Pooja Bhatt (born 24 February 1972) is an Indian film director, actress, voice over artist and film maker. Born into the Bhatt family, she is the daughter of Indian filmmaker,

Mahesh Bhatt Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. A stand-out film from his earlier period is '' Saaransh'' (1984), screened at the 14th Moscow International Film ...

. Bhatt played her first leading role in

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

Daddy A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fath ...

'' in 1989. For the film, she won the Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year for Best Female Debut.

Early life

Pooja Bhatt was born on 24 February 1972 to

and Kiran Bhatt (born Loraine Bright). On her father's side, Bhatt is of predominantly Gujarati descent and on her mother's side, she is of English,

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

, and

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (hor ...

ancestry. She is the step-daughter of

Soni Razdan Soni Razdan (born 25 October 1956) is a British actress and film director who works in Hindi films. She is married to film director Mahesh Bhatt and is the mother of Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt. Early life Razdan was born in Small Heath Bir ...

. She has a brother, Rahul Bhatt and half-sisters Shaheen and Alia Bhatt. Her cousins are Hitarth Bhat and

Emraan Hashmi Emraan Anwar Hashmi (; born 24 March 1979) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Hindi cinema. Hashmi debuted in 2003 with the crime thriller film ''Footpath'' and subsequently appeared in films include ''Murder'' (2004), '' Kalyug'' ...

Career

Bhatt made her acting debut at age 17, in 1989 with ''

'', a TV film directed by her father

. In the film she portrayed a soul-searching teenage girl in an estranged relationship with her

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

father, played by actor Anupam Kher. Her biggest solo hit and her big screen debut came with the musical hit '' Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin'' (1991), which was a remake of the Oscar-winning Hollywood classic '' It Happened One Night''. Pooja Bhatt appeared in many bold shoots like Stardust. Her most well-known films in the 1990s included '' Sadak'' opposite

Sanjay Dutt Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though ...

(1991), '' Junoon'', '' Jaanam'', and '' Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee'' opposite Rahul Roy, '' Sir'' (1993) and '' Guneghar'' (1995) opposite Atul Agnihotri, ''

Tadipaar ''Tadipaar'' () is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language romantic action film directed by Mahesh Bhatt starring Mithun Chakraborty, Pooja Bhatt, along with Juhi Chawla in a special appearance. The super-hit songs of the film were composed by Nadeem-Sh ...

'' (1993) and '' Naaraaz'' (1994) opposite Mithun Chakraborty, '' Hum Dono'' opposite Rishi Kapoor, ''

Angrakshak ''Angrakshak'' (Bodyguard) is a 1995 Indian Action film, action thriller film starring Sunny Deol, Pooja Bhatt and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Originally, Divya Bharti signed up for it. But due to her sudden death, she was replaced by Pooja. Story ...

'' opposite Sunny Deol (1995), '' Chaahat'' opposite Shah Rukh Khan (1996), '' Tamanna'' (1997), the super-hit and multi-starrer ''

Border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political bo ...

'' (1997) and '' Zakhm'' (1998), opposite Ajay Devgan. Mallika Sherawat Mahesh Bhatt Pooja Bhatt still4

Her last film appearance was in the English language film '' Everybody Says I'm Fine!'' in 2001. She has since focused on producing and directing. She made her directorial debut with ''

Paap ''Paap'' () is a 2003 Indian crime thriller film, directed by Pooja Bhatt in her directorial debut, and features John Abraham, Udita Goswami, Gulshan Grover and Mohan Agashe. The film received mixed reviews from critics, praising its cine ...

'' in 2004, starring John Abraham and Udita Goswami. Since then, she has made four more directorial ventures: ''

Holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or t ...

'' (2006), ''

Dhokha ''Dhokha'' () is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Pooja Bhatt, starring Muzammil Ibrahim and Tulip Joshi. Produced by Mukesh Bhatt and featuring music by M. M. Keeravani, the film revolves around a moderate Indian Mu ...

'' (2007), ''

Kajraare ''Kajraare'' () is a 2010 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Pooja Bhatt, starring Himesh Reshammiya and Sara Loren in the lead roles. Reshammiya plays a singer who falls in love with a bar dancer and the film is centred on how they find true ...

'' (2010) and '' Jism 2'' (2012). In 2020, Bhatt returned to acting with '' Sadak 2'', a sequel to the hit 1991 film. Her father returned to directing with this film after 20 years. It was released on 28 August 2020 on the streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar. In 2021, Bhatt will be seen in the Alankrita Shrivastava directed upcoming webseries '' Bombay Begums''. It will also feature Amruta Subhash, Shahana Goswami, Plabita Borthakur and Aadhya Anand.

Controversies

Mahesh Bhatt became the talk of the town and was slammed by the media after the filmmaker shot for a magazine cover which showed him and his daughter Pooja kissing each other on the lips. Her father also stated that: ''"If Pooja wasn't my daughter, I'd love to marry her."''

Filmography

As an actress

Web series

As a crew member

Awards and recognitions

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatt, Pooja 1972 births Living people Actresses from Mumbai Film directors from Mumbai Film producers from Mumbai Businesswomen from Maharashtra Indian film actresses Indian web series actresses Indian voice actresses Indian women film directors Indian women film producers Pooja Gujarati people Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Hindi film producers Hindi-language film directors Producers who won the Best Film on National Integration National Film Award Producers who won the Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award Actresses of European descent in Indian films Actresses of European descent in Bollywood films Indian people of Armenian descent Indian people of Burmese descent Indian people of English descent Indian people of Scottish descent Filmfare Awards winners 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian film directors