‘Raazi was the first offer that came to Alia and me’: Soni Razdan on playing reel mother to real daughter

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.”