'We had had our fights, there were problems': Soni Razdan about Mahesh Bhatt's first wife (Throwback)

If there is one thing Mahesh Bhatt and his life can't be called, it has to be ordinary. From his choice of films, career curve, marriages to his children; nothing can be put into a box and described as it is. The maverick director has had as tumultuous a journey in his personal life as he has seen in his professional one. Mahesh Bhatt's decision to leave his first family and get married to Alia Bhatt's mother, Soni Razdan, was frowned upon by everyone. There was a phase where not just his family but the entire industry had turned up against the director.

In conversation with Simi Garewal, both Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan had opened up about the troubles they faced in their relationship. Talking about her fights and problems with Mahesh' first wife, Lorraine, Razdan had said, "For a while, maybe, but that went away over the years. We get along very well now, but we'd had our fights. Initially, when we weren't married, there were problems. But after that, once I got married to him, we've been very, very good to each other." Interrupting her, Mahesh had then said, "There was resentment early on. She was this evil seductress who took their papa away. I let them express their rage, their anger."

In an old interview with Stardust, Pooja Bhatt had said, "Initially, I did resent my dad for leaving my mother for another woman. I also used to hate Soni for snatching away dad from us. In fact, there used to be times when I used to flare-up at the very mention of her name. It was my mother who made me understand and think practically. She would tell me not to resent or hate my father for anything for basically he is a good man at heart."

While there was a time when the family didn't see eye-to-eye, they all stand rock solid behind each other now. And we hope they all stay strong and together the same way.