Mahesh Bhatt’s Daughter Alia Bhatt To Debut in Karan Johar’s Student of the Year

Alia Bhatt is Mahesh Bhatt’s daughter with Soni Razdan. Alia will make her debut in Karan Johar’s film 'Student of the Year' which will release later this year.

New kid on the block, Mahesh Bhatt's Daugter Alia Bhatt

This is Karan Johar’s first film post My Name is Khan and the only film in which Shah Rukh Khan does not have a leading role. He might do a cameo in it, though. The film will be a launch pad for Siddharth Malhtra, Varun Dhawan, and Alia Bhatt. Shooting begins in June. Alia is said to be already dating her co-star Varun Dhawan, Son of David Dhawan.

Alia and Varun met during the casting and got along well. Alia is new to Dharma while Varun is a regular at the production house and has also assisted KJo on My Name is Khan. They hit it off from the first day and are now dating and getting to know each other before shooting begins.

Alia is seventeen-years-old and loves to watch movies and television shows and listen to music. She is Pooja and Rahul Bhatt’s step-sister. She is on Twitter but does not tweet often and follows only her family members. She gets cranky if she does not sleep enough. She likes partying and is friends with Akanksha Ranjan, the younger daughter of Anu and Shashi Ranjan, among others.

Nothing is known about her role in the film but one can guess that the movie will be like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. While KKHH had two girls and one guy, SOTY has one girl and two guys fighting over her. It is a campus romance which should be out by the end of this year.

Here is the first look of the Karan Johar upcoming directorial venture Student of The Year. In movie poster there are three newcomers Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Siddharth Malhotra. The film will be produced by none other than Karan's best friend, Shahrukh Khan.

First Look Poter of Karan Johar's 'Student of The Year' Starring Siddharth Malhtra, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt

Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan's Daughter Alia Bhatt

Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan's youngest daughter Alia Bhatt will debut in Karan Johar's film which will launch David Dhawan's son Varun along with newbie Sidharth Malhotra.The troi have done several tests and the film goes on floors next year. Buzz is that KJo's buddy Shah Rukh might be roped in to do a cameo.

Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan's Daughter Alia Bhatt

LeT’s ‘Rahul’ is Mahesh Bhatt’s Son

LeT’s ‘Rahul’ is Mahesh Bhatt’s son

Rahul Bhatt had befriended alleged Lashkar operative David Headley at a gym, but cops say he probably had no idea of the man’s real identity

The mysterious name, Rahul, mentioned extensively in LeT operative David Coleman Headley’s e-mails to handlers in Pakistan has finally been identified. It’s neither Shah Rukh Khan nor Rahul Gandhi, but the son of famous filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

And nor is Rahul Bhatt, 25, a fitness instructor and a body builder, on the LeT hit list; he is in fact a friend of Headley who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Chicago last month.

However, investigating agencies, who have already questioned Rahul, have almost given him a clean chit, saying that he appears to be innocent.

An officer privy to the investigations said, “He has admitted to being friends with Headley. But, in all probability, he didn’t know Headley’s actual background and took him to be a foreign national in India on a job. That was exactly the guise Headley had been living under in India between 2006 and 2009.”

It has also come to light that it was Rahul who helped Headley rent a flat near Breach Candy hospital.

The two met at a gym where Rahul who at one point weighed 122 kilos, had come to lose weight and get fit.

Rahul Bhatt

Rahul Bhatt at that time was supposed to be launched in a film, Suicide Bomber, under his family banner Vishesh Films, based on the London bombings which was eventually scrapped.

Headley, a US citizen of Pakistani origin who had been arrested by US’s Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) on October 18 with a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin Tahawwur Rana, at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, had told FBI interrogators that Rahul was a prominent Indian actor. Headley had been arrested on the information that he was planning terror attacks in Denmark and India.

The two men became friends and when Headley expressed that he was looking to rent a flat, Rahul even helped him get one near Breach Candy through a property broker. All this while, say investigators, Rahul was not aware that Headley had LeT links.

During his stay in Mumbai, Headley was ostensibly functioning as a consultant for an immigration firm in Tardeo. That was, possibly, the only identity that Rahul knew of Headley. Earlier, there were theories among intelligence agencies that Rahul could be a code word either for Shah Rukh Khan, who has played several character by that name, or even a place that could have been a terror target.

When contacted, Rahul’s father Mahesh Bhatt neither confirmed nor denied that his son had been questioned by the police in connection with the Headley case. He simply said, “This is an issue of national security and not something trivial related to Bollywood. Ask agencies that deal with national security. I will not say anything more.”

All efforts to reach Rahul failed as his phone was switched off. Text messages sent to him did not elicit any reply till the time of going to press.

Investigators also suspect that Headley may be holding dual passports of US and Pakistan (as Pakistan allows it) and thus escaped the scrutiny of immigration officials as he may have travelled to Pakistan using his Pak passport while to India using his US passport.

The rahul emails

In a few e-mail conversations with an LeT operative, Headley has mentioned Rahul several times. The FBI affidavit notes: In an e-mail on July 2009, Headley told Lashkar-e-Taiba Member A that “I think when we get a chance we should revisit our last location again and say hi to Rahul.”

A reply from LeT Member A on the same day read: “To see Rahul is a good idea coz have some work for you over there too. Matters are good enough to move forward...”

On July 9, Headley writes again: “When you say ‘move forward’, do you mean in the north direction or towards Rahul...” To this Member A replies: “Towards Rahul.”

On July 10, Headley writes another mail to Member A: “The visit to Rahul’s place, is it for checking real estate property like before, or something different and if so please tell what you can please. Also is it in Rahul’s city or different one?” To this Member A replied: “There are some investment plans with me, not exactly at Rahul’s city but near that. Rest we can decide when meet according to your ease.”

Investigations handed over to NIA

Meanwhile, the union government has asked the National Investigation Agency to probe Headley’s activities during his stay in India.

The NIA has registered a formal complaint, charging Headley and his accomplice Tahawwur Rana for plotting terror attacks in India. Sources said, the complaint does not mention any suspicion of Headley’s involvement in 26/11 attacks.

An NIA team is expected to shortly arrive in Mumbai to start investigations. The Crime Branch will assist the team after it arrives here.

Notably, the Ministry of Home Affairs team that had visited the US to interrogate Headley was not allowed to do so by the FBI.

The agency argued that it was technically not possible as no offence against Headley had been registered in India. However investigators have come across a list of 24 places in India of which arrested LeT suspects David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana may have done recee, which also includes targets in three cities of the state, namely Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur.

During the seven visits the two made to India from 2006 to 2008, the two are suspected to have done recee of these targets, but the investigating agencies in the US have not come across any video of the India targets during the search of Headley’s possessions after his arrest.

According to sources, apart from Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, the two are suspected to have visited Siddhivinayak and Mahalaxmi temple in Mumbai, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Southern Command headquarters in Pune and also perhaps the RSS headquarters in Nagpur.

Rana is a bigger catch

Sources said Tahawwur Hussain Rana was a bigger catch than David Headley since Headley was merely executing what ever directions Rana gave. Headley was shown as an employee of First World Immigration Services, a company used as a front by Rana to hop across the world.

Posing as owner of the company, Rana had visited several countries including India and Denmark on the directions of the LeT bosses, while Headley’s expenses for travel and living, which Rana used to bear, were legitmised by showing Headley as an employee of the firm, sources added.

According to information available with central intelligence agencies, even the e-mail accounts of Headley were operated at times by Rana. During one of his visits to Denmark, Headley had placed an advertisement for his immigration company in a Danish newspaper.

The FBI has found that when represenatives of the newspaper replied to Headley on e-mail, the IP address of the computer from which the response was given was traced to Rana.

How they made e-mail IDs

Rana used to guide Headley on creating e-mail Ids. In an e-mail to Headley, Rana once wrote, “One of my brothers is Brigadier Movadat Hussain Rana and the other is Sibte Hasan Rana Monie. They are in Rawalpindi.

I really admire e-mails making it instant ‘half mulaqat’ specially Yahoo as it seems superior to Hotmail.” Subsequently Headley started using email with the ID mov.monie@yahoo.com, drawn from first names of Rana’s brothers.

In another mail, Rana had directed Headley to use e-mail ID Liyaqatwing11@gmail.com and told Headley that in subsequent e-mails, he should keep liyaqatwing and change the digit by multiplying it by two and substracting two out of it. Headley then used liyaqatwing20@gmail.com

Mahesh Bhatt and Soni Razdan's Daughter Alia Bhatt

Alia Bhatt With Dad Mahesh Bhatt at Neena Gupta's Wedding Party

Alia Bhatt With Mom Soni Razdan at Neena Gupta's Wedding Bash

Mahesh Bhatt With Daughters Alia Bhatt and Pooja Bhatt

Mahesh Bhatt With Daughters Alia Bhatt and Pooja Bhatt

Mahesh Bhatt has 3 daughters and a Son. His daughter Pooja Bhatt and Son Rahul Bhatt are from his first marriage to Kiran Bhatt. His second wife is Soni Razdan, an accomplished film actress and director. He has two daughters from his second marriage Shaheen Bhatt & Alia Bhatt.

Rahul Bhatt Seen with Sister Pooja Bhatt, Dad Mahesh Bhatt and Dino Morea

Rahul has put papa Mahesh Bhatt on a strict diet and exercise routine; is getting paid handsomely for the same

Mahesh Bhatt has been working out rigorously after being told by doctors to lose weight. And he got help at home itself.

His son Rahul is a physical fitness and martial arts (gojuru) instructor and is attached to Five gym. He plans to open his own chain of health clubs in the near future.

He reveals, “Prior to teaching fitness at Five, I was at Moksha and after that I was in USA and New Zealand for my fitness certificates. So who better than me to make dad lose weight?”

The problem
A concerned Rahul says, “After the alarm sounded, we found out that dad was hypertensive; he had high blood pressure and border line diabetes. After years of neglect, stress had taken its toll and he needed someone to guide him back to good health.

Losing it
According to Rahul, though Mahesh is not conditioned physically, he is very fit mentally. For now, Mahesh is just walking, with some cardiovascular and stretching exercises for the lower limbs. The beta adds, “I have been teaching him for two weeks now and the aim if to lose 4-5 kg a month. At the moment, he is on a low sodium and low sugar diet with more frequency of meals.”

Rahul talks about his training program for Mahesh, “Dad is the best paymaster I have worked with, and he is disciplined in his workouts. Most of my clients pay me Rs 1000 per hour but dad pays me Rs 2500 per hour! He says everyone has a tendency to take families for granted but he won’t do that as it’s my livelihood.”

Looking after his father means Rahul’s plans of starting his acting career are on hold now. “Suicide Bomber is in cold storage now till my father’s health improves. Unfortunately, things haven’t moved much but I am not disappointed or making any hasty decisions. Dad’s health comes first.”

Wholesome time
He trains Mahesh every morning for one hour seven days a week. Mahesh reveals that he has lost three inches on his waist, “Rahul’s regimen is very simple. Apart from working out, Rahul and I are catching up on lost time. I have never exercised in my life and would eat potatoes for all meals, but now I am following a wholesome diet overseen by him.”

Mahesh Bhatt’s diet

Morning
Coconut waterOne apple 3 tablespoon oatmeals/One wholegrain toast and 2 egg white omelettes

Afternoon
2 whole grain chapattis
1 green leafy veg Salad

Evening
Fruits of his choice like apple or papaya or porridge

Night
Dinner same as lunch but can have paneer
Sweets are a strict no-no

- An Article from Mid-day dated March 5th 2008

Mahesh Bhatt's Son Rahul Bhatt (Picture) Makes his Debut in his Dad's Latest Film, Suicide Bomber.

Here comes another son!

Rahul Bhatt (Pic: Top, in his younger days. Bottom, a more recent picture), son of veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, makes his debut in his dad's latest film, Suicide Bomber.

The film is 'inspired' by the London bombings last year (2007).
"The film will deal with the story of a terrorist and what makes a normal human being a suicide bomber -- what goes on in his mind and why he becomes a destructor," says Mahesh Bhatt. "These are very contemporary issues bothering the world, and my film will try to answer these questions."

Three British muslims of Asian origin and one of Jamaican origin carried out a suicide mission in London that sent shockwaves across the world last year.

"Suicide bomber will deal with the subject of Asian immigrants staying in Western countries and what they go through in their lives to live in that system," adds Mahesh Bhatt.

The filmmaker had launched his daughter Pooja Bhatt a decade ago as an actress in films like Daddy, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin and Sadak.

He is known to make films that deal with contemporary issues. His last offering, Kalyug, was about the evils of the pornography industry.

Religious terrorism is born from the pain and loss of terrorists, he says. "They are impatient with god, who is slow to respond and does not answer their problems."

In the film, leading man Rahul is born to Asian Muslim parents and is settled in London.
The film will be shot in England and India, and Anurag Basu, of Murder fame, will direct the film.
"After the release of our latest film Gangster in April by Basu, he will start shooting for Suicide Bomber somewhere in June and by the year end, we hope to release the film," Bhatt Senior informs.

Rahul has a tough task -- for two reasons.

Reason One: Living up to his father's track record of making hit films like Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Sadak, Murder and Zeher.

Reason Two: The subject of his debut film, Suicide Bomber, which deals with terrorism and in which he plays the protagonist. Yes, Rahul makes his debut as a terrorist in the film that is loosely based on the 7/7 London bombings.

And you can imagine how challenging his task is, to gain a foothold in Bollywood with such an unconventional first step.

More than a decade ago, Mahesh Bhatt had launched his daughter Pooja Bhatt with films like Daddy (1989), Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991) and Sadak (1991).
Let's see if he can do a repeat act.