Following a special screening of Om Ka Hari which stars her mother Soni Razdan, Alia Bhatt opened up about her father, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, recalling a childhood memory that captured his theatrical, larger-than-life personality.
Speaking about one of her father’s quirks that has stayed with her, Alia said, “My father is very theatrical and that sometimes makes for great memories. For example, when I was in first standard, I had a spelling test and I was worried I was, for some reason, forgetting the spelling of ‘the’. My father made it a point to build it into my memory, so he did some overbearing gesture to teach me the spelling so I don’t forget it. But I remember him being this, like, grizzly bear, highly theatrical and highly entertaining.”
The memory offered a warm and humorous glimpse into Alia’s relationship with her father, while resonating with the emotional world of Om Ka Hari, which explores the complexities of the father-son relationship through comedy, drama and the things families often struggle to say to one another.
Directed by Harish Vyas, Om Ka Hari stars Anshuman Jha and Raghubir Yadav in the titular roles of Om and Hari. The film follows a stubborn father and his independent-minded son, whose relationship is shaped by generational differences, disagreements and deeply held expectations. When Hari believes he has only a few days left to live, he decides to make a journey to Varanasi, with Om accompanying him. What begins as a journey marked by conflict gradually becomes an opportunity for the two to confront the love, hurt and things left unsaid between them.
Produced by First Ray Films, Om Ka Hari releases theatrically on September 18, 2026.
