Actor, director, producer, Pooja Bhatt dons many hats. 

She has always been known for her brutal honesty and transparency, which landed in a bit of trouble during her acting career. Bold and not one to mince words, she continued to speak her mind even though it made few people uncomfortable. She had several cases going against her, the most memorable one for her appearing nude with body paint on the cover of a film magazine. 

For the past few years, she has been shunning the limelight — last seen on screen in Rahul Bose’s 2001 film Everybody Says I am Fine. She rather moved towards direction and production and some of her films like Dushman and Jism are still appreciated by the audiences. 

Now, she has one more hat — writer. The lovable girl from Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahi has announced a tell-all book on her alcohol addiction after her battle with it for several years. Successfully steering clear of it the past 10 months, Pooja now wants to speak about her painful journey so that she can help others stuck in such a situation. 

“This is not an autobiography,” said the 45-year-old. “I want to talk about my journey so that others travelling in the same path know that this problem can be dealt with.” 

She is said to have had the realisation some time ago that if she didn’t stop drinking, she would drink herself to death. That realisation made her kick the bottle overnight and since then it has been an uphill struggle to fight the addiction. 
Penguin Random House India is publishing the book. 

Sister Alia Bhatt tweeted soon after the news broke: “My brave brave strong sister!!! Can’t wait to read it already.” 

Shubha Shetty Saha