Won’t use Alia’s stardom for personal gains: Pooja Bhatt

Filmmaker Pooja Bhatt says she is very protective about her half-sister Alia, who has been climbing up the ladder of her film career, and will only make a movie with the actress when the right project comes.
The 42-year-old actress-turned-filmmaker said she is proud of her Alia’s success and is happy to see the young actress on a roll with a string of hits like ‘Student of The Year’, ‘Two States’ and ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’.
“Since her childhood Alia wanted to be an actress. She was very clear. I am happy to see that she is on a roll. I think she is doing very good.
She is my little baby and I am very proud of her. I know people want to me to make a film with Alia but in our family we don’t have the habit of using someone’s stardom for personal gains. I am very protective about her,” Pooja told PTI.
The ‘Jism’ director said that Alia, 21, is in the same phase like her when she started out her career in the ’90s. “Alia is in a wonderful phase with back-to-back hit films. It reminds me of the time when I began my career. I had three hits in a row with films like ‘Daddy’, ‘Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin’ and ‘Sadak’,” Pooja said. It has been two years since Pooja directed a film.
The filmmaker said she has decided to focus on investing in talent and films and is not thinking about direction at the moment. “After ‘Jism 2’, I decided to invest in talent, good stories, scripts. I spotted Gulshan Devaiah in films like ‘Shaitan’, ‘Hate Story’ and I saw a potential in him. I gave him a 2-film deal, which I normally don’t. “So I am enjoying this phase now.
Direction will happen when it has to happen. But I am happy doing this right now,” she said. Pooja is currently busy with two films that she is producing- Soni Razdan-directed ‘Love Affair’ and ‘Cabret’ starring former cricketer Sreesanth. “I am happy that there are two amazing films. ‘Cabret’ will go on floors in January and ‘Love Affair’ will begin shooting in March,” she said. (PTI)