Pooja Bhatt
Pooja Bhatt at Tommy Hilfiger Footwear Launch
Born	(1972-02-24) February 24, 1972 (age 40) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Occupation	Actress, Producer & Director
Spouse	Manish Makhija
Parents	Mahesh Bhatt Kiran

Pooja Bhatt (Hindi: पूजा भट; born 24 February 1972) is an Indian film actress and model, currently devoting time to film production and direction. She is the daughter of Indian film director Mahesh Bhatt.^[1]

Early life[link]

Bhatt was born to Mahesh Bhatt and Kiran Bhatt (aka Loraine Bright). She is the step daughter of Soni Razdan. She has a brother, Rahul Bhatt and step sisters Shaheen and Alia. Her cousin Mohit Suri is a film screenwriter & director. Emraan Hashmi is another famous cousin.^[2]

She acted in many films which were produced and directed by her father. In most of her films, she used her real name Pooja.

Career[link]

Bhatt made her acting debut at age 17, in 1989 with Daddy, a TV film directed by her father Mahesh Bhatt. In the film she portrayed a soul-searching teenage girl in an estranged relationship with her alcoholic father, played by actor Anupam Kher.

Her biggest solo hit and her big screen debut came with a musical hit, Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991), which was a remake of the Oscar-winning Hollywood classic It Happened One Night. Pooja received the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award for the film. Another hit movie of Bhatt was Sadak (1991).

Her most well-known films in the 1990s included, Sadak opposite Sanjay Dutt (1991), Junoon, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin opposite Aamir Khan (1991), Sir (1993), Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee (1993), Naaraaz (1994), Hum Dono, Angrakshak opposite Sunny Deol (1995), Chaahat opposite Shahrukh Khan (1996), Tamanna (1997), a super-hit and multi-starrer Border (1997) and Zakhm (1998). Pooja Bhatt has also acted in some popular hit regional Indian films.

Her last film appearance was in Everybody Says I'm Fine! in 2001. She has since focused on producing and directing. She made her directorial debut with Paap in 2004, starring John Abraham and Udita Goswami. Since then, she has made three more directorial ventures: Holiday (2006), Dhokha (2007) and Kajraare (2010).

Personal life[link]

On 24 August 2003, Bhatt married Manish Makhija, also known as Udham Singh, a former VJ of Channel V and now the owner of a restaurant-bar in Goa. She had met Makhija a few months earlier, while he was working with her in the film, Paap (2004), in which he also did a small role.

Awards and nominations[link]

Winner[link]

• 1991 - Filmfare Award for Lux Face of the Year

Nominations[link]

• 2005 - Popular Award for Best debuting Director for Paap (2004)

Filmography[link]

Producer[link]

• Tamanna (1997)
• Dushman (1998)
• Zakhm (1998)
• Sur: The Melody of Life (2002)
• Jism (2003)
• Paap (2003)
• Rog (2005)
• Holiday (2006)

Director[link]

• Paap (2003)
• Holiday (2006)
• Dhokha (2007)
• Kajraare (2010)
• Jism 2 (2012)

Production designer[link]

• Jism (2003)
• Paap (2003)
• Rog (2005)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Pooja Bhatt at the Internet Movie Database
• Jism 2 is an adult love story: Pooja Bhatt
• Sunny Leone cast on instinct: Pooja Bhatt

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