Pooja Bedi, the bollywood diva

If Pooja Bedi is the original Rockstar in life’s Woodstock, it’s in her genes, guys! Her grandfather – from her Dad’s side – was a Sikh, a descendent from the revered Guru Nanak lineage, no less. Her Grandma met her handsome husband in Oxford. Her father – the devastatingly dashing and good-looking Kabir Bedi – was married to the coolest hottie of her generation, Protima Dasgupta.

Her father was a Marwari – Agarwal – and her mom, a Bengali. Kabir and Protima shook the living shit out of India’s sedate 70’s crowd by initially living in, a practice heard of from the evil west but never dared to put into action. Soon, however, they married. Protima – the bolder of the two – went one step further to provide the puritans with a cardiac arrest when she streaked in Juhu for a photo-shoot to launch a magazine! Even her progressive hubby was taken aback at this clothes-fatwa and had a tough time organising damage control.

Protima, subsequently, did a total turnaround, to quit her sensationalising life-style to seriously embrace dancing and spiritualism, with passion and purpose, until her tragic, untimely death in a landslide. Kabir, in the meantime, had separated from her and got into a series of hi-profile relationships, the late Parveen Babi heading the list.

Two more marriages followed, Niki Bedi and Susan Humphreys, before cosying up with the present Biwi No.4 Parveen Dusanj! Pooja Bedi was sometimes a cheer-leader and sometimes a spectator in this drama. No, she’s not been scarred or damaged but only grown up a trifle quickly with both courage and values that have driven her to live life on her own terms, with ghisa-pita conventions and hypocritical modality, the prime targets

Pooja is proud of her lineage and confesses that “my parents – especially my mom – always advised me to follow my heart. Mistakes come with the territory and are a critically important part of growing up. For example, when I was invited by Alyque Padamsee to do the Kamasutra ad and TVC in the early 90’s, a chorus of DON’T blitzed the air.

Too controversial and politically inappropriate for a young 19 year old, they said. Bound to ruin your reputation, image and future, they insisted. My mom, on the contrary, said I should go for it. “Life-like love-making scenes are exactly what are needed to educate the titillating-friendly ignorant masses about the condoms offering both safe sex and the joy of love making. It’s solid social service, baby!” She was an amazingly liberated woman, an emancipated soul who lived way before her times. I miss her so much. She would be so proud and happy the way I’ve tried to conduct my life … We move to her brief movie-career. Why did she quit so fast?”

Not really. I did quite a few films (Vish Kanya, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, Lootera, Aatank Hi Aatank, Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee)…but yes, if I couldn’t strike it big, there were reasons. See, in those days, there were slots. You were either the pretty, goody-goody, sing-dance-romance-cry heroine or the sexy, desirable hot-babe, distracting the hero and providing the gasp-pant factor for the aam junta. I was clearly in the latter-mould. Fact is, although I had a large and enthusiastic [goggle-eyed/] fan-base, the shelf-life and opportunities of this category in Bollywood of these times was limited. Also – providentially – around that time my marriage happened.

My to-be in-laws were traditionally conservative folks and weren’t too comfortable with a showbiz bahu. Since whatever I do, I go the distance and give it my 200 per cent, I quit and concentrated on my new role – a devoted wife, daughter-in-law and mom.”

Actually, Pooja has always been a vibrant and versatile person forever pushing the envelope to explore new areas of expression. “I’ve been working from the age of 18. First it was theatre with Carry on Papa, Wow, Whatta Girl and Bengali Jatra. This was followed by me editing my mom’s memoirs, Timepass. I also did columns for several publications and later hosted a Celebrity Talk Show, Just Pooja which cleared over 100 episodes.

Thereafter, I put on my dancing shoes and actively participated in Jhalak Dikhlaja and Naach Baliye. It was soon my turn to demonstrate my gutsy side, so enter Khatron ke Khiladi! Not bad huh, when you add to the list my brand ambassadorship of a couple of products? However to serious Pooja-watchers, the two areas that have propelled her to admirable heights in terms of reader-audience connect are Heart Chakra and Happy Souls.

The first is a hugely followed column that deals with out-of-the-box and original solutions to today’s complex relationship problems. With quirky titles like - thanks for bitching, divide and divorce, making up after breaking up, why is my parent in my bedroom, let whatever flows, flow and whatever crash, crash, - it remains a super hit with youngistan. Happy Souls is the other one.

This is a workshop-oriented module that “amalgamates science with spiritualism, leading to healing and empowerment and allowing people to be the best version of themselves”. This, too, is a special, one-of-a-kind programme and continues to be hugely sought after by campuses, corporates, institutes…She’s just been invited to Bali to participate in a conference with other Thought-Leaders of Asia, with her HS offering.

The latest is her fearless fight – on the activist front – for her friend Karan Oberoi (accused of rape and stalking) with her MEN TOO movement. She believes “We can’t give Women Holy Cow status without questioning their intent. Equality means pro-law and projustice and not summarily making men the enemy. In this case, due to the huge popularity of ME TOO, men have become soft targets.”

She believes this MEN TOO was long overdue, a counter to many women riding the ME TOO wave with mischievous, vindictive, bindaas irresponsibility to fix any man they wanted to settle any score with. Everything considered, Pooja Bedi is that rare creature who is truly a child of the universe, a free soul who entertains, enriches and empowers in one fell swoop.

Engaged to Maneck Contractor early this year, [“God, can you imagine the love of my life proposed to me on a Hot-Air-Balloon, hundreds of feet above the ground, with an exquisite ring …!] the words of Ace French director, Roger Vadim about his first wife, the stunning Brigitte Bardot, best sums up her personality perfectly: “She needed a gardener, not a professor. She is the type of flower one waters but never cuts.” Keep Rockin’ Pooja Bedi. May your new contract last forever!