Actor-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt has opened up about his family’s complicated personal history, revealing how Sony Razdan she once admitted that she felt “very guilty” about her relationship with the filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.Speaking in an interview with Vickey Lalwani, Pooja reflected on her parents’ split, her relationship with late actor Mahesh Bhatt. Parveen Babiand the emotional maturity with which his family finally faced it all.
“Aashiqui was based on my mother and father’s love”
Describing her parents’ relationship, Pooja said, “The man met my mother when she was 17 in Bombay Scotland… Aashiqui ki jo love story Rahul Roy aur Anu Aggarwal play out karte hai was based on my mother and father’s love.”He continued, “Uske baad unhone shaadi kar li. I was born. Rishte me sannata aa gaya because the fairy tale romance didn’t last. She moved out. Wapas aa gaye. They tried to make the marriage work. They had my brother. But that could not save a relationship that was in his career.’He reflected on relationships and heartbreak, saying, “Was it easy? No, not really. It’s not easy when you wake up to Santa Claus not being there. Relationships don’t last forever. Yeh happy ever after jiske bare me hum filmon aur fairy tales mein baat karte hai, wo hota nahi hai.”
Heartfelt conversation with Soni Razdan
Recalling a heart-to-heart conversation with Soni Razdan in Coonoor, Pooja said, “Soni had a heart-to-heart conversation with me… She said, ‘Pooja, I feel very guilty too, I felt very guilty’.”Pooja revealed that she calmed down Soni and told him not to blame himself for the breakup of his parents’ marriage. “I told him with all my heart, ‘Son, you couldn’t break the relationship that we had together. There’s no place for anyone in a strong relationship, unless there’s a hole or something missing, for someone else to come and find that space.’
“There are no criminals in life”
Pooja said that her understanding of relationships evolved over the years, especially after seeing her parents continue to maintain dignity and warmth for each other despite their separation.He recalled a moment when Mahesh Bhatt visited his house in Bandra. “Bhatt sahab came home, he was hungry and my mother poha him,” he said, adding that his mother, Kiran Bhatt, also read excerpts from Mahesh Bhatt’s The Ashes Are Warm.Pooja shared, “When she reached the place where Parveen was handcuffed and arrested, she said, ‘Mujhe kitab band karna pada because I am so hurt.'”According to Pooja, her mother then told Mahesh Bhatt, “After reading this book I realized that there are no criminals in life.”Reflecting on the moment, Pooja added, “If two people can stand by each other morally through thick and thin, even if the world is on one side, you’re on someone’s side… that’s love.”
“I’d rather hear it from my father’s mouth”
Pooja also recalled how Mahesh Bhatt informed Soni about Razdan long before the world knew.“Actually, I knew about Soni before my mother did,” he revealed. “He woke me up and said, ‘I have to let you know that I’ve met this lady and I’m leaving. It doesn’t mean I love you any less and I always will.'”The actress later said that many people questioned whether such honesty was appropriate for a child, but she disagreed.“I said Agar woh mujhe nahi kahega kisko kahega? I preferred to hear it from my father’s mouth or my mother’s mouth than from Stardust magazine, Cine Blitz or the mohalla.”
“When Shaheen was born, my father called my mother first”
Pooja also shared how, over the years, the family has evolved into what she described as an “extended family”, despite their complicated beginnings.“It took many years for things to become normal,” he admitted. “I saw my mother’s pain. But they always maintained decorum and grace with each other.’Recalling the birth of Shaheen Bhatt, Pooja revealed a touching detail about her father’s bond with Kiran Bhatt even after their separation.“When Shaheen was born, the first person my father called from the hospital was my mother,” she said. “I’ll never forget that moment when my mother came to me and said: ‘Hey, now you have a sister.’Pooja added that today she has a warm relationship with Soni Razdan as well as Shaheen and sisters. Alia Bhatt.“In general, we are a family, all of us. We don’t enter each other’s space. We are there for each other when we have to be the other,” he said.
Pooja Bhatt on Parveen Babi: ‘I loved her’
Pooja also spoke warmly about her memories of meeting Parveen Babi and the star as a child.“I remember my father taking me home. She was a beautiful woman,” said Pooja, recalling how Parveen gifted her a bottle of perfume.“I will never forget the way he gave me that perfume. That’s my memory of Parveen, this beautiful film star who had an impulse to give something.
“I’m not from a broken home”
Despite the emotional upheaval in the family, Pooja insisted that she never saw herself as someone from a broken home.“My dad might have gone, but that’s really a matter of geography,” he said.“I’m not from a broken home. My home is more together than most people’s supposed functional homes, where on paper you’re under one roof but your lives are completely separate.”
