Mahesh's birthday: cosy bash with Soni and kids; Alia, Ranbir miss snaps

Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt rang in his 78th birthday on September 20, surrounded by wife Soni Razdan and children Pooja Bhatt, Rahul Bhatt, and Shaheen Bhatt. Though Alia Bhatt, Ranbir Kapoor, and their daughter Raha didn't feature in any of the pictures, Soni and Pooja took to social media to share warm moments from the cosy family gathering, filled with hugs, cake, and togetherness.

Soni and Pooja share birthday glimpses

Soni posted a video showing the birthday boy posing alongside his family members as they entered the frame, writing, “Happy Birthday Baby .” Pooja Bhatt, too, put up multiple photos from the occasion, with the caption, “Warmth,cake,gratitude,grace. ️.” She also posted a close-up shot of her father with a birthday topper reading, “Happy Birthday Papa.”

Mahesh Bhatt's two marriages

Bhatt tied the knot with his first wife, Lorraine Bright, later known as Kiran Bhatt, back in 1970, and the two went on to have children Pooja and Rahul Bhatt.

However, their marriage hit a rough patch amid Mahesh's widely publicized relationship with actor Parveen Babi, which ultimately led to their split. He later married actor Soni Razdan in 1986, and the couple welcomed two daughters, Shaheen Bhatt and Alia Bhatt.

Mahesh and Rahul's strained bond

The filmmaker and his son Rahul Bhatt have candidly discussed their rocky relationship, shaped in part by the filmmaker's absence during Rahul's formative years.

After his parents separated when he was only three, Rahul was raised mostly by his mother Kiran, and he came to feel that his father hadn't lived up to his role as a parent. He admitted to putting in effort to love Mahesh "like a son should love his father," and wished his father had matched that same effort.Mahesh, meanwhile, has recognized that Rahul's feelings of being abandoned after he left home were justified, acknowledging his son's grievance as valid. Since then, the two have made efforts over the years to rebuild their bond and make up for the time they lost.