“As far as Soni is concerned, she has always been very decent with me. She has taken me on holidays and given me expensive gifts. Once, she gave me a Balenciaga bag worth Rs 3.5 lakh. She has been very decent to me and I have absolutely no complaints. In fact, she is the one who invites me to all the family functions,” he said.

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Mahesh Bhatt married Soni Razdan in 1986 after separating from his first wife, Kiran Bhatt. Mahesh and Kiran have two children, Pooja and Rahul, while Mahesh and Soni have daughters Shaheen and Alia Bhatt.

Rahul Bhatt on Mahesh Bhatt saying he would have married Pooja

Rahul was also asked about one of the most controversial statements associated with Mahesh and Pooja Bhatt. During the backlash surrounding a magazine cover featuring Mahesh and Pooja kissing on the lips, the filmmaker was quoted as saying, “If Pooja wasn’t my daughter, I’d have loved to marry her.” The remark further intensified the backlash surrounding the photograph.

Rahul said he personally did not approve of the magazine cover. “I wouldn’t approve of this.”

Asked how he looks at his father’s statement today, Rahul said, “Discretion is the better part of valour. You have to understand the context. In the film industry, there is a lot of duplicity everywhere, so you can’t take everything too seriously,” he said.

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The photograph in question dates back to the early 1990s and became one of the most talked-about controversies of Pooja’s career. Pooja has since addressed the photograph herself, saying the moment was innocent and that people were free to interpret it however they wanted.

Rahul on Pooja’s body-paint cover photoshoot

Rahul also recalled another controversial chapter from Pooja’s career — her body-paint magazine photoshoot. The image, inspired by Demi Moore’s famous Vanity Fair cover, generated considerable controversy when it was published in the 1990s.

Rahul said he defended his sister against those who criticised or attacked her over it.

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“When Pooja’s body-painting photograph was published, I hit some of the people who were protesting against it. An organisation called Agnishikha had come to protest, and a morcha of around 50 people had been organised. I confronted them.”

“There were around 200 people at the protest. Initially, I was alone, and later the police were there. Some of the protesters were trying to enter the building, which is what worried my mother. My father wasn’t there. I was the one who was there,” he added.

Rahul said his instinct to protect Pooja stemmed from his deep sense of responsibility towards his sister.

“I felt bad seeing that photograph. I always felt protective of her. The photograph itself was not vulgar; it was very classy. Whatever Pooja did, she was never vulgar. She always had an aesthetic to what she did.”

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Earlier in 2026, Pooja clarified that she was not actually nude in the photograph and said the intention behind the shoot was never to shock people.

‘If anyone hurts my sister, I will protect her’

Rahul said his protective instinct towards Pooja has remained unchanged over the years. He recalled how, whenever there was a situation involving his sister, the family would turn to him.

“These things don’t matter to me. I don’t care about them. But if someone hurts my sister, I will protect her. That is something I have always done. Whenever something like this happened — whether it was at two in the morning or three in the morning — people would say, ‘Call Sunny.’ Sunny is my nickname.”

Rahul added that while he has always felt responsible for protecting Pooja, he deliberately stayed away from matters concerning his father.

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“If someone hurts my sister, I will protect her. But when it comes to my father, I have not interfered in that aspect. I have left that alone.”