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“I Had To Quit Now Before I Drank Myself To Grave,” Reveals An Honest Pooja Bhatt

bySusri Sahu
2nd March 2017
3 minute read
Pooja

Pooja Bhatt, I’m sure many would agree, is a fearless woman who wears her opinion on her sleeves. Like every other member of the Bhatt clan (no I’m not discrediting her valour), Pooja is unabashed, unapologetic and never shy to voice her thoughts. She did so the last time she spoke about marriages and the societal pressure on women to validate their existence with nothing but motherhood.

If the prelude is not suggestive enough; the woman of the hour has in fact, done it again by challenging the way we look at substance abuse and the need or the awareness to ask for help.

In a recent interview with Mumbai Mirror, Pooja Bhatt has bared it all about her ordeal with alcoholism and her reasons to fight it. After braving 68 days without a drop of alcohol, she said,

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 “I want to bust the stigma attached to alcoholism in our country. Women particularly are discouraged from seeking help because it’s a matter of shame for the family. We don’t share our pain or frailties, we cover our weaknesses and it becomes a cancer.”

 

Since the fateful day of 24th December, Pooja has put her foot down and capped the bottles for good. But before anything, she did it because of her father, Mahesh Bhatt. 

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After a phone conversation, papa Bhatt said, “I love you kid.” She responded, “I love you too pops. As far as I’m concerned, there is nothing else worth loving in the world.” He replied, “If you love me then love yourself because I live in you.” It was then when Pooja promised him that “from this moment I’m going to be the best ‘me’ I’m capable of being.”

 

Apart from addressing the issue with bare hands, the ‘Sadak’ actress also laid out how easy it is to get lured into temptations. Or the perils of a fast-paced life. 

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“Your film is a hit, you bathe in champagne, it flops, a single malt lessens the pain.”

 

Her accounts with alcohol were always larger than life, but it took a conscience call to realise it was nothing about a life she could live for long.

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 “I was born to a man who has never done anything in half measures and I inherited that. So when I drank, I drank copiously. Your appetite increases even as the alcohol does terrible things to your body, clutters your mind and colours your judgement of the people you’re hanging out with.
I was 45 and if I wanted to give myself 10 years of living, I had to quit now before I drank myself to the grave. I had to reclaim the sharper, brighter me which had got watered down.
I realise I have more hours to a day now. Even when I drank till 4 am, I’d be at work at 10 am but I was burning myself out. Today, I feel lighter with the excess water gone. All the drama alcohol brings is eliminated from your life.”

 

However, it isn’t easy. Sobriety isn’t always a friend but she is a fighter. Her biggest victory, in fact, was waking up to the news of her baby sister Alia Bhatt winning the Filmfare Best Actress Award and celebrating it the right way. 

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“I messaged Alia saying normally this would have been an excuse for me to crack open a case of champagne first thing in the morning. But this time I celebrated by not drinking.”

A tale for the books isn’t it?! More power to you, Pooja. May you never have to look back.

News Source: Mumbai Mirror

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