Pooja Bhatt Rejected Aashiqui Mahesh Bhatt Silent Rage Biggest Mistake Of Her Life

Pooja Bhatt was just 17 when she made her debut in the movies in her father Mahesh Bhatt’s film Daddy but Pooja, in a recent interview, claimed that the film “wasn’t designed to launch” her. In fact, she had made up her mind about not being in the movies after her first film and so when she was approached by her family for Aashiqui, she said no because her boyfriend at the time did not really love the fact that she was an actor.

Mahesh had just given her 24 hours to think about Daddy and when he got back to her, after 24 hours, he told her that could approach Dimple Kapadia’s daughter, Twinkle Khanna, for the role. Hearing this, Pooja instantly grabbed the opportunity. “He said so you don’t want to act, but you don’t want the role to go to someone else. You are made for this business, and I just did it,” she said.

However, Pooja was told that she would get fired from the film if she did not perform well. “I was thrown into the deep end. My father told me in no uncertain terms that if you can’t act, I am going to throw you out,” she recalled. He tested her with her lines and was satisfied but told her that the environment of a set is completely different so if she faltered there, she could still get fired.

“He told me on set, it’s a different reality. If you can’t deliver, I am not going to give the world the privilege of telling you that you are no good. That’s the kind of upbringing one has had. Our families tell us the worst things that anyone out there in the world can tell us,” she recalled.

Pooja felt a lot of pressure to deliver from those present on the set as many of them had known her from a young age. “My spot boy, Jagan, who had seen me since I was a child, was saying, ‘Kal toh Pooja beti ka shooting hai. Dekhte hain ki acting kar payegi ya nahi? (Tomorrow is Pooja’s shoot. We’ll see if she can act or not.)’”

She added, “There is no room for good manners on a set.”

After Daddy wrapped up, Pooja was offered Aashiqui, which later starred Rahul Roy and Anu Aggarwal, but she chose to refuse the lead role because her then-boyfriend wasn’t very interested in her being an actor.

“I was offered Aashiqui. The only time in my life my uncle Mukesh Bhatt came to my house with crisp bundles of cash. He said, ‘This is your signing amount’. I said, ‘I have decided I don’t want to act anymore’ Because I was in love by then and my then-boyfriend was not very happy with having a girlfriend who would be an actor,” she recalled, but did not reveal the name of the boyfriend. “He is still one of my best friends and he did not remember this detail,” she said.

“He never told me in no uncertain terms, don’t act. I was trying to be the good girlfriend and the sacrificial lamb and I said I am not going to do movies anymore,” she recalled with a laugh.

Mukesh then called Mahesh and said, “Beti pagal ho gayi hai, na bol rahi hai film ko (Your daughter has gone crazy. She is saying no to the film).” When Pooja was asked to speak to Mahesh, all she could hear was “deep breathing” from the other side of the call. “All I could hear was deep breathing. My father was so angry. He said the destination might not be certain, but the flight is guaranteed, and you have no idea that you are making the biggest mistake of your life.”

For the next two weeks, Mahesh did not speak to Pooja. So much so when her name came on in the credits of Daddy, Mahesh clapped sarcastically. Pooja later changed her mind when she visited the set of Aashiqui and decided that she wanted to be a part of the movies, and then did Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin, also starring Aamir Khan.