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Soni Razdan has always pushed herself as an actor. She made her debut with critically acclaimed 36 Chowringhee Lane and then went on to feature in many films like Mandi and Saaransh. Even after her marriage to the fimmaker Mahesh Bhatt, the 60 years old actor still struggles to have her own independent identity and not just someone’s mother or wife.
In an interaction with PTI, the veteran actor said,
“I have always been known as Mahesh Bhatt’s wife and I would tell people ‘hello! I’m here!’ This has always been a struggle. I would like to be known for who I am. I’m very happy to be known as his wife or Alia’s mother. But I am also a person, who in her own right, has gone through quite a lot of odds.”
The actor shared that every time she’s on sets and working, she experiences “euphoria.”
“But it’s not like I’m setting out to endeavour to be anything. I’m just being me. This is who I am and I don’t think why I shouldn’t be what I am,” she added.
Razdan said after the success of Raazi, in which she played mother to her real-life daughter Alia, she was hopeful of getting more roles.
“But it hasn’t, not at all. It really hasn’t. I’m still waiting for it,” she said.
“People should see my work and think beyond what I am on daily basis, on Twitter, Instagram or the perception they have of me in their heads,” the actress told PTI.
“People are lazy when they cast. It’s natural to think of the most obvious fit to your character. I think they should start looking at me differently. I’ve been able to put myself in different roles completely opposite to what I’m in real life,” she said.
“The entertainment industry is always targeted at young people. Understandably so as they are the key consumers. The young are the ones who are falling in love, starting out in life, older people aren’t. Nobody thinks ‘now I’m going to write a film about an older person,” she added.
“What is happening is that people are thinking of stories which are about characters, as opposed to typical boy meets girl template. This trend has happened because the audience wants a change. They are interested in watching the story of a rapper from a gully. Otherwise, the film industry is notoriously lazy in telling different stories,” she added.
With Raazi and No Fathers In Kashmir, the actress is happy with her work. The desire to be in front of the camera has only become stronger.
“There is always a desire to be significant in some way, to do something which can consume you. As an actor, all you want is to be offered a film so you can go out and shoot. It’s the same for me. To get that role which hits you. I want to work, I just don’t want to stay at home.” Soni Razdan said.
