Pooja Bhatt found herself at the center of a huge controversy back in 1990 when a magazine cover featuring her and her father, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, shocked the nation. The cover showed the father and daughter sharing a kiss on the lips, which led to intense debates about morality, culture, and artistic expression.
The ‘Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin‘ actress later spoke about the issue and explained that the moment captured in the photograph was innocent. She said in an interview with Siddharth Kanan, “I see it very simply, and I think that unfortunately jo hota hai, a frozen moment can be represented and misrepresented in anyway. Aur mujhe yaad hai Shah Rukh ne mujhe yeh kaha tha when you have daughters, jab hi aapke bacche chote hai, how often child just say, ‘Mummy papa give me a kiss’. And they go this way. Mai ab bhi is umer mein bhi wahi 10-pound ki bacchi hoon for my father. Vo jindagi bher wahi rahege for me.”
She also expressed that how people chose to interpret the image was beyond her control. She believed that if someone saw it differently, it said more about their own mindset rather than the reality of her relationship with her father. She further added. “So it was a moment that was absolutely innocent which was captured. Aur uske connotation jo hai, jinko padhna hai vo padhge, jinko dekhna hai vo dekhege. Aur main is cheej ko defend karne nahi baithi. Agar log baap aur beti ke rishte ko alag najariye se dekh sakte hai toh vo kuch bhi kar sakte hai. Fir hum baat karte hai family values ki. Bahut kamal ka joke hai (Whatever its connotations, people may read it as they want, they will see it as they wish I cannot defend it here. If you want to see the relationship between a father and a daughter in a different way then you can do anything. And then we talk about family values. What an amazing joke).”
The controversy became even bigger when Mahesh Bhatt made a remark that shocked many. He said, “If Pooja wasn’t my daughter, I’d have loved to marry her.” This statement added to the public’s criticism, and many questioned his words. Over the years, the magazine cover has been remembered as one of India’s most talked-about controversies.
