EARLY LIFE :
Pooja Bedi was born on Monday, 11 May 1970, in Bombay. She went to Besant Montessori School for her elementary education. After this, she was sent to The Lawrence School, Sanawar, Himachal Pradesh.
Pooja is the daughter of Protima Gauri Bedi (1948-1998) and Kabir Bedi. Her mother was an Indian model and a renowned Odissi dancer. Her father is a famous Indian actor and model. She also had a younger brother named Siddharth Bedi. He was 25 years old when he committed suicide on 19 July 1997.
CAREER :
Pooja Bedi began her career in Bollywood in 1991 with her first film Vishkanya in which she played the lead role. Her second movie was Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992), in which she was in a supporting role and was nominated as the best-supporting actress at the Filmfare awards in 1993.
Her third release was Lootere, in which she starred in a supporting role with Sunny Deol and Juhi Chawla. Her next film was Aatank Hi Aatank, in which she starred with Amir Khan, Juhi Chalwa, and superstar Rajinikanth; this film was released in 1995. From 1991 to 1995, she also worked in various commercials and media campaigns. She was also highlighted in the media for shooting a bold commercial for the KamaSutra condom in which she raised awareness about AIDS.
Later, she began working as a columnist for various media houses and ran a column for The Times of India since 2009.
In 2006, she made her debut on TV by participating in a dance reality show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa as a show contestant. In 2007, she appeared in Nach Baliye 3 as a contestant with her boyfriend, Hanif Hilal. Next, she appeared in Big Boss 2 as a show host in 2008. The same year, she appeared as a contestant in Fear Factor: Khatro Ke Khiladi. In 2011, she participated as a contestant in the Indian Tv reality show Maa Exchange with her daughter. The same year, she appeared in Big Boss as a contestant and was evicted after surviving in the house for 8 weeks. In 2020, she also played the role of Geeta Chopra in Masaba Masaba.
PERSONAL LIFE :
Pooja Bedi met Farhan Furniturewala in 1990. They dated for three years and got married on 6 May 1994. After marrying him, she converted to Islam. However, their marriage couldn’t survive the test of time, and they got divorced on 14 February 2003, on Valentine’s day. Their first child is their daughter Alaya Ebrahim Furniturewala, born on 28 November 1997.
Their second child is their son Omar Furniturewala who was born in 2000. However, they still share a warm relationship and have revealed that they do not have any hard feelings for each other.
Pooja Bedi has been in a relationship with five men. The first one was Aditya Pancholi, who was already a married man. They used to spend most of their time at Pooja’s house, and their fling ended when Pooja’s maid revealed that Aditya had a sexual relationship with her. The actor promised Pooja’s 15-year-old maid that he would get her a role in movies, and after this revelation, Pooja ended the relationship with him. Pancholi met Pooja in 2013 at a party, and they were seen talking to each other.
Second, she dated Farhan Furniturewala for three and a half years and married on 6 May 1994. Her third boyfriend was Hanif Hilal, whom she met while shooting for Jhalak Dikhlaja in 2006. Hanif was assigned as Pooja’s dance choreographer for the show. They both danced together on the show and eventually fell in love.
However, they dated for more than a year and separated in 2008. Dwiti, from Orissa, who worked for the United Nations Development Programme, was the fourth man she dated. Pooja made him a part of her family life, and he went on to celebrate Pooja’s 40th birthday with her kids in Goa in 2010. The duo was supposed to get engaged, but Dwiti’s family disapproved. He was from a conservative family, and his parents disapproved of Pooja becoming their daughter-in-law. After this, their 18-month-old relationship came to an end.
Pooja Bedi with Dwiti Vikramaditya
Her next fling was with Akashdeep Saigal, whom she met as a co-participant in Big Boss 5. Their relationship continued after the show, and Saigal inked Pooja’s name on his bicep. However, their relationship ended in 2013, and he is still a good friend of Pooja. He was also a party guest at Pooja’s 47th birthday and flaunted her name tattoo at the party.
Later, she fell into a relationship with Maneck Contractor, and in February 2019, she got engaged to him.
In 1994, Pooja converted to Islam when she married Farhan Furniturewala and took up the name Noorjahan. However, she never changed her stage or screen name and said she is a mixture of all religions.
