Ranaut has been at crossroads with Bhatt since 2020 it seems. At that time, the Simran actor had accused him of nearly assaulting her, when she turned down Dhokha, directed by his daughter, filmmaker-actor Pooja Bhatt. Fast forward to earlier this year, she took an indirect dig at Bhatt and his daughter, actor Alia Bhatt, ahead of the release of her film Gangubai Kathiawadi. She called Alia a “daddy’s angel” and her dad running a “movie mafia” as she commented on how “wrong” the casting was in the film.

On the work front, Ranaut will be releasing her maiden production, Tiku Weds Shiru this year. The romantic drama stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Avneet Kaur in lead roles. She has also started shooting for the patriotic drama titled Emergency, which she's helming herself, and will also be starring in it.