Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; May 9, 2019)

After making the rounds of various international film festivals, Yours Truly, which has Soni Razdan playing the central role, is being streamed on the OTT platform, ZEE5. The short film based on a book, One That Was Announced, is about the journey of a 57-year-old woman who is on the verge of retirement and feels lonely. “It was quite a journey for me, too,” laughs Soni. “For the first time, I was doing a role that centered around me and a lot of times, I was alone on the sets. Usually, one chills with the co-stars during a break, but since there was nobody, I actually got lonely. When Aahana Kumra joined me, I was so happy to see her. I realised how we take our co-stars for granted,” she shares.

When asked what prompted her to take up the role, she says it was filmmaker Sanjoy Nag’s determination to make a film about a middle-aged lonely woman that convinced her. “I told him, I am not terribly sure people want to watch the life of a 50-something woman. They want to see light entertainers. Only a niche audience will be available for a film like this. He said, the fact that nobody wants to make such a movie is the reason he wants to, which I thought was interesting,” she reasons.

The actress, who is winning rave reviews for her performance, recalls how she ended up living the character that she was playing. “We were shooting at a place that was one-and-a-half hours away from Kolkata. The buildings are very old and crumbling. We shot in a building which was 350 years old and people are living there. It was fascinating to live in that house and essay my role. The days I was on the sets away from everyone, I had become the character,”  says Soni, who is happy that roles for women have become interesting.

“Earlier, women, especially the elderly ones, were relegated to the sidelines. Actually, older, younger, women or men, roles across the board have become interesting. An evolutionary growth is taking place in cinema,” says the veteran actress.

One can’t help but ask her about her successful daughter Alia Bhatt, who has also been in the news for her relationship with Ranbir Kapoor. Probe her about when are they taking it to the next level and she says, “It’s her life and at this point, I can’t say much as I don’t know myself what they have thought,” she signs off.

Yours Truly actor Soni Razdan on why her character will have a universal appeal
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; October 24, 2018)

After sharing screen space with daughter Alia Bhatt in Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi, Soni Razdan will now be seen in Sanjoy Nag’s Yours Truly, an official adaptation of one of the stories (The One That Was Announced) from Annie Zaidi’s book, Love Stories # 1 To 14.

Though the film is slated to release next year, it has been doing the rounds of film festivals, and even found a spot at the recently concluded Busan International Film Festival. Razdan says her attendance at the festival marked her first at a gala held on foreign turf. She cherished the fact that emphasis was given to cinema, and not people’s sartorial choices. “It was not about the red carpet, like it is at the Cannes, but in fact, about cinema. It was interesting to interact with a mixed audience, which also consisted of young people. This was a cinema-conscious audience, the type that watches films being churned out from across the globe.”

The actor was happy to learn that her character — about a woman on the brink of retirement — also resonated with the younger crop of viewers. “The film is about loneliness and finding love. There are lonely people everywhere. The subject has universal appeal.”

Shot in Kolkata, Yours Truly has Razdan play a woman who is set to leave her mundane office job, when she realises that the only thing she’ll miss about her routine is the railway announcer’s voice that she has fallen in love with. The film also sees her filmmaker- husband Mahesh Bhatt in a special appearance. “I think, this is the first, and probably the last time that we will act together. He is not an actor, so who would cast us together again?”

With Alia bagging acclaim for every act, Razdan is only happy to be referred to as a star-mother. Ask her about the actor’s relationship with Ranbir Kapoor, and she replies with a pithy: “What can I say? I would not like to discuss my daughter’s relationship at this point. It is her life, her choice.”

Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; May 13, 2018)

One of the finest young actors of today, Alia Bhatt’s fearlessness isn’t limited to the screen. At 25, she is fiercely objective and individualistic about her opinions and life choices, a trait that’s visible in her choice of films, too. Like her outspoken parents — Soni Razdan and Mahesh Bhatt — you admire her urge to express herself earnestly. In Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi (produced by Junglee Pictures and Dharma Productions), which has opened to rave reviews, Alia is seen on the screen for the first time with her mom Soni, an accomplished theatre and film actor. On Mother’s Day, BT caught up with the mother-daughter duo to talk about their real-life camaraderie, representation of women in Bollywood today and sharing screen space for the first time in this real story on an unusual spy. Excerpts...

You play mother-daughter in Raazi.Did your off-screen relationship help you portray your roles better? How was it being co-stars for the first time?
Soni: I was so focussed on my role that I didn’t really bother about what she was doing on the set (laughs!). I am very professional and Alia is a lot like me, so we didn’t think of us being mother and daughter on set. Having said that, it helped me to have her around — all the emotions came naturally to me because of that.
Alia: Barring the first day, I didn’t really think that I was working with my mom in a film. Also, as far as her career is concerned, I believe that it’s going to restart now. I am already sensing a certain excitement about her in the industry. It’s like, ‘Oh, she is still interested in acting’. I think she will be busier than me in a few years and I will have to wait for her dates (smiles).

Talking about Raazi, there’s a bidaai track — Dilbaro— in the movie. The song has been shot so realistically, did it compel you to think about Alia’s real-life shaadi? Today’s actresses have become game-changers. Many of them have balanced their marriage and career beautifully
Soni: I don’t believe that marriage stops you from doing other things in life, but it has its own challenges. So, I feel that Alia needs at least five years before she settles down. Actually not ‘settle’ per se, you should keep going. This profession is so demanding, I feel that you need to take your time before making the decision.
Alia (cuts in): I don’t like to put numbers to life. It all depends on the timing — right person, right time, right feeling. When I feel I have found the right person who makes me feel, ‘This is it’, I will do it.

Soni, you are an accomplished actress in your own right. So, how does it feel to be known as ‘Alia Bhatt’s mom’ today? On the other hand, Alia, from being known as Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan’s daughter, you’ve created an identity for yourself. You must be proud of what you’ve been able to achieve in a relatively short span of time…
Soni: Now I have a new claim to fame. Wherever I go, people say, ‘Alia Bhatt ki mummy aayi hai’. Chalo, I have suddenly become important and that’s fine. I am very happy to hear that, actually (smiles).
Alia: I will always be their daughter first, but yes, I am happy that whatever I had hoped for has happened so fast. That’s why I didn’t start off my career by doing a film for my father. I was 16 when I met Karan. The minute my mom realised Karan (Johar) was interested (in launching me), she knew that it was safe territory. I give her a lot of credit for making the right decisions for me when I was a kid.

Soni, at 25, Alia is one of the highest paid actresses in India. Do you two still have those typical mother-daughter banters on late nights, savings and relationships?
Alia: I will answer that! We don’t even live together anymore, but mom still calls me to say, ‘I hope you are going home straight after this (an event).’ We have a family instant messaging group and that’s very entertaining. About money, I have asked my parents to deal with it as it stresses me out. If I get calls from banks, I get more confused. Like mathematics, I just don’t get money handling. It’s one of my pet peeves.
Soni: I have a ‘find your friends’ app on my phone and both my daughters (Shaheen and Alia) are on it. I am not saying that I am a detective mom, but once in a while, I keep checking on them. I know that it’s exhausting to constantly explain where you are and what you are doing, so I don’t ask her too many questions every day.

Soni, many feel that Alia has achieved too much too soon as far as her career is concerned. What are your views on it?
Soni: It’s all relative. She may not have faced the struggles that I did, but it’s tough to be where she is today and to live up to so many expectations. I know that people will say, ‘I’d love to have her kind of struggle with all that money in my bank’. But you cannot understand the pressures of this job until you are in it. When she was younger, it was stressful for her to follow a strict diet and things like that — it would play havoc with her emotional state. Media plays an important role, too. The feedback you get before a film release can be very intimidating.
Alia: I feel that as human beings, even if we don’t have problems, we will still find problems to fuss about. It’s solving them that give us true happiness. I might not have the problems of an average 25-year-old girl, but I have other problems that I struggle with on a daily basis. Those who are not part of this industry, might not be able to relate to it, but those who do understand, let me be.

Soni, you started off in the late ‘70s, when Bollywood’s leading ladies had a certain image, and you didn’t necessarily fit into that mould. Do you think actresses of today, including Alia, are fortunate, as the industry is less rigid now?
Absolutely! I am happy that Alia has entered an industry, which is ready for her in terms of physicality, roles and mindset. I was a complete anomaly in this business. I didn’t fit into the Hema Malini-Zeenat Aman commercial cinema mould, neither the Shabana Azmi-Smita Patil art cinema mould. It was a miracle that I became an actress. I survived because of hard work and perseverance. Jo bhi mila, le liya... I probably marketed myself all wrong. I had exotic looks, I should have done those glamorous roles that exuded oomph. But in my head, I was always an actress first. I didn’t want to be a sex symbol. That was perhaps my mistake, but you can’t really change who you are.

From the outside, Alia doesn’t seem like a typical selfie-obsessed 25-year-old. How would you describe your daughter?
Soni: She is in no way a typical 25-year-old. She hasn’t been a typical teenager or college-going girl either, she never had the chance. She started working from a very young age. Alia is emotionally intelligent and exudes wisdom beyond her years. Her understanding based on instinct is a quality that is rare.

Alia, what’s the one piece of advice from your mom that has helped you the most in your journey as an actor?
I think she is a fabulous actor. I remember while I was filming Student Of The Year, during one shot, she told me, ‘Sometimes, doing less is more’ and Mickey Contractor (make-up artist) follows the same mantra. That advice really helped me, because sometimes we think, ‘Expression dena hai toh hum aanth expressions ek shot mein de dete hai’. Doing less and not overacting is what I have learnt from my mom.

You have made many brave choices in your career so far. Have you inherited this trait from your parents?
Alia: The film choices are mine, but the mindset is theirs. My father is a walking-talking quote book, so I constantly get advice and direction from him. When you are brought up in a house that allows an individual to voice his/her opinion freely, it shapes your thinking.
Soni: When you have a family that is open to talking about anything, it makes a lot of difference, because you don’t have to hide anything. You don’t have to lead a double life.

Alia, do you think you have taken after your mother?
Alia: My mom and I are similar in a lot of ways. We have a certain objectivity when looking at things, as that’s the way we have been brought up.
Soni: It’s not just parents who bring up their children, children bring up their parents, too. At some point, there’s a role reversal. They are the younger generation. They have their ideas and that rubs off on you, which is interesting.

Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; May 9, 2018)

Over the years, several Bollywood actors have shared screen space with their star kids. The latest to join the bandwagon is Soni Razdan, who has an interesting cameo in Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi, in which she plays her real-life daughter Alia Bhatt’s reel mother.

Talking about her role, Soni tells us, “It’s a small part but I couldn’t let it go for emotional reasons. When Meghna told me that I would be playing Alia’s mother, I agreed immediately. Then, I read the script, which is so powerful. I have an emotional role as the father (Rajit Kapur) has allowed his daughter to be a spy for India and go to Pakistan, but I’m the only one who opposes the idea initially.”

The mother-daughter duo has shot for some touching moments in the thriller. “We have quite a few such scenes. However, I don’t think all of it could be retained due to the length of the film. There was a breakdown scene which we had shot, but that hasn’t made it to the final cut. That was tough, but now, you have to watch it in the deleted portions,” she laughs. The veteran actress hopes that after this movie, Alia and she get more such opportunities. “I hope that we get another film together. Raazi was the first offer that came to Alia and me, and I jumped at it. But the next one should have equal opportunity for both of us. It will  be interesting to do a relationship drama with Alia, where I get to play her mother again,” exclaims Soni.

Beti Alia has raced ahead of all her contemporaries when it comes to performances and acclaim. The proud mother is ecstatic, “Alia has believed in whatever she has done and made the right choices. She’s not someone who will consult us about her movies. She obviously asks us for suggestions when she wants to, but that has never affected her decision. She’s a headstrong, but sensitive girl. After all, who would have expected she would do a Highway after Student Of The Year? That in itself was an acting course for her and I’m happy that today, everyone knows me as Alia’s mother. As a family, all of us are very proud of what she is doing.”

Of late, there have been a few on-screen appearances for Soni. Ask her what kept her away from the spotlight and she rues, “It wasn’t that I didn’t want to act. Unfortunately, after a point I just stopped getting offers. Thankfully, now things are back on track and I want to do some meaningful work again, regardless of the screen time.”

As of now, she is keen to become a director. She was supposed to helm a movie titled Love Affair, but that is on the back burner for now. Soni explains, “There’s another script that I have liked which I will be directing first. I wanted to do Love Affair, but it didn’t work out for now. However, I will revisit it after I finish this film.”

Actress Soni Razdan on working with Alia Bhatt for the first time in Meghna Gulzar’s next, Raazi
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 23, 2018)

Mirror (September 26, 2017) was the first to report that the talented mother-daughter duo of Soni Razdan and Alia Bhatt will be reprising their real-life roles for Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi after they were spotted shooting for the Junglee Pictures and Dharma productions film at Pahalgam’s Government Civil Hospital, the oldest and only hospital in the picturesque Kashmiri town. Soni herself was vacationing in Mukteshwar, Uttarakhand, last year when she had received a call from Meghna offering the part of Teji.

“I can’t tell you how excited I was to get this opportunity. At the time, I knew that Alia was in talks with Meghna too, but I didn’t exactly know for what. Alia takes her work quite seriously and we have to pester her to get things out of her. We both have been waiting to work with each other for a long time now and I didn’t really care how big the role was,” Soni reminisces, adding that she was so looking forward to the film that she took good care of herself before she reached the sets.

Raazi is based on Harinder Sikka’s book, Calling Sehmat, but Soni is yet to read the book. “It was a dream to work with Meghna and she was very clear about her vision for my character. At that point, I didn’t have the access to the book, so I depended entirely on the brilliantly written script, but I would like to read it after the release of the film. I’m sure it will be another journey altogether and I would like to enjoy it independently,” she says.

Ask her on how she prepped up for the role and she says that since she’s Alia’s mother in real life too, it made playing one on screen relatively easy. “I remember this one scene, where I give Sehmat her nani’s jhumkas and tell her that she can choose not to do what she is doing, and she says that nothing is more important than the country. After the scene, I wanted to hug my daughter. I was so proud,” the veteran actress says.

The last time Soni was in the Valley, it was for Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1985 thriller Khamosh and she was happy to return with another film featuring her. “I had gone to Kashmir with Alia when she was shooting there for Student Of The Year, and while we are aware that a lot has changed there in the last few years, it was fairly peaceful when we were filming Raazi. I truly believe that it is one of the most beautiful places in the world,” Soni adds.

The actress who was last seen in Sanjay Gupta’s 2013 crime-thriller Shootout At Wadala seems to have become really choosy about roles... “Not at all, I was just busy with something that I wanted to direct and maybe because of that people thought I wasn’t interested in acting. But I will never lose interest in acting and am always open to good parts,” she says.

And what is the status of her second directorial after the 2005-released Nazar? “I am scripting something, but I wouldn’t want to elaborate on it until I am ready with it,” she says.

Deepali Singh (DNA; February 20, 2018)

It was in 1981 that a young, British-born actress made her debut in Hindi cinema with Aparna Sen’s 36 Chowringhee Lane. She followed it up with films like Saaransh, Mandi, Sadak, and Page 3 among many others. She had a successful stint on television with the serial Buniyaad and acted on stage with veterans like Satyadev Dubey. But nothing came easy for Soni Razdan, who was born to a German mother and Kashmiri father. “Getting into films wasn’t easy, particularly for me because I didn’t exactly look like an Indian village girl when I was young. I was getting into an industry which wasn’t ready for me at any level. For me, to even have had made a small mark was a big achievement,” says the actress, offering us a cup of coffee as we sit across her.

Soni’s house is being renovated and she has invited us to her daughter Alia’s spacious apartment in Juhu. With Alia’s cat Edward enjoying an afternoon siesta on the sofa behind us, Soni reminds us that she has a couple of films lined up, including Raazi, where she shares screen space with her actress daughter and director Sanjoy Nag’s Yours Truly, where she plays the lead. The latter also stars husband and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt in a significant cameo.

“I have also acted in Ashvin Kumar’s film set in Kashmir, which is yet to release,” says the 61-year-old. Direction is on her mind too, with her working on something for the digital space. Quiz her if she would like to direct Alia someday and the proud mother replies, “Honestly, I’m not thinking about that right now. If she suits the role and agrees to do it, then that would be great. I’m just happy with what she is doing right now.” Excerpts from the interview...

How did you get approached for Yours Truly and what made you green-light it?
The producer contacted me and I spoke to the director on the phone as he’s based in Kolkata. He explained the story and it sounded intriguing. I was amazed to find that somebody actually wanted to make a film on a woman who is — I don’t want to use clichéd terms like ‘past her prime’ — not in her first flush of youth, but is still hoping that she will find love in this rather cynical world. I thought that was unique. The other thing is that nobody really offers you a role at this age where you’re playing the central character. You’re always playing the mother or being some prop somewhere. That was the most obvious thing that attracted me — a film to myself. I felt privileged to be even offered something like this. There was no question of me not doing it. It also took me into a completely different intellectual space again after a long time. So that was refreshing for me.

Playing central roles at this age certainly doesn’t come so often...
Yes, it doesn’t. I asked Sanjoy why he was making a film like this and he replied that he wanted to attempt it as nobody else was doing it. I don’t understand why this whole section of women in society is neglected completely? It’s like you’re not supposed to exist, have feelings and are definitely not supposed to fall in love after the age of 40, so how can you be important enough to make a film about it! It’s quite shameful that we have become such a youth-oriented society that’s just not interested in people other than 25-year-olds. What a sad reflection on ourselves! The very fact that everybody is so surprised is a statement about what we are as a society today.

You’re also playing Alia’s mother in Raazi. Tell us about that.
Yes, I’m playing her mother. Firstly, it was a privilege to work with director Meghna Gulzar and be with my daughter in the same frame. Another privilege was to work with the wonderful cast and act in Raazi because it is a powerful and important movie. It says many things and I feel happy that Alia will be seen in such a human story.

You have acted on stage, in television and in movies. You never really stopped working, did you?
There was a period initially, when I did stop for a couple of years after my first child. But that was only because I was busy with my baby and I didn’t want to cut myself into 20 pieces. I used to do small roles in Mahesh’s films where I could take my child to the sets. Then I went back to television. Everybody uses the word ‘comeback’, but I never really went anywhere.

You also did a TV show Love Ka Hai Intezaar last year. How was that experience?
That was just a one-off. It’s not something I plan to do on a regular basis. But it was a lot of fun playing a character of a Rajmata and I had a blast with these young kids. I find television tiring as it has long hours.

What are the kind of roles you see yourself doing now?
There is no dearth of possibilities for me as an actress. There are so many interesting roles being written. I’m dying to be cast, but I’m not keen on doing roles that don’t have any substance. I’m quite good at comedy as I have good comic timing.

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.

A mother and her actor daughter chat in the aftermath of the Alia-Bhatt-can-act industry chant
Roshmilla Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 9, 2014)

Like her director father Mahesh Bhatt, Alia Bhatt doesn’t mince words. Prod her about when the acting bug bit her, and she says, “I was born with the idea.”

Her answer draws a laugh from mother Soni Razdan, who once an actor herself, admits that, like her, Alia loves an audience. “She has been a performer since age two. My younger daughter, Shaheen, could also make a brilliant actress, but she’s sensitive, and I’m not sure if this rough, tough world is the place for her,” Razdan says. “On first day that she was shooting for Student Of The Year, when I saw how comfortable Alia was in the studio, although I knew she was suffering from debutant jitters, I knew she belonged here.”

Born to an architect father and a mother who was a teacher, Soni was far removed from this world of make-believe for the first 12 years of her life. This was until she was picked up in an inter-school audition by late theatre veteran Pearl Padamsee. “It wasn’t a great role. But as I was going through my lines, I suddenly felt as if I had come home,” she remembers.

Alia too went through her share of dance-and-drama competitions, and waltzed through childhood dreaming she’d grow up to be a Hindi film heroine “like Kajol, Aishwarya Rai, Karishma and Kareena Kapoor”. Unlike her mother, who enjoyed scant exposure to mainstream Hindi cinema — except for the occasional Daag, Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Bobby — for Alia, Bollywood was a staple. Which is why it didn’t come as a surprise when she quit academics to become an actor. “I enjoyed Arth and Saaransh (both critically acclaimed films directed by Bhatt), and cried through my mother’s movies because she usually got herself killed,” laughs Alia, who will soon turn 21.

Soni says Alia’s well orchestrated launch in the 2012 Karan Johar production was a far cry from her struggle for a place in the sun. What she does give her credit for, just like critics and audiences have after the release of her second film, Highway, is the mature performance. “She made me cry. It was incredible that someone so young, with no training or experience, could pull off a film like that,” says an overwhelmed Soni. Hindi cinema, she says, has changed since her time, when a film like Highway could only have come from the stable of an alternative director. “Imtiaz (Ali) is a commercial filmmaker, and though Highway is not your formulaic film, the only reason for Alia to have refused it would have been that she was unsure of pulling it off.”

You see none of that in Alia, as she says, devoid of modesty, “Acting is the only thing I can do well, and after working so hard, I can’t imagine a film not working.” Soni says that had Alia not been an actress, she may have taken up painting. Alia rubbishes the thought, suggesting that she might just move to London and take up singing. “But why shouldn’t it be acting. That’s what I’ve wanted to do all my life?” she suddenly argues. It’s this passion (“If I didn’t act, I’d die”), that Soni insists is Alia’s ace. She’d know. She has been the guide, ensuring Alia sticks to her exercise and diet regime. Bhatt, on the other hand, was designated advisor. “He has so much experience from not being an actor. That makes him the right person to advise her.”

The only bit of wisdom the mother has chosen to share is “be yourself”. “Trying to please everyone is just a waste of energy for an actor,” says Soni, quickly adding “humility” to her list of hopes. In the face of Alia’s rising popularity, Soni wishes she doesn’t grow complacent and insufferable on set.

And Alia seems to have taken that advice seriously, considering how she has, like her father, gained the reputation of “muphat”. Soni laughs, “Yes, Mahesh is a bit of a dramebaaz. Coming from nowhere, he had to use all the tricks to make an immediate impact. But with age he has become quieter.” While Alia is known to offer opinion in a jiffy, she exhibits natural diplomacy on matters of significance, says Soni, defending her.

“I’m no saint or prude. I drink occasionally but don’t endorse drunk driving. As a role model, I have a responsibility,” she says. A minute later, on the subject of romancing her co-stars Varun Dhawan and Arjun Kapor, she stops you short with an abrupt, “I don’t talk about it.”

“See what I mean,” Soni laughs.

When is Alia going to work in a home production? Not for a while, Soni says firmly. “Alia needs to prove her worth without people saying, ‘Baap ne role diya hai’. Let the world take her seriously before she comes home.”