26 September,2026 01:12 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan. Pic via Instagram
Alia Bhatt's mother, Soni Razdan, has opened up about a phase in her career when getting married appeared to change how the film industry viewed her as an actor. The actor, who was already established through films such as Saaransh and television shows including Buniyaad, revealed that her work opportunities suddenly dried up after she married filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt in 1986.
In an interview with Zoom, Soni recalled that the work she had already committed to continued after her wedding, but new opportunities simply stopped coming. "I was already working when I got married. So that work continued, but then after that, nothing happened. Just zero. It's like everything went away," she said.
According to Soni, people had directly questioned Mahesh about why his wife needed to work now that she was married. "Your wife needs to work? She's married, isn't she?" she recalled them telling him.
For Soni, the idea that marriage should automatically end an actor's career was difficult to understand. "It was such an alien concept to me. I didn't come from that thought process, that mind. In those days, a lot of people did," she said.
Looking back, Soni Razdan connected her experience to a wider pattern in the film industry, where female actors were often expected to choose between marriage and their careers. "That's exactly why actors paced themselves and did not get married earlier," she said. Soni, however, was unwilling to make the same choice simply for the sake of her career. "But me, I was in love. I had to get married," she added.
Soni also spoke about the larger attitudes surrounding women in cinema, describing the environment as deeply patriarchal and shaped by the male gaze. "It was patriarchal. It was full patriarchy. It's all about the male gaze and some skewed notion of what a desirable woman actually is," she said.
For the actor, having a relationship should never have meant giving up the opportunity to work. She also believes that experiencing life outside the screen is an important part of becoming a better performer. Heartbreak, pain and happiness, she explained, provide experiences that help actors understand emotions more authentically.
Although her career took a hit after marriage, Soni eventually found a way to balance her personal life and acting. She is now part of Netflix's latest release, Shaque: Trust No One, alongside Parineeti Chopra.
