Pooja Bhatt Wiki, Age, Height, Boyfriend, Husband, Family, Biography & More

Pooja Bhatt is an Indian director, actor, filmmaker, and former model. She is the eldest daughter of the famous Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

Wiki/Biography

Pooja Bhatt was born on Thursday, 24 February 1972 (age 50 years; as of 2022) in Mumbai. Her zodiac sign is Taurus. She did her schooling at A F Petit Girls High School, Mumbai. ^[1]YouTube

Physical Appearance

^[2]IMDb Height: 5′ 1″

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Brown

Family & Caste

Pooja Mahesh Bhatt ^[3]IMDb is half-Gujarati and half-Muslim from her father’s side, and her mother has multiple ethnicities including Scottish, Burmese, Armenian, English. In one of her Tweets, she wrote,

My mother is Scottish, Burmese, Armenian, English. My father is half Brahmin, half Muslim.” ^[4]The Times of India

Parents & Siblings

Her father, Mahesh Bhatt, is a famous Indian director, producer, and screenwriter. Her mother’s name is Kiran Bhatt, who changed her name from Loraine Bright to Kiran Bhatt post her marriage to Mahesh Bhatt. Her biological brother, Rahul Bhatt, is an Indian fitness trainer and actor.

After getting separated from Pooja’s mother, Mahesh Bhatt got married to British actress and film director Soni Razdan. Pooja has two step-sisters Alia Bhatt and Shaheen Bhatt from Soni Razdan and Mahesh Bhatt.

The famous Indian actor Emraan Hashmi and the Indian film director Mohit Suri are her cousins. Mohit Suri’s mother is Mahesh Bhatt’s real sister, and thus Mahesh Bhatt is his uncle, and Emraan Hashmi is his cousin Anwar Hashmi’s son, and thus his nephew.

Relationships, Husband & Children

Earlier, Pooja Bhatt’s name was linked up with many Indian celebrities like Aamir Khan, Sohail Khan, Fardeen Khan, Bobby Deol, Suneel Darshan, Deepak Malhotra, and Aditya Pancholi. ^[5]The Times of India Later, she was in a live-in relationship with the Indian actor Ranvir Shorey, and there were rumours that the two were engaged. After a while, the couple parted ways due to an abusive relationship. In an interview, Pooja talked about ending her relationship with Ranvir, she said,

I was in a relationship with an alcoholic, who used to beat me up.” ^[6]The Times of India

In 2003, she got married to her boyfriend, Manish Makhija who is a VJ and a businessman. After almost 11 years of their marriage, the couple got divorced. In an interview, Pooja talked about her divorce, she said,

I choose to live life on MY terms & refuse to perform to the gallery. Certificates don’t make or break marriages & relationships! Life does! To all those who care & especially those that don’t my husband, Munna& Me have decided to part ways after 11 glorious years of marriage. Our split as some might call it is amicable & we hold each other in the highest esteem for now and forever. The reason I explain Is that we are both parts of the public domain. Our friends, well wishers& foes are free to now speculate.” ^[7]Deccan Chronicle

In 1995, she talked about her relationship in an interview with Stardust magazine and said that she was dating Sohail Khan and both were planning to get married. ^[8]BollywoodShaadis.com

Career

She started her career as a child model, and her first TV advertisement was for Pears soap.

 

At the age of 17, she debuted as an actor in the Hindi film ‘Daddy’ (1989) in which she played the role of Pooja, and the film was directed by her father Mahesh Bhatt. She gained immense popularity in the Hindi film ‘Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin’ (1991) along with the famous Indian actor Aamir Khan.

Some of her other popular Hindi films are ‘Sadak’ (1991), ‘Sir’ (1993), ‘Kranti Kshetra’ (1994), ‘Chaahat’ (1996), and ‘Border’ (1997). She launched her own film production company ‘Pooja Bhatt Productions’ in 1996. She debuted as a producer in the Hindi film ‘Tamanna’ (1997), and her first film as a director was the Hindi film ‘Paap’ which was released in 2003. Some of her Hindi films as a director are ‘Dushman’ (1998), ‘Zakhm’ (1998), ‘Jism’ (2003), and ‘Jism 2’ (2012). She has worked as a producer in the Hindi films such as ‘Holiday’ (2006), ‘Dhokha’ (2007), and ‘Kajraare’ (2010). Apart from this, she has also worked as a production designer in the Hindi films like ‘Jism’ (2003) and ‘Paap’ (2003). After a sabbatical of almost eight years, in 2009, she appeared in the Hindi film ‘Sanam Teri Kasam’ opposite Saif Ali Khan. In 2020, she made a special appearance in the Hindi film ‘Sadak 2,’ which is the sequel to the Hindi film ‘Sadak’ (1991). The film did not receive a great response from the audience and was one of the biggest Hindi flop films in 2020. She appeared in the Netflix web series ‘Bombay Begums’ in 2021 in which she played the role of Rani.

In 2023, Pooja appeared as a contestant on season 2 of the reality TV show ‘Bigg Boss OTT.’ The show streamed on JioCinema.

Controversies

• In one of the editions of the ’80s Filmfare magazine, her photo with her father was published which received huge criticism. In the photo, the duo was lip-kissing each other, and later a controversial statement by Mahesh Bhatt added fuel to the fire. In an interview, he said,

If Pooja wasn’t my daughter, I’d have loved to marry her.” ^[9]Indian Express

• At the age of 24, for a fashion magazine, she posed naked with only paint on her body. At that time, her photoshoot created a huge controversy among the media and the public. ^[10]IB Times

Awards & Honours

• 1991: Filmfare Lux New Face of the Year Award for the Hindi film ‘Daddy’

• 1997: National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues for the Hindi film ‘Tamanna’

• 1999: Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration for the Hindi film ‘Zakhm’

Address

Pooja Bhatt, 601, Kyle More Apartments, Behind Mehboob Studios, Bandra (W) Mumbai 400050

Signature/Autograph

Favourite Things

• Colour: Black

• Food: Dhokla, Fafra

Car Collection

• Audi Q7

• Toyota Innova

• Toyota Fortuner ^[11]Patrika

Facts/Trivia

• Her family and friends call her Bhoot Bhatt. ^[12]IMDb

• While she was in school, she dreamt of becoming an astronaut. ^[13]The Times of India

• Her uncle Mukesh Bhatt once offered her a role in a super hit film, but she declined it because her that time boyfriend did not want her to become an actress. In an interview, she said,

I had a boyfriend and I was in love with him since I was 12-year-old. When I was 16, I started dating him. At 17, I did ‘Daddy’ and at 18, I was offered ‘Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin’.”

• She has worked as a model and has been featured on the cover page of various magazines.
  

  Pooja Bhatt featured on Stardust magazine cover

• In one of her interviews, Alia Bhatt said that there was a weird rumour that she was the daughter of Mahesh Bhatt and Pooja Bhatt.

• She is an animal lover and has a pet dog and a few pet cats.
  

  Pooja Bhatt with her pet cat

• Pooja recorded an English rap song “Just For Today” in 1993 for the debut album of Indian music director and singer Daboo Malik.

• In 1996, she hosted a Hindi TV show ‘Mere Saath Chal.’

• In 2005, she appeared in the Hindi documentary ‘Sunset Bollywood.’

• Interestingly, in twelve of her films, her character name was Pooja. ^[14]IMDb

• Pooja Bhatt follows a non-vegetarian diet. ^[15]Food NDTV

• While talking about her relationship with her step-mother, Soni Razdan, she said,

In the beginning, as I said, we (Soni and I) were total strangers and she was my enemy. But they say na, that time heals all wounds. It healed my heartaches as well. We began by saying hi, hello and then onto making small talk. It took off from there and now we are good friends. It’s just of late but mom too has started speaking to Soni. Dad and I didn’t try to make them friends. It was on their own that they did so. Done mutually on their own. Now they get along fine.”

• She started drinking alcohol at the age of 16, but in December 2017, she quit drinking. ^[16]Mumbai Mirror

• As per media sources, she started smoking at the age of 23. In 2018, she shared an Instagram post, in which she talked about quitting smoking. ^[17]Instagram

• In 2018, she acquired the franchise rights of ‘Team Delhi Hoopers’ in the 3BL Basketball League.

• As per Bombay Times, Salman Khan’s father Salim Khan refrained Salman to work with Pooja Bhatt in the 90s films as she was quite a controversial actress at that time. ^[18]Bollywood Bubble

• She has got many tattoos inked on her body. First is a tattoo of an owl on her left forearm, second is a tattoo of an eye, butterfly, and a compass on her left shoulder, the third is tattoos of Zibu Symbols on her left hand’s fingers, and fourth is a tattoo of ‘Alles iat ein marchem’ i.e. Everything is a fairy tale inked on her right forearm.
  

  A collage of Pooja Bhatt’s tattoos

• On 2 November 2022, she became the first Bollywood celebrity to join Rahul Gandhi‘s Bharat Jodo Yatra; she walked with him in Hyderabad. ^[19]The Telegraph
  

  Pooja Bhatt walked with Rahul Gandhi in his Bharat Jodo Yatra in Hyderabad on 2 November 2022