Bombay Begums’ Pooja Bhatt, A Badass Queen On And Off-Screen

Actor Pooja Bhatt’s comeback to the screen would be marked by the forthcoming women-centric drama, Bombay Begums. After her cameo in the 2020 realease, Sadak 2, she will play one of the female-leads on the show. The Netflix series will be released on International Women’s Day, which features Bhatt as Rani, the one who wears the crown in this kingdom. 

The story’s core could be traced to the director Alankrita Srivastava’s mother’s revelation about the only four women in her batch in IIM (Ahmedabad), who did not pursue a ‘full-fledged corporate career’.

The filmmaker then polished the idea and carved characters to explore the relationship of- women and ambition. Bombay Begums would narrate the story of five women, who belong to different sections of the society, battling their fate and patriarchy to emerge as ‘Queens of Bombay’. 

Pooja Bhatt: The one who says as it is 

The 49-year-old actor is attached to the series as one of the lead characters. The trailer and little details that’s out there about the much-anticipated show, suggest that Rani is the common link in the lives of the other women. As powerful as the character she is playing on the web-series, Bhatt has always been a fierce woman herself. The actor who produced films like Tamanna, Dushman and Zakhm, had put “the actor into hibernation”.

The Sadak actor featured in comparatively less films than her contemporaries, since she wanted to be part of projects she “could live with”. 

Much like her father, Mahesh Bhatt, Pooja too has been brutally honest when it comes to personal and professional life, often getting embroiled in controversies for the same.

How brave is it to call out a system that one is part of? To bare the undersurface people flinch away from? Well, not that peculiar for this Bollywood actor. In fact, she is in her element when she speaks up without the filters. 

Pooja Bhatt in the past had been vocal about her addiction and how she finally resorted to abstinence in December 2016.

During the book launch of her sister Shaheen Bhatt, I've Never Been (Un) Happier, the actor criticised the Hindi film industry. She pointed out that Alia Bhatt (her sibling) is a successful actor because she didn’t inherit a ‘genetic flaw’- the trait of being upfront- which Shaheen and she did. Additionally, she mentioned that everyone is living in a fake world full of appearances, where people do not want you to say ‘I am not okay.’  

“They don't give a damn if you're a cocaine addict, whether you have an alcohol problem or you're taking sleeping pills. As long as you look okay and show up and your waist size is a certain circumference, it's good,” Pooja elaborated.

Become acquainted with the Bombay Begums 

“Five women, five different worlds, five different perspectives. Meet the five Begums who find themselves racing and facing obstacles threatening to pull them down. Watch each unique personality fight against her roadblocks and emerge victorious!” says the show’s official synopsis.

Alongside Pooja Bhatt, as the lead, this women-centric web series features Amruta Subhash, Plabita Borthakur, Shahana Goswami, Aadhya Anand in key roles.

Filmmaker Alankrita Shrivastava, who has directed the show, said in a statement that the show revolves around the complex and struggling journey of working Indian women, who are ambitious for power and success but have to fight many obstacles on their way as they desperately want to reach their goals.

“It’s the story of their daily hustle, the story of their dreams – sometimes buried, sometimes fulfilled,” Shrivastava said.

Written and directed by Shrivastava, produced by Endemol Shine India, Endeavor Content, and Chernin Entertainment, Bombay Begums is all set to stream on Netflix on 8 March.