Pooja Bhatt Calls Herself A 'Free Bird' After Divorce: "Have Been In Relationships Since I Was 16"

Actor Pooja Bhatt and Manish Makhija, a former VJ, called it quits after 11 years of marriage in 2014. The actress, who has never shied away from talking about her divorce, recently opened up about how she is totally enjoying this freedom.

What's Happening

• Pooja Bhatt told Times of India, "It is glorious. I am enjoying being single. I have been in relationships probably since I was 16. I am as free as a bird now. I am the captain of my own ship. I call my own shots."
• She continued, "I have so much love to offer to the world. I have friends, cats, books and my craft. I am a nomad and I travel a lot. I want to be able to pick up my bag and go whenever I want. I discovered gymming at the age of 50. For me, my gym is my temple now."

Thoughts On Love And Marriage

Speaking of love, she said she will always celebrate it.

Pooja Bhatt said, "I have a combination of friends - some who have been married for 40 years and some who have been divorced four times. I am not missing out on anything. For the first time in my life, I feel complete. I think it has taken me a long time to realise that it is not only about finding the right person, but about being the right person."

Pooja Bhatt has been extremely vocal about her battle with alcohol too. In the recent interview, she spoke about how she quit it eight and a half years ago.

She said, "Quitting alcohol was the easy part, but when you do that, you realise what you were running away from while that drink was being used as a painkiller. Love is no different."

Work

On the work front, Pooja Bhatt ventured into the content space with her The Pooja Bhatt Show podcast (2025).

Her acting roles in recent years include Big Girls Don't Cry (2025) on Prime Video and Bombay Begums (2021) on Netflix. She was also a part of Sadak 2 in 2020, and continues to be involved in producing.