Actress-director-producer Pooja Bhatt, who has been very much known as the Boss Lady, recalls the time when she was degraded for donning the cap of a producer, her mark as ‘Pooja Bhatt’ post her 21 years of hiatus,
and more.
Tejal Sinha
The ‘Boss Lady’, who has been an inspiration to not only people of her times but of the current generations too, is the one who ruled the 90s era with her hits at an early age itself. Right from her debut with Daddy and further going ahead with Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, Sadak, Prem Deewane, Kranti Kshetra, and so on, she has proved every now and then who Pooja Bhatt is, apart from being the daughter of the renowned director Mahesh Bhatt!
Apart from her finesse in acting, she has also donned the roles of producer and director. But of course, things didn’t come to her plate as easily as they may seem. Recently, in one of our interviews with the star, she revealed her father was clear about not lying about whether she was good or not with her work and not giving the world the privilege of telling her that she can’t act.
Now, as we go ahead and bring to you some personal insights, during our exclusive chat, she recalled the time when she had put on the producer’s cap: “When I was making Tamanna, people had come up to me and were like it’s not the work of a woman. Production is not for women. I made it.” And guess what? Tamanna won Best Film on Other Social Issues at the 44th National Film Awards. But still, people didn’t stop their bad talk there. “When I was making Dushman with Kajol, people pointed out, saying, ‘Oh, you’re taking a woman; now it’s finished’. I was like, “I’m going to do what I want to do, and here I am doing it.” When I became a producer, I was told why I wanted to become a producer. This is not for women; stick to acting and focus on your acting career. People are going to say so, and I was like, Do hell with you guys.”
Going very much ahead, when she was back after a 21-year-long break with Bombay Begums, she recalled, “People were so generous. It was so overwhelming. The response I got for Bombay Begums was greater than that I got for my first 3–4 films to keep together. Even when I stopped, people were like, Why did you stop acting? When this came my way, I felt like life was bringing something to me. I just felt to take it upon myself to open the door to life, a dead life into my life! I did Bombay Begums, and I was privileged to play the part of a 49-year-old. The director would not want me to look younger, thinner, darker, or fairer. She just wanted me for what I was and who I was, and there can be no greater gift than a director can give an actor for who they are. You feel very comfortable in that person’s gaze, and you want to give it your all. Being away from it for 21 years and understanding the nuances of filmmaking and running a set has made me more respectful of the process. I can take instructions far better today and far more easily today.”
The Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin star was recently seen playing the character of Anita Verma in Big Girls Don’t Cry, winning many accolades for the same. Sharing some personal relatable aspects from the series, she strongly explains, “What I related to a lot was these young girls who are kind of like Anees character, for example, where she comes from this dysfunctional home, and supposedly the parents are trying to put on this facade. I mean, my parents were not like that, but I remember feeling relief when my parents decided to kind of sit me down and say that, you know, this relationship of ours is technically over but will never be over as far as you are concerned. That, for me, was such an important conversation. I realised the relationships are not made on paper or broken on paper either. Your father might shift from your geography, but he never stops being your father. In the conversation that Anees has in her head, she says that guys don’t do it for me. It was also where she became the parents of her parents. That comes to a point in children’s lives when you got to come and be generous back with your parents too.”
Well, as we head towards the end, how could we not ask her about her darling niece Raha? In fact, in one of the posts wishing Pooja a happy birthday, Mahesh Bhatt shared how he could see the resemblance of Pooja’s attributes to those of his granddaughter.
“I’m glad you are the first one who has read it clearly,” she gleefully enthuses adding, “He felt the wide eyes of looking into the world and the passion and that is something that you bond with.”
Infact, as we went on ahead, she shares that she still looks at the world with wide eyes and still gets butterflies in my stomach when she gave her first shot. “I feel so excited when I have a show coming out. We had a countdown before 12 and I couldn’t sleep after that. Nitya was like even after so many years you feel like this and I was like the day I stopped feeling like this that means I am dead. The day we lose is the day when we die.” sAnd so, “I just hope I always have the attributes of glorious Raha and if there’s one thing that I’ll fight not only with the world but even myself is to hold on to the child in me. No matter how cruel the world gets, it’s a cruel place to live in right now and as an artist, you cannot be separated from it. Our job is to feel and if I can’t only feel good and edit the bad. There’s so much magic around you and as an adult, we tend to ignore the magic and thus it’s important to keep the child within you alive.”
