The veteran actor Pooja Bhatt is back in the game with her latest release Chup: Revenge of Artist after a hiatus of 22 years. She might be away from the cameras for a long time, but her interesting life and tongue-in-cheek statements have kept her alive in the hearts of the audiences.

In an exclusive interview, Pooja talked about her sabbatical, alcoholism, depression and much more. Talking about how the current period of her life, the Sadak actor stated, “I am in the most beautiful phase of my life. I used to love to drink and I drank openly but since life gave me the second shot, I haven’t touched it for the last six years. I realised, that alcohol was being used to escape but I just pulled the plug one day. I got the new direction to my life, the neediness as a woman diminished. I believed a bottle of champagne and a toxic relationship is equivalent. Till the time you use something or someone to fill up a vacuum in your heart, you are an addict.”

“Post leaving alcohol, for the first time, I discovered single blessedness where I learned to sit with myself, understood my weaknesses, my strengths etc. and I would be able to forgive myself. I got a lot more clarity during the lockdown, I was alone and living in my farmhouse else I would have cracked up. I was drinking and I got a certain kind of negativity, in regards to Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. I was sober and put a lot of my demons to rest,” she added.

Pooja Bhatt has done many women-centric films in an era where such films were not common. She has portrayed strong female characters on-screen several times. Talking about the same, the Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahi actor quoted, “In those, people used to ask that why we make female-centric movies? Starting from Arth, my father has always portrayed women in a very different way. When I decided to produce Jism that even worked, it wasn’t for the erotica but it had love, infidelity of our times. I even feel Jism 2 was very tame in a lot of ways, it was traditional than the first part.”

Pooja Bhatt was last seen in 1999 film Zakhm. In her recent release Chup: Revenge of Artist, she plays a criminal psychologist. Besides her, the movie also stars Sunny Deol, Dulquer Salman and Shreya Dhanwanthary. Helmed by R.Balki, the film has opened to positive reviews.