Today, Bollywood’s veteran star Raj Babbar has turned another year wiser. On this special occasion, we thought of getting some beautiful insights into his life, and who could have been a better source for the same than his son Aarya Babbar!Aarya sat with us for a candid cup of conversation and shed light on the beautiful bond he shares with his father, the legendary Raj Babbar. He spoke about the time he realised he was the son of a superstar, revealed how he accepted when his father got married for the second time, and gave us a peek into the persona of Raj Babbar as a father figure. Here are the excerpts from the interaction..Shedding light on when he sensed his father was a ‘big deal,’ Aarya shared, “I think I must have been five or six years old when I realized that my father is an actor and my father is a star. I must have realized it at that time because we used to end up watching Papa on TV sometimes more than what we could see him in person, as he was shooting around the clock with other actors.”
He continued that owing to his work schedule, Raj Babbar wasn’t around much; however, he made sure to give his family, his kids, a beautiful lifestyle. “Every actor of that generation, I mean from the 1980s, 90s, they were working three shifts a day, four shifts a day. So they hardly got any family time. You know, at that time our industry ran on the perception that the number of films you do will decide your success rate. I think they were trying to find a space to make a living and do as many films as possible,” he quoted before adding, “So my father was not perhaps there at home as I was growing up because he was so busy giving us a lifestyle and giving us the life that perhaps he wanted to give us as a father, and which he did. But he gave us a fantastic life as children”.In the same conversation, when we spoke about another very important aspect of Raj Babbar’s life, his second marriage, Aarya replied with utmost maturity. He and his sister Juhi were young when their father got married for the second time, and thus, it would not have been easy for them to accept such a drastic change. However, weighing on the matter, Aarya said, “It’s a part of our life, and that is how we look at it.”
“You know, I think all of us, especially me, I think I’ve grown up from that entire thing. It was long back, and today we look at the positives of it, and that’s it,” he added. Today, Raj and Aarya share one of the strongest and sweetest bonds, and spilling beans on the same, Aarya said, “I am very very influenced when it comes to my father because of the kind of responsibility and respect, and dignity that he’s kept for himself over the years. I think that at this junction of my life, I’m the closest to my father.” “My mother won’t be too happy hearing this, but I think I’m the closest to my father,” he joked.“For today, my father is more like a buddy to me than just a father. I find a friend in him, a confidant in him, someone whom I can rely on, someone whom I can joke with, and I can talk creatively. I know I will get the right advice, and I can blindly trust him for anything, and I know this man is always going to stand by me, and perhaps I give him that same emotion that I’m standing with him as a son, no matter what. And he’s the most important person for me,” he concluded.
