Prateik Smita Patil's family dynamics came under public scrutiny when his father Raj Babbar and family were not invited to his wedding with Priya Banerjee on February 14 this year. Prateik hosted an intimate and private ceremony at his late mother Smita Patil's house.
In a recent interview with Zoom, Prateik revealed the real reason why he didn't invite his father, veteran actor Raj Babbar and his family to the wedding. The venue where Prateik got married - his late mother's house - played a crucial role behind his decision.
Prateik shared that his mother Smita Patil and step-mother Nadira Babbar had issues in the past. To protect the sanctity of the house and his wedding, he didn't want to invite Raj Babbar and his family to the wedding that he hosted at Smita Patil's house.
Prateik told Zoom, "My father's wife and my mother had some complications in the past, lots of things have been said in the press and stuff like that, if you dig out 38-40 years ago. I was open to doing something with my father and his family for another function.
"I just thought it was unethical to have him and his family at that house after everything that went on between them. Absolutely; it wasn't right. The right thing to do was to what we did and then, if, obviously now circumstances are different, everything has gone south and it's extremely complicated. But it's not for me. I'm still the same."
Raj Babbar and his family's absence at the wedding triggered massive speculation about a rift within the family. Discarding such rumours, Prateik said that people said things out of "impulse".
"It wasn't about rejecting anyone. It was about respecting my mother and her wishes... I'm sorry my father and his wife could not be there, could not be in the house my mother bought for me to grow up and live a life as a single mother in. She wanted to live in that house with me as a single mother. Bring me up. I'm sorry," said Prateik.
"That was the best decision my wife and I made. And it could have been a very, very subtle scenario and everything could have been subtle. But people are impulsive, people make impulsive choices and say things out of impulse and it was just distasteful and I think that bitter taste has remained," said Prateik.
Prateik is the son of veteran actor Raj Babbar and late actress Smita Patil. Raj Babbar has another wife, Nadira Babbar, with whom he shares children Arya Babbar and Juhi Babbar.
Before Priya Banerjee, Prateik was married to Sanya Sagar. They married in 2019 but parted ways in 2023.
