Secretly, and without fuss, Karan Johar’s pretty protégée Alia Bhatt’s mother actress-filmmaker Soni Razdan has scripted a film that she will direct soon after Student Of The Year is released.
At the moment Soni is evasive about her plans for making a film with Alia, “It will happen when it happens. Let her make her debut in Karan’s film. She couldn’t have hoped for a better launch.”
Pretty and young and pretty young Alia Bhatt’s mom Soni Razdan put her own directorial project on hold to ensure a smooth passage into purported stardom for her daughter.
Soni set aside her own directorial plans to devote herself to the process of making Alia’s debut in Student Of The Year as comfortable as possible.
Says Soni, “The last year I was with her on the outdoor location because I think initially while she found her bearings in the film industry she needed me around. But now I think Alia is fairly confident of herself. I can now go back to writing my film. When Karan Johar spotted her in school and signed her she was just a child at 17. Now at 19 she knows her mind. I don’t think she’d need me to be around. I never needed anyone when I became an actress. I ran off to England on my own. It’s a different world today. Girls are no longer that safe on their own.”
Alia, says her mother, always wanted to be an actress. In fact at age 10 Alia had auditioned for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s proposed love story Hamari Jaan Ho Tum, a take on Balika Badhu. Alia had apparently behaved like a complete natural actress at the audition.
Recalling the incident fondly Soni says, “Sanjay Bhansali predicted she was a born actress. It took some years for her to face the camera. But now Alia has the confidence.”
Soni’s elder daughter Shaheen has no inclination to face the camera. “She wants to write. She is more of a loner than Alia. She reads a lot. She is gearing up for a career in writing. Between my two girls it is Alia who showed a natural flair for acting.”
Soni has not seen Alia on screen anymore. “Except for little rushes here and there and when I was around at the editing and had a little peek. Otherwise I am as curious about my daughter’s acting debut as the rest of the world. I think Alia has got the best possible debut under the biggest banner. But it’s not going to be easy for her to go from the first to second film smoothly. She would have to rough it out. That’s the only way to do it.”
Buzz has it that the doting mother is planning film featuring Alia in the lead. Soni says at the moment she is working on another project.
