Actress and film director Pooja Bhatt has spoken about her family’s complex personal history, revealing how Soni Razdan once admitted that she felt “very guilty” about her relationship with director Mahesh Bhatt.Speaking in an interview with Vicky Lalwani, Pooja spoke about her parents’ separation, and Mahesh Bhatt’s relationship with the late actor.
Parveen Babi
And the emotional maturity with which her family eventually dealt with it all.
“My Lover” is based on my mother and father’s love story.
Describing her parents’ relationship, Pooja said, “The man who met my mother when he was 17 in Scottish Bombay… Aashiqui Ki Jo, Rahul Roy Aur Anu Agarwal’s love story, Karti Hai’s play was based on my mother and father’s love story.”She continued, “Uske baad unhone shaadi kar li. I was born. Rishte me sannata aa gaya because the fairytale romance didn’t last. He left. Wapas aa gaye. They tried to make their marriage work.”
They had my brother. But this cannot save the relationship that has come to an end.She also reflected on relationships and heartbreak, saying, “Was it easy? No, not really. It’s not easy when you wake up to the fact that there’s no Santa Claus. Relationships don’t last forever. Yes happily ever after Jeski showed me film hum in aur fairy tales mein baat karte hai, wo hota nahi hai.”
An honest conversation with Soni Razdan
Recalling her heart-to-heart conversation with Soni Razdan in Coonoor, Pooja said, “Soni had a heart-to-heart conversation with me…
“Pooja, I also feel very guilty, I felt very guilty,” she said.Pooja revealed that she reassured Soni and told her not to blame herself for the collapse of her parents’ marriage. “I told her with all my heart, Sonny, you couldn’t break up the relationship that was together. There’s no room for anyone in a strong relationship unless there are cracks there or there’s something missing so that someone else can come in and find that space.”
“There are no villains in life”
Pooja said her understanding of relationships has evolved over the years, especially after seeing how her parents continued to maintain dignity and warmth towards each other despite the separation.She recalled the last moment when Mahesh Bhatt visited her house in Bandra. “Bhatt sahab came home. He was hungry and my mother prepared poha for him,” she said, adding that her mother, Kiran Bhatt, also read parts of Mahesh Bhatt’s book ‘Ashes Are Warm’.“When she got to the part where Parveen was handcuffed and arrested, she said, ‘Direct me to write Band Karna Pada because I was very moved,’” Pooja shared.According to Pooja, her mother then told Mahesh Bhatt: “After reading this book, I realized that there are no villains in life.”Reflecting on that moment, Pooja added: “If two people can stand by each other morally through thick and thin, even if the world is on one side, then you stand by someone…
“This is love.”
“I’d rather hear it from my father’s mouth.”
Pooja also recalled how Mahesh Bhatt told her about Soni Razdan long before the rest of the world knew.“Actually, I knew about Sony before my mother did,” she revealed. “He woke me up and said, ‘I have to tell you that I have met this lady and I am leaving her. That doesn’t mean I love you any less and I’ll always be there for you.”The actress said that many people later wondered whether such honesty was appropriate for a child, but she disagreed.“You said agar woh mujhe nahi kahega to kisko kahega? I would have rather heard it from my father’s mouth or my mother’s mouth than from Stardust or Cine Blitz or mohalla magazine.”
“When Shaheen was born, my father called my mother for the first time.”
Pooja also shared how the family has evolved over the years into what she described as an “extended family”, despite complicated beginnings.“It took many years for things to get back to normal,” she admitted. “I saw my mother’s pain.
But they always maintained decorum and grace with each other.Recalling Shaheen Bhatt’s birth, Pooja revealed emotional details about her father’s relationship with Kiran Bhatt even after their separation.She said: “When Shaheen was born, the first person my father called from the hospital was my mother.” “I will never forget that moment when my mother came up to me and said, ‘Hey, you have a sister now.’”Pooja added that today she has a warm relationship with Soni Razdan as well as the Shaheen sisters
Alia Bhatt
.“We’re generally a family, all of us. We don’t get into each other’s space. We’re there for each other when we need the other to be there,” she said.
Pooja Bhatt on Parveen Babi: I loved her
Pooja also spoke warmly about Parveen Babi and her memories of meeting the late star as a child.“I remember my father taking me to her house. She was a beautiful woman,” Pooja said, recalling how Parveen gifted her a bottle of perfume.“I will never forget the way she gave me that perfume.
This is my memory of Parveen – that beautiful film star whose motive was to give something away.
“I don’t come from a broken home.”
Despite the emotional turmoil in the family, Pooja insisted that she never considered herself as someone from a fractured family.“My father may have moved somewhere else, but it’s really a matter of geography,” she said.“I don’t come from a broken home. My home is more cohesive than the homes most people are supposed to do, where on paper you’re all under the same roof but your lives are completely separate.”
