Debut and establishment (1989-1995) Bhatt made her acting debut at age 17, in 1989 with
Daddy, a TV film directed by her father Mahesh Bhatt. In the film, she portrayed a soul-searching teenage girl in an estranged relationship with her
alcoholic father, played by actor
Anupam Kher. Her performance in the film earned her the
Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Her biggest solo hit and her big screen debut came with the romantic comedy
Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991) opposite
Aamir Khan, The film was inspired by the 1976 American film
Taxi Driver. Then in 1992 she was seen in
Prem Deewane, directed by
Sachin Pilgaonkar and produced by Ashok Ghai. The film was released in India on 12 June, and stars an
ensemble cast including
Jackie Shroff,
Madhuri Dixit,
Vivek Mushran,
Manohar Singh,
Ashalata Wabgaonkar,
Prem Chopra and Kamal Chopra. In the same year, she starred in
Junoon, reportedly inspired by the 1981 film
An American Werewolf in London. The film was successful at the box office and received favourable reviews. In 1993, she appeared in many films including
Jaanam which is about a boy and girl from opposing families who meet and fall in love, determined not to let the hate between their parents stand in the way of their happiness and
Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee which was an Indian '90s melodious musical
Hindi-language
romance film. Both the films was widely appreciated by Critics. She then starred in
Sir opposite debutant
Atul Agnihotri. This film is about a peace-loving college professor Amar, who loses his son in a war break-out between the two gang leaders. The film was remade in Telugu as
Gangmaster, with
Rajasekhar. After that she appeared in
Chor Aur Chaand opposite
Aditya Pancholi. It is a love story with the backdrop of drugs and its effect on the youth of the nation. Although the film underperformed at the box office, it developed a significant cult following over the years since its release. Her next release was
Ashutosh Gowariker's thriller
Pehla Nasha, co-starring
Deepak Tijori,
Raveena Tandon, and
Paresh Rawal. The movie is a remake of
Brian de Palma's 1984 thriller
Body Double. The film also has cameo appearances by Aamir Khan,
Sudesh Berry,
Rahul Roy,
Shah Rukh Khan,
Juhi Chawla and
Saif Ali Khan as themselves. It remains the only film to have Aamir, Shah Rukh and Saif in a scene together along with Roy and Berry. Upon release, the film received negative reviews and failed at the box office. Bhatt's final release of 1993 was Mahesh Bhatt's romantic action film
Tadipaar, with
Mithun Chakraborty. The movie was released on the same day as Mithun's
Shatranj and both went on to become hits based on Mithun's stupendous popularity at the time.
Further success and critical acclaim (1995-2001) After starring in many hit movies, she did many films including,
Guneghar (1995) opposite
Atul Agnihotri, and
Naaraaz (1994) opposite
Mithun Chakraborty,
Hum Dono opposite
Rishi Kapoor,
Angrakshak opposite
Sunny Deol (1995). Then in 1996 Bhatt, stars in
Chaahat opposite
Shah Rukh Khan, the film earned a total of nett, and was declared "Below Average" by
Box Office India. It was the 15th-highest-grossing film of the year in India. She next starred as an abandoned girl in the thriller film
Tamanna, which marked her first production venture under her Pooja Bhatt Productions. It also won the
National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues. Bhatt began 1997 with a role in
Jyoti Prakash Dutta’s ensemble drama
Border, the film was released worldwide on 13 June 1997 with positive reviews from critics and garnered critical acclaim for its story, execution, scale, showing off the battle, direction, screenplay, performances and soundtrack. It opened to strong box office results, had a final domestic net total of and was declared an all-time blockbuster by
Box Office India. It also became the highest-grossing Hindi film of 1997 in India, but if according to worldwide, it was the second highest-grossing film of the year behind
Dil To Pagal Hai.
Border grossed a worldwide total of and it was the fourth biggest blockbuster film of the 90s decade. Bhatt gained further success in 1998 with the film
Zakhm, opposite
Ajay Devgan, which won the
Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration. Zakhm was based on the life of
Mahesh Bhatt's mother Shirin Mohammad Ali, while she essayed her character in this film. The performance of Bhatt was well received, for which she received a
Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Critics) nomination. Bhatt was also part of a film
Angaaray, opposite
Akshay Kumar and
Nagarjuna. The movie was inspired by the American film
State of Grace. The movie turned out to be a commercially successful. All these achievements established Bhatt as one of the most successful actresses of the year, according to Box Office India. In 2001 Bhatt starred in an English-language
drama film ''
Everybody Says I'm Fine!'', which was written and directed by
Rahul Bose. The film premiered on 12 September at the
Toronto International Film Festival.
Career fluctuations and intermittent work (2003-present) and actress
Mallika Sherawat in 2004. From 2003 to 2012, she focused on producing and directing. She made her directorial debut with
Paap in 2004, starring
John Abraham and
Udita Goswami. Since then, she has made four more directorial ventures:
Holiday (2006),
Dhokha (2007),
Kajraare (2010) and
Jism 2 (2012). In 2020, Bhatt returned to acting with
Sadak 2, a sequel to the hit
1991 film. Her father returned to directing with this film after 20 years, while her half-sister
Alia Bhatt also co-starred alongside her. It was released on 28 August 2020 on the streaming platform
Disney+ Hotstar. In 2021, Bhatt made her web series debut in the
Netflix series
Bombay Begums. It also features
Amruta Subhash,
Shahana Goswami,
Plabita Borthakur, Aadhya Anand and
Rahul Bose. It explores the lives of five ambitious women from various walks of life navigating through their dreams, desires and disappointments, from boardrooms to society's margins, in modern-day
Mumbai. The series opened to mixed to positive responses from critics. Sayan Ghosh of
The Hindu stated "Director Alankrita Shrivastava’s ability to navigate through various layers of suppressed anger and the emotional volatility of her characters make for a most engaging watch". Shubhra Gupta of
The Indian Express stated "The most powerful element in Alankrita Srivastava's films is the recognition of women's desire, and how its absence can create permanent hollowness."
Saibal Chatterjee of
NDTV gave three-and-a-half out of five to the series and reviewed "
Bombay Begums, created by Alankrita Shrivastava (
Lipstick Under My Burkha), who shares screenwriting and directorial responsibilities with Bornila Chatterjee (
The Hungry), strikes an instant chord because it strings together relatable, rooted stories." Saraswati Datar of
The News Minute gave a review "
Bombay Begums is an entertaining watch, but don't expect to feel moved or empowered after watching it." Rohan Naahar of
Hindustan Times stated "Terrific performances by Pooja Bhatt, Amruta Subhash, Plabita Borthakur, Shahana Goswami and Manish Chaudhary smooth out the creases. ==Personal life==