Rahul Bhatt opens up on Pooja, Alia and his fractured bond with Mahesh Bhatt

Rahul Bhatt, the son of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and his first wife Kiran Bhatt, has spoken openly about his family in a recent chat with Siddharth Kannan. The fitness trainer talked about his father, his stepmother Soni Razdan, his half-sisters Alia and Shaheen, and his sister Pooja Bhatt, who he says is still the most important relationship in his family.

On his father, Rahul reportedly called their bond "fractured". He said Mahesh was mostly absent while he was growing up, so he had to be his own father. Even so, he called Mahesh a great guy who still takes care of his mother and pays for the household. Rahul added that he is not the breadwinner at home.

Rahul also looked back at the storm over Pooja's body-paint magazine shoot in the 1990s. He reportedly said he confronted protesters from a group called Agnishikha, some of whom were trying to get into the family's building, and that he hit a few of them. He said he always felt protective of Pooja and found the picture classy, not vulgar. He added that he has always stayed out of matters that concern his father.

Talking about Alia and Shaheen, Rahul said the siblings share civil ties and mostly meet on their father's birthday, Christmas and Diwali. He said he wished he were closer to them. According to reports, he called Pooja the most intelligent and talented of all the siblings. He also praised Alia for a steady run of strong films and called her an institution in her own right.

Rahul reportedly said he has met Alia's husband Ranbir Kapoor a handful of times and found him cool and respectful. He said Ranbir once asked him about handling weapons for Animal. He also spoke warmly of Soni Razdan, whom Mahesh married in 1986, saying she has always treated him decently, taken him on holidays and invited him to family functions.