Pooja Bhatt Recalls Rejecting Aashiqui for Her Boyfriend — And Why It Left Mahesh Bhatt Fuming

Sometimes a love story writes over a career-defining role — and Pooja Bhatt’s throwback confession proves just how literally that can happen. Long before she became a celebrated actress and filmmaker in her own right, Pooja walked away from one of Bollywood’s biggest musical romances, all because of a promise she made to someone else.

Pooja Bhatt and Mahesh Bhatt

A Promise Made at 16, A Career Turn at 18

Pooja has shared that she began dating her boyfriend at 16, having been in love with him since she was just 12. By the time she’d already done her first film, Daddy, at 17, her partner reportedly told her that if she wanted to marry him, she’d need to give up acting altogether, since he’d never marry an actress.

Being, in her own words, a hopeless romantic, Pooja agreed to his terms. So when Mukesh Bhatt arrived at her home with the signing amount for Aashiqui, she turned the role down flat, even after her father tried to convince her otherwise. According to reports, Mukesh Bhatt was left so stunned by the decision that he called Mahesh Bhatt and told him his daughter had lost her mind.

The relationship didn’t last much longer after that, though Pooja has said the two remain close friends to this day. Looking back, she’s admitted she sometimes wishes she’d taken the role anyway — Aashiqui went on to become a massive blockbuster, launching Anu Agarwal to stardom instead.

For more on the film’s cultural legacy, see the Aashiqui Wikipedia page.

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