Mahesh Bhatt has always been open about his personal life. In a 1998 interview with Rediff, the filmmaker opened up on his parents’ diverse religious backgrounds. His father, Nanabhai Bhatt, was a Gujarati Brahmin, while his mother, Shirin Mohammad Ali, was a Shia Muslim. Bhatt shared how his mother felt a bit embarrassed by his open embrace of his Muslim heritage and expressed concern when he chose Muslim names for his daughters, Alia and Shaheen. He noted that she likely feared her minority status might affect their everyday lives, particularly during the communal riots in Mumbai in 1992, which heightened her anxieties.
The filmmaker recalled that his mother always wore a big tika and sari but was worried about their minority status affecting their lives. She felt embarrassed when he embraced his Muslim identity. “I could see that there was something she was hiding. She felt that her minority status would perhaps interfere with our day-to-day lives. She was a little embarrassed when I flaunted my Muslim roots… when I came to know about it. Yes, she was a little embarrassed about it. She was worried about me during the communal riots in 1992. She was worried when we named my little girls – because my second wife (Soni Razdan) liked those names – Shaheen and Alia. Both are Muslim names. Everybody was worried in 1992. What was going to happen?” Bhatt shared.
Mahesh recalled how his father, who wore a janoi, stayed true to his own beliefs. Despite his parents’ deep love for each other, they didn’t try to change their individual faiths. “I had the best of both worlds. My mother was a Shia Muslim, while my father was a janoi-clad man. He never pretended to be secular. What’s very interesting, both (father and mother) retained their individual faiths. They were madly in love but neither indulged in the farce of wanting to do things the other way,” he remembered.
Mahesh Bhatt married Soni Razdan in 1986 and they have two daughters – Shaheen Bhatt and Alia Bhatt.
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