For Mehra, life was indeed 70 mm and he knew how to play it. Affectionately called PM by his colleagues, he had a reputation of calling a spade a spade. His war of words with Manmohan Desai, the other big director in Bachchan’s work trajectory was legendary.

The exchange of the two heavyweight film-makers during the publicity campaigns of Mard and Sharabi is well chronicled. Desai who had directed Mard had famously remarked, “Only a mard can make a Mard and a sharabi can make a Sharabi.” Mehra though had the last laugh when Sharabi was declared a huge hit.

In recent years, Mehra had become a recluse. His later movies like Zindagi ek jua, Dalaal and Bal Brahamchari didn’t create much waves.

Family sources say he never quite recovered from the heartbreak of seeing his wife in coma for several years. His health worsened after his wife’s death a couple of years back.