Alia Bhatt is conscious of Raha Kapoor’s screentime, says Soni Razdan asked her ‘Was I a horrible mother because I’d let you be in front of TV?’

Alia Bhatt says she's a hands-on mother, who is quite protective of her two-year-old daughter Raha Kapoor's exposure to screens.

By: Entertainment Desk

Mumbai | March 6, 2025 01:17 PM IST

4 min read

Alia Bhatt's mother Soni Razdan didn't control her daughter's screentime like Alia controls Raha Kapoor's.

Alia Bhatt is quite a hands-on mother. From ensuring that her daughter Raha Kapoor doesn’t pick on anything inappropriate to regulating her screentime, Alia spends enough time and energy on her role as a mom, along with being an actor, producer, and entrepreneur. She compared Raha’s childhood to her own, explaining how she was always glued to her television set while Raha isn’t even allowed to look at the iPad.

“I was fascinated by the television. That’s something I remember very clearly, when I was growing up. In fact, my mum and I speak about it right now. She says, ‘Oh my god, was I a horrible mother?’ because right now, I’m so conscious of what is screentime. Not that she’s (Raha) had any major screentime, she’s not even looked at the iPad. But even if she’s watching a song on the television and stuff, I’m like we should limit the time. My mother is like, ‘Was I a horrible mother because we just let you be in front of the TV because that’s what seemed normal at the time?’ I said, ‘No, you weren’t horrible because it was a new phenomenon at that time, perhaps. I’m grateful she didn’t stop me from being in front of the television because a lot of my dreaming and imagining and sort of getting lost in the world started from there,” Alia said on the Jay Shetty podcast.

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Alia Bhatt added that she doesn’t blame her mother, actor Soni Razdan, because nothing can prepare you for motherhood. Alia said, “I don’t think you can prepare yourself for what you feel. To be very honest, my mother said this to me earlier before I gave birth… I said, ‘Do you remember something-something?’ She said, ‘I don’t.’ I said, ‘Why don’t you remember?’ She said, ‘Because you’ll be surprised that you forget what happens before.’ I’ve forgotten what it was like pre-motherhood in terms of my feeling or my way of life or how my brain functioned at that time. My days are so full now. In fact, I wonder what was I doing with my time earlier, even if I was not working, what was I doing during the day? Because now, I have a full day. Wake up at 7 in the morning. She’s asleep by 8:30-9 and I’m asleep soon after at 10:30. 7-10, you’re on a treadmill, you’re just running.”

Alia said Raha, 2, is too small to watch her movies right now, but she’s seen some of the songs featuring her mother or her father Ranbir Kapoor. In fact, she feels like all the songs belong to either of her parents. She innocently asked Alia after watching “Aankhein Khuli” from Aditya Chopra’s 2000 romantic drama Mohabbatein if it’s her song or Ranbir’s. An amused Alia told her it’s actually Shah Rukh Khan’s song. Alia wants Raha to watch the more musical, more child-friendly films of hers first, including Ayan Mukerji’s 2022 fantasy Brahmastra: Part One – Shiva and Karan Johar’s 2023 family dramedy Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani. In her own time, when she grows up, Alia would want Raha to watch the three films that shaped her as an actor — Imtiaz Ali’s 2014 road movie Highway, Meghna Gulzar’s 2018 espionage thriller Raazi, and Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s 2022 period drama Gangubai Kathiawadi.

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