Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt once opened up about her mother being 'worried' as Mahesh gave his daughters, Alia and Shaheen, 'Muslim' names. In a candid interview in 1998, Sadak's director opened up about his personal life and his parents' religious beliefs. Mahesh Bhatt revealed that his father Nanabhai Bhatt was a Gujarati Brahmin and his mother Shirin Mohammad Ali was a Muslim. 

He disclosed how his mother used to get embarrassed whenever Mahesh embraced his Muslim roots. He also revealed that his mother was 'worried' as Mahesh gave his daughters 'Muslim' names. 

Talking about his parents in the old interview, Mahesh said, "I had the best of both worlds. My mother was a Shia Muslim, while my father was a janoi-clad man. He never pretended to be secular. What's very interesting, both (father and mother) retained their individual faiths. They were madly in love but neither indulged in the farce of wanting to do things the other way."

Mahesh Bhatt also opened up about the 1992 communal riots in Mumbai and said,  "My mother always wore this big tika and saree, she liked that kind of thing. But, at the same time, I could see that there was something she was hiding. She felt that her minority status would perhaps interfere with our day-to-day lives. She was a little embarrassed when I flaunted my Muslim roots... when I came to know about it. Yes, she was a little embarrassed about it. She was worried about me during the communal riots in 1992. She was worried when we named my little girls because my second wife (Soni Razdan) liked those names, Shaheen and Alia. Both are Muslim names. Everybody was worried in 1992. What was going to happen?"

Mahesh Bhat''s daughter daughter Alia Bhatt got married to actor Ranbir Kapoor in April 2022 in a private ceremony. The couple welcomed their daughter Raha in November 2022.