- Pooja Bedi described her teenage relationship with Aditya Pancholi as tumultuous and emotionally intense
- Their breakup involved controversy linked to allegations by Bedi’s underage domestic worker against Pancholi
- Bedi avoids discussing the past to protect Pancholi’s children from repeated exposure to old stories
Pooja Bedi has called her teenage relationship with Aditya Pancholi "a very tumultuous space". Speaking on Vicky Lalwani's podcast, she said she was barely 18 when it began.
Bedi had just returned from the US and entered films at the time. "It was very much an experience. Let's just put it that way," she said.
Aditya Pancholi and Pooja Bedi were in a widely reported relationship in the 1990s, while Pancholi was married to actor Zarina Wahab. Years later, Bedi described the relationship as emotionally intense but already broken by the time it ended.
Their breakup was followed by controversy after Bedi's underage domestic worker made allegations against Pancholi. Reports said Bedi filed a complaint, while Pancholi and the worker maintained that the relationship was consensual.
'It Is Not Fair To His Children'
Bedi chose not to reveal more about the relationship, saying Pancholi's children should not have to repeatedly confront stories from their father's past.
"He has two lovely children who have grown up, and I don't think it is really in good taste to keep talking about things," she said. "If people want to read about it, they can Google it. But it is not fair to the children to have this brought up again and again."
She said she now viewed the experience as a lesson.
"Everything in life is a memory. Everything is something you learn from. At the end of the day, it only makes people stronger and wiser."
'You Can Be Civil And Walk Away'
Bedi said she still occasionally encounters Pancholi at industry events. The two, however, do not exchange pleasantries.
"I bump into him from time to time, but it is the same industry. At some point, you will obviously bump into someone at an event or an occasion," she said.
Asked how she responds when that happens, Bedi said, "You can be civil, look away and walk away."
'It Is Never About The Other Woman'
The conversation also turned to Bedi's parents, Kabir Bedi and Protima Bedi, and her father's relationship with Parveen Babi.
Bedi said an outsider could enter a marriage only when a void already existed within it.
"It isn't about the person who enters your life in a marriage. It is about the marriage having a void for someone to enter," she said.
"It is never about the other woman. It is always about the couple because they have a commitment to each other."
Bedi said her parents ensured their divorce never left her feeling unwanted or responsible for their problems. She also spoke warmly about the partners who later entered her parents' lives.
"I loved all my stepmothers," she said, adding that she does not consider Kabir Bedi's son Adam a stepbrother. "He is my brother. It is my family."
Why She Does Not Want To Marry Again
Bedi said she does not believe in open marriages and continues to associate marriage with fidelity and loyalty. Her understanding of the institution, however, has changed.
She has been engaged to Maneck Contractor for eight years but does not plan to marry him.
"The commitment is enough," she said. "After the commitment is made, all you are really doing is signing a piece of paper and getting the government involved in your love life."
Bedi said her parents' separation later influenced how she and Farhan Furniturewala handled their divorce.
"When I look at my parents, I see an example of people who married well, lived well and divorced well," she said. "With me and Farhan, we married well, we loved well, we lived well and we divorced well."
