Alia Bhatt's mother Soni Razdan reveals that her daughter has always been sweet-natured
Upala KBR (DNA; November 14, 2016)

Alia as a child
As a baby, when she learned to talk, her first word was ‘baba’ — whatever that meant. She called me baba and her father baba and her sister Tanna. Alia was a very shaant (calm) and placid child with a serene nature. She always seemed to be happy.

As a student
She loved school, she loved interacting with people and was a very sporty kid. She loved playing tennis and squash and also, swimming. Later on, she seemed to breeze through without studying madly because she has a photographic memory. She always had lots of friends.

Unchanged
One thing that hasn’t changed in Alia from childhood is that she’s always been very sweet-natured, then and now. She will do as instructed without much fuss. Of course not now because she is independent and thinks for herself. But if I tell her to do this or that for her health, she complies always. She is conscientious that way.

As parents
As parents, she is close to both my husband and me for different things but where confiding is concerned, she’s mostly very self-sufficient and hardly needs to discuss things much. When it came to pampering my children and being strict with them, I have to say, I was basically their mother and father for many years because my husband was always busy. Till very recently, actually. Hopefully, I managed a balance. When he was around Mahesh was helpful in the big issues. He was very helpful in managing crises.

Bad habits
It’s really tough to think of one. I would say she keeps her problems to herself and doesn’t share her pain. And sometimes I feel she should.

Unforgettable
Once she got lost in Seychelles where we were shooting. I had taken my mom along to help me look after her. I was busy — and she slipped away from my mother’s gaze. The hotel was huge with big grounds and we were panicking thinking she may have fallen into the swimming pool. But finally we found her in the hotel shop chatting away to the shop staff happily. She was two at the time. It was the most stressful 20 minutes of my life. Ever.

Always a child
They say, a child always remains a child in her parents’ eyes. It’s true because it’s difficult to imagine that they will manage at all. But one has to learn and I have to let them learn. Also, since Alia is so busy she hardly has the time to figure things out so hence will need me to help more than usual and is probably grateful that I am around to help.