Raj Babbar married Nadira Babbar in an interfaith marriage, which was unusual in 1975. His daughter Juhi Babbar told in an interview that her father’s family members wanted her mother to change her religion and some names were also suggested for this. But Juhi’s grandfather stopped it. Juhi said that her family respects all religions.
Juhi shared that her father’s family had suggested changing her mother’s name to Nirmala or Nirdesh, but her grandfather put a stop to it. He said, “We are the symbol of Indianness. We are just waiting for another Christian girl to join the family so that we can have representation of all religions.”
Juhi also told that her family celebrates all the festivals with enthusiasm. “We celebrate both Eid and Diwali with great pomp. Our parents always attend every festival. Our family is very religious and we stay together on every festival, birthday and New Year. While others party on December 31, we stay together at home.”
He also said that his parents never argued about religion. Juhi said, “They are not typical religious people. My maternal grandparents Sajjad Zaheer and Razia Sajjad Zaheer were comrades. They did not keep fast, but celebrated Eid. My maternal grandfather did not offer namaz regularly, but he used to offer Eid namaz.”
