Soni Razdan

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Soni Razdan
Soni Razdan.jpg
Razdan in 2018
Born (1956-10-25) 25 October 1956 (age 67) [1] [2]
Birmingham, England
Occupations
  • Actress
  • film director
Years active1981–present
Spouse
(m. 1986)
ChildrenShaheen Bhatt
Alia Bhatt
Family Bhatt family

Soni Mahesh Bhatt, [1] [3] born and known professionally as Soni Razdan, is a British actress and director who works in Indian Hindi-language films. Part of the Bhatt family of Indian cinema, she is married to film director Mahesh Bhatt and is the mother of actress Alia Bhatt.

Contents

Early life

Razdan was born in Small Heath Birmingham, West Midlands, England to a British-German mother, Gertrude Hoelzer and an Indian Kashmiri Pandit father, Narendra Nath Razdan and grew up in Bombay, Maharashtra, India. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Career

Razdan started her career in English theatre with John Fowles' The Collector and her Hindi stage career with Bund Darvaze, Satyadev Dubey's adaptation of Jean Paul Sartre's No Exit.

Her photos were seen by Franco Zeffirelli who wanted to cast her as Mary in his miniseries, Jesus of Nazareth . The role, however, was given to Olivia Hussey and Razdan was cast as a young grieving mother as well as appearing as an extra in other scenes.[ citation needed ]

She appeared as Sulochana in the Doordarshan TV series Buniyaad . She also acted in Indian TV serials Saahil, Gaatha and has been a regular on Indian television. [8] In 2002, she turned to direction with Aur Phir Ek Din on Star Plus, a take-off on One Fine Day starring Michelle Pfeiffer and George Clooney. [8]

She has also acted in Bollywood movies. Razdan directed a film called Love Affair that was expected to be released in 2016, but did not. [9] [10] She acted in Meghna Gulzar's Raazi which also starred her daughter Alia in the lead role. This was the first time when she shared the screen with Alia where she played the character of Alia's mother. [11] Soni played the lead role in the film Yours Truly where she portrayed the character of a lonely middle-aged government employee Mithi Kumar. [12] She also appeared as the Imaaduddin Shah's mother in the 2007 movie Dil Dosti Etc.[ citation needed ] In 2018, in the light of the MeToo movement Razdan said that once she was nearly raped by someone on a film set. They did not succeed and she did not file a complaint against the attempted rape. [13]

Personal life

Razdan married Indian film director Mahesh Bhatt on 20 April 1986. Bhatt did not want to divorce his first wife, so he and Razdan converted to Islam prior to marriage and held a very private nikaah ceremony. Upon converting to Islam Soni chose the name Sakina as her Muslim name. [14] [15] [16]

She is the mother of Shaheen Bhatt (born 28 November 1988) and actress Alia Bhatt (born 15 March 1993), step mother of Pooja Bhatt & Rahul Bhatt. [17]

Razdan has stated that she has lived in India since she was a 3 month old and that she carries an Overseas Citizenship of India. [18]

Filmography

Films

YearFilmRoleNotes
1981 36 Chowringhee Lane Rosemary Stoneham
Ahista Ahista Deepa
1983 Mandi Nadira
1984 Saaransh Sujata SumanNominated – Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress
1985 Trikaal Aurora
Khamosh Herself
1986 On Wings of Fire Thais
1998 Such a Long Journey Dilnavaz Noble
1990 Daddy Priya
1991 Sadak Special appearance
Saathi Tina
1993 Sir Shobha Verma
Gumrah Angela
Gunaah Gloria
2001 Monsoon Wedding Saroj Rai
2004 Dobara Mrs. Devika Mehta
2005 Page 3 Anjali Thapar
2006 Jaan-E-Mann Mrs. Goel
2007 Dil Dosti Etc Apurv's Mother
2011 Patiala House Dimple Bua
Love Breakups Zindagi Guest at wedding
2013 Shootout at Wadala Manya's mother
2016 Love Affair
2018 Raazi Teji Khan
Yours Truly Mithi Kumar
2019 Noblemen Shruti Sharma
No Fathers in Kashmir Halima
War Nafeesa Rahmani
2021 Sardar Ka Grandson Simi Netflix film
2023 Pippa Maati

Director

YearFilm
2005 Nazar
2009Adnan Khan
2016 Love Affair

Television

YearShowRolePlatform
1986 Buniyaad Sulochana (Lochan) DD National
2017 Love Ka Hai Intezaar Rajmata Rajeshwari Ranawat Star Plus
2019 The Verdict - State vs Nanavati Mehra Nanavati ALTBalaji and ZEE5
Out of Love Mrs. Kapoor Hotstar
This Way Up Kavita, Vish's mother Channel 4
2021 Call My Agent: Bollywood Treasa Netflix

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References

  1. 1 2 "Soni Bhatt". Companies House . Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  2. On Soni Razdan's Birthday: Alia Bhatt Shares Pic From the Day She Sat on Her Lap. Hindustan Times . 25 October 2023.
  3. "Soni Mahesh Bhatt". zaubacorp.com. Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
  4. "Karl Hoelzer, Alia's great grandfather dared to take on the Nazi regime in his own small way and paid a very heavy price for it" . Retrieved 11 February 2014.[ non-primary source needed ]
  5. "BUT LITTLE DID ALIA's GRANDMA GERTRUDE KNOW that her tragic story would have a happy ending" . Retrieved 11 February 2014.[ non-primary source needed ]
  6. expressindia, daily news (30 January 2001). "I'll voice the worries of Kashmiri muslim".
  7. "@PoojaB1972 @MaheshNBhatt @AdrianMLevy I'm half Kashmiri Pandit and Half German..also an atheist and have not imposed any faith on my kids" . Retrieved 18 January 2014.[ non-primary source needed ]
  8. 1 2 The Tribune, Spectrum (13 August 2006). "Soni Razdan returns". TheTribune.com.
  9. "Soni Razdan's directorial venture to go on floors in 2016". The Indian Express . 5 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  10. "Soni Razdan's Love Affair put on hold, to do a TV series first?". 6 March 2017.
  11. "Raazi movie: Soni Razdan explains why she wanted to hug daughter Alia during the shoot".
  12. "In Yours Truly, Soni Razdan Shines In An Elegant Ode To Middle-Aged Longing". Film Companion. 6 May 2019. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
  13. "Alia Bhatt's mom Soni Razdan: I was nearly raped on a film set". India Today. 24 October 2018. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  14. "Flashback Friday:The Hushed Wedding of Mahesh Bhatt & Soni Razdan". 8 April 2016. Archived from the original on 10 May 2022. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  15. rissapost.com/happy-birthday-mahesh-bhatt-this-director-converted-to-islam-to-marry-soni-razdan/
  16. "The Saraansh of Mahesh Bhatt's life | undefined News - Times of India". The Times of India . 18 January 2003.
  17. "Rediff On The Net, Movies: An interview with Soni Razdan".
  18. Razdan, Soni [@Soni_Razdan] (16 April 2019). "I do actually. My father is Indian. Lived in India since I was 3 months old. Pay taxes. Hold an Overseas Citizen of India card. If my hard earned income is good enough to be used to better this nation then I have a right to voice my opinions too. #VoteOutHate" (Tweet) via Twitter.