Alia-Ranbir overwhelmed by life altering moment, says Mahesh

• Mahesh Bhatt, a director, was overcome with grief when actor Soni Razdan told him that his daughter Alia-Ranbir had given birth to a baby girl.
• The baby would only bring Alia and Ranbir closer, he believes, adding that he is powerless to put the emotion into words.
• On Sunday, Alia and Ranbir welcomed a baby daughter into the world.

Mahesh Bhatt, a director, was overcome with grief when actor Soni Razdan told him that his daughter Alia-Ranbir had given birth to a baby girl. The baby would only bring Alia and Ranbir closer, he believes, adding that he is powerless to put the emotion into words.

“It is overwhelming to taste the ceaseless flow of life. It was just yesterday when Alia was a little baby who I carried in my arms. Now, she is a mumma to a baby girl. Today, when my overwhelmed wife Soni called me from the hospital, she said, ‘Oh, she is born’. I cannot put into words the manner in which she communicated those few words. There was an ocean of emotion coursing through that voice,” Bhatt tells us in an emotional chat, adding, “Choti ke aane ke se ghar bada hogaya”.

And he felt all those emotions through the call, as the filmmaker continues, “It was an attempt to build a smile, there was a relief, a sense of wonder. Moments like this are called watershed moments by human culture. It only leaves you with the deepened feeling of this sense of mystery about life”.

On Sunday, Alia and Ranbir welcomed a baby daughter into the world. At the HN Reliance Hospital, Alia gave birth. The director admits he skipped the hospital and is excited to meet his grandchild. He says, “Shaheen and Soni went to the hospital, and suggested that I wait for them to tell me a time to go and meet Alia and my granddaughter. I am eager to meet her now”.

Talking about Alia and Ranbir entering the new phase of their life, the 74-year-old says, “They themselves are quite overwhelmed by this life-altering moment. Both of them are very brave and unique kids. The way they are handling their entertainment career, doing a tightrope walk in between real life, and now with the birth of a child, it will be nothing short of a volcanic eruption in their backyard”.

“It alters everything around you. It’s going to change them deeply. And they are welcome to that change because they have always embraced change and not toeing the line of conformity,” says the filmmaker, adding that their role as grandparents will also play a big role in the upbringing of the little one.

He says, “I have become grandpa, and Soni has become grandma. We will have our own voices to wake up to the roles, emotionally. Life will hold your hands and take us to that inner depths from there, we will be able to steer this child, which is the voice of tomorrow”.

He compares it to viewing life from space, where everything is in the process of changing. “When one goes into outer space, and you look back at this planet, it is different. It is never the same for that person even after coming back to the planet. That is the kind of feeling that I am getting today”.

When you ask him how he explains seeing Alia-Ranbir get ready for this life-changing event, he says that they have been fairly authentic throughout the process.

“They have been pretty sane and very real in charting their journey, be it their love story, marriage, or this life altering phase in their life. From here, a new perfume has been added to their life. And it will only stitch them together, bringing them closer, and make them experience life from a completely new vantage point,” he says while wrapping up.