Soni Razdan has had a long career in Hindi cinema, with films such as Saaransh and television shows, including Buniyaad establishing her as a top actor. She recently recalled how her career came to an abrupt halt after she married filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt in 1986.
During an interview with Zoom, Soni recalled that the work she had already committed to, continued after her wedding, but new opportunities simply stopped coming. “I was already working when I got married. So that work continued, but then after that, nothing happened. Just zero. It's like everything went away,” she said.
When Soni asked Mahesh why the work had suddenly disappeared, she learnt that her marriage was being viewed as a reason for her to step away from acting. She got to know that people had directly questioned Mahesh about why she needed to work now that she was married.
“Your wife needs to work? She's married, isn't she?” she recalled them telling him.
For Soni, the idea that marriage should automatically bring an actor's career to an end was difficult to understand. “It was such an alien concept to me. I didn't come from that thought process, that mind. In those days, a lot of people did,” she said.
Soni Razdan On Marriage And Women Actors
Looking back, Soni connected her experience to a wider pattern in the Hindi film industry, where women were often expected to choose between marriage and their careers.
“That's exactly why actors paced themselves and did not get married earlier,” she said. Soni said she was not willing to make that choice simply to protect her career. “But me, I was in love. I had to get married,” she added.
Soni Razdan Calls Out Industry Patriarchy
Soni also spoke about the larger attitudes towards women in the film industry, describing the environment as deeply patriarchal and shaped by the male gaze.
“It was patriarchal. It was full patriarchy. It's all about the male gaze and some skewed notion of what a desirable woman actually is,” she said.
She further questioned why a female actor's personal relationships should affect how she is viewed professionally.
“And why does she also have to be desirable in the first place? I get it. You're in films. People are going to watch you for two and a half hours. You better have something to show, something that they would want to look at. But that doesn't mean you can't have a relationship,” she concluded.
Soni Razdan's Marriage
The actor met filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt on the sets of Saaransh. The two tied the wedding knot in 1986, when Soni was at the height of her acting journey. The couple later welcomed two daughters - Shaheen Bhatt in November 1988 and Alia Bhatt in March 1993.
Soni Razdan's Professional Front
Soni is currently part of Netflix's latest release, Shaque: Trust No One, made under the direction of Rensil D'Silva and backed by Alchemy Films. Headlined by Parineeti Chopra, the psychological drama explores the fragile line between trust and suspicion, instinct and truth, love and obsession.
Besides Parineeti and Soni, the series features an ensemble cast including Jennifer Winget, Anup Soni, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Harleen Sethi, Sumeet Vyas and Dhruv Chowdhary.
Also Read: 'Have To Fight To Babysit': Soni Razdan Praises How Alia Bhatt And Ranbir Kapoor Are Parenting Raha
