Mahesh Bhatt, Soni Razdan, Alia on Rangoli Chandel's allegations, Lok Sabha Elections, and Sadak 2

Actress Soni Razdan will soon be seen sharing screen space with husband and filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt in Yours Truly , scheduled to stream on ZEE 5 from 3 May. The narrative of the film is based on Annie Zaidi’s book, The One That Was Announced, an extract from Love Story # 1 to 14. The drama narrates the story of Mithi, who realises that ‘age’ is never a barrier in love and that you may well fall in love with someone by just imagining the person behind a voice that you hear. Pankaj Tripathi and Ahana Kumra also feature in the film. [caption id=“attachment_6549851” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Soni Razdan (left), ALia Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt.[/caption] Apart from films and shows, Soni, along with Mahesh, have been in news recently owing to Kangana Ranaut’s sister Rangoli Chandel’s intermittent attacks on them along with their daughter Alia. Chandel had claimed that Mahesh had hurled a slipper at a 19-year-old Kangana during the preview of their film Woh Lamhe. In a media interaction at the screening of Yours Truly, Bhatt addressed these allegations. “Our values teach us not to point fingers at our children. They are like my kids and talking about them might work for you, but it is against my values. I never refuse to give my opinion by saying, ‘No comments’ but, since it is about a junior kid (Kangana), who has started her career with us, if she or her relative (Rangoli) has said something about us, my reply would drag the matter further. I will never ever say anything against our children. It is against my nature. If someone is getting required attention by abusing me, why would I take it as an offense? I will not ignore it but I will not insult them either,” said the filmmaker in a statement. Chandel had earlier attacked and criticised Alia and her mother Soni on social media. Chandel hinted at their British citizenship and said that they are “living off this land, using and abusing its people and its resources, lying about intolerance and spreading hatred.”

Speaking about the issue of being unable to vote, Alia said in a statement, “We (Soni and Alia) would, of course, like to vote but there is a situation which makes it technically impossible. Maybe in the future, there could be dual citizenship which might help the scenario. But I’m very glad that everybody went out in big numbers.” Mahesh intervened to add, “Not in Mumbai though, it was around 50 percent. Interior Maharashtra had a bigger turnout of voters. People from small towns participated more. In cities, people just want to make noise and rest, they put it on Twitter.” Razdan also expressed her dissatisfaction on not being able to exercise her fundamental right in India. The actress stated, “I can’t vote because I have a British passport. It’s sad and when we got our OCI card (overseas citizenship of India) , we were told that dual citizenship will be started soon enough and we are waiting for it to happen. Why should I give up on my passport when there can be other alternatives but we’re still waiting and let’s see what happens.” She continued,“We pay taxes and everything, and Alia pays a huge tax. So if we can pay tax why can’t we vote? If our tax is beneficial for the country, why can’t our vote be beneficial? I think it really deserves some kind of thought. Not being able to vote makes me unhappy. Alia and I are trying for it, but it is up to the government. It is only possible when they decide to do something about it.” Meanwhile, the Bhatts have ventured into yet another family collaboration for Sadak 2 , where Mahesh will be directing a cast led by Alia and Aditya Roy Kapur. Sadak 2 is a sequel to the 1991 original, and the both Pooja Bhatt and Sanjay Dutt return for the sequel. [caption id=“attachment_5221391” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Pooja Bhatt, Aditya Roy Kapur, Alia Bhatt, Sanjay Dutt and Mahesh Bhatt. Image via Twitter/@TaranAdarsh[/caption] Talking about the project, Razdan said, “I don’t want to say too much because obviously, we don’t want to jinx something. But I’m really looking forward to their collaboration. They have already working together, everything is starting. It’s a very special time for our family and particularly for me as a mother to see both of them (Mahesh and Alia) working together. So I’m definitely looking forward to it.” The veteran actress also revealed that she would be unable to have a cameo in the film, essentially since her character died in the original one. “It can’t be done as my character died in the first part. It’s a sequel. It’s not a separate story. So I can’t play Alia’s mother for example or else I would have forced my husband to cast me. I would not have talked to him until he cast me (laughs) but because I know that I already died and I played Sanju’s sister so I can’t now be in the film.” Sadak 2 is scheduled to hit the screens on 25 March, 2020. (With inputs from Simran Singh)