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Pooja Bedi recently talked about her late mother and famous Odissi dancer and model Protima Bedi’s ‘larger than life’ personality. Protima was married to actor Kabir Bedi and the two experimented with open marriage for a while as well. In a recent interaction, Pooja recalled how her mother struggled with money but never denied them anything they required.
Speaking to Sidharth Kannan on his YouTube channel, Pooja said, “I grew up watching her in every shade, every avatar. We watched her broken moments. We watched her having no money and struggling. Screaming at us for wasting ketchup because, at the end of the day, that was expensive. We didn’t have a TV till my late teens. She was very careful with her money, yet she made sure we had everything that we required in life.”
Pooja recalled how her mother valued money. “She was this incredible human being, who was larger than life in every way. I remember her coming from a show, and they had given her cash money like Rs 50-100 notes. She was so excited. She put all the notes on the bed and she started playing with them. We were all small and we said, ‘Mama got money.’ She took the cash and threw it in the air, and she kept saying ‘money, money, money’. It was so sweet.”
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Pooja also spoke about how, despite being born to movie star Kabir Bedi and a successful mother, she started earning at the age of 17 and became independent. She recalled that she left her studies in the US to come back to India and join Bollywood. “I told my parents I’m going to come back and join Bollywood and they were aghast. They couldn’t believe I was making that choice,” she recalled.
She went on to say, “I have signed this film and I have come back to India. This was when my mom decided to go to her dance village and I was all alone at home. I had the whole house to run. I had bills to pay. I was terrified. I was 17 years old. I was damn scared because I had a dog and I had my own needs which required money.”
In order to pay her bills, Pooja decided to take as many projects as she could. “I started signing everything that came in my way. It wasn’t just one thing for me anymore. I signed Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar and ad campaigns. I started earning my living at the age of 17 and I have been on my feet and self-sufficient ever since. I travelled in second class in trains with my mother. I have eaten on floors with villagers. We got Rs 7 pocket money a week in boarding school. So there was no silver spoon. I am self-made.”
