Mahesh Bhatt has always been known for his candid takes on cinema and life. In a recent interview, the veteran filmmaker spoke at length about his daughter, Alia Bhatt — from the time she quietly stepped into films with the support of her mother, Soni Razdan, to how she continues to juggle acting, motherhood, and stardom today.
‘It was a conspiracy between mother and daughter’
Recalling Alia’s early days, Bhatt revealed that she never directly told him about her acting ambitions. “It was, quote-unquote, a conspiracy hatched between the mother and the daughter,” he laughed, sharing how Soni Razdan and Alia agreed to act in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s planned film Balika Badhu. Though the film never took off, the spark remained. Years later, it was Karan Johar who auditioned Alia for Student of the Year.“She always wanted to be an actress. She never thought of anything else. Even today, after motherhood, her passion for acting remains unquenched,” Bhatt told Humans of Bombay.
‘She astounded me’
While Bhatt admitted he hadn’t expected Alia to have such depth as a performer, her work proved him wrong. “She astounded me. I did not think she was capable of this. She astounded me in Highway. She astounded me in Udta Punjab… She astounded me again and again,” he said, adding that the credit for Alia and her sister Shaheen’s upbringing goes largely to Soni Razdan.
On Alia balancing work and Raha
Bhatt also reflected on how Alia is navigating motherhood while being at the peak of her career. “She chose to get married, she had a child, and she works. Now she’s going to Milan for the Gucci event carrying her daughter with her. That’s very heartening. When I recently did an ad with her and Mr. Bachchan, I saw there was one vanity for Raha. It had the feeling of a nursery school… it almost looked like a temple,” he recalled.For Bhatt, this is a sign of how much times have changed in the industry. “These are new-age heroines. They go to work, they parent, they play mothers, they go for Gucci events with their babies. It’s a new world, and the great women are the life and soul of it,” he said proudly.
On marriage, career and changing times
Addressing the old notion that actresses lose roles after marriage and motherhood, Bhatt disagreed. “I don’t see that happening to Alia. Those old references don’t hold true anymore. More roles are created now for women even in their 40s. With streaming and world cinema reaching Indian homes, the audience has evolved,” he said. Go to Source
