Veteran actress Anita Kanwal spoke candidly about the difficulties her actress daughter Pooja Kanwal faced while trying to establish herself in the entertainment industry.
Reflecting on this difficult phase, Anita revealed that she put her blossoming career on hold, accompanied her daughter on photo shoots across the country and abroad, and protected her from inappropriate offers that left her emotionally shaken.
“I fought more for Pooja than I did for myself.”
Pooja Kanwal made her acting debut with Rajshri Productions’ Uuf Kya Jaadoo Mohabbat Hai in 2004 and later appeared in films like Jawani Zindabad and Blue Oranges.
Despite a promising start, the success she hoped for never materialized, and she eventually stepped away from acting to focus on hosting and anchoring.Speaking on Siddharth Kannan’s podcast, Anita revealed how deeply she cares about her daughter’s dream.“I think I fought for Pooja more than I fought for myself because I knew how much she wanted to be an actress since childhood. Everything was working out for her.
She was a great dancer, good looking, and a great actress. “That’s why I fought so hard for her,” Anita said.However, looking back, the actress believes things worked out for the better.She added: “Today, I am so happy that she did not follow in my footsteps. She is in a much better place in her life now.”
Anita remembers confronting people about inappropriate advances
Anita also spoke about the unpleasant experiences her daughter faced while working in the entertainment industry, especially during projects in the South.“While working in the South, I had people calling me and saying all kinds of inappropriate things. Whenever I received such calls, I would give them a piece of my mind. They never called me back,” she recalls.The actress claimed that some individuals proposed “settlements” in exchange for job opportunities.“There were people talking about concessions and what they could offer in return.
I would tell them: I will come to Hyderabad and break your legs if you talk like that again.”According to Anita, these events greatly affected her daughter.“Pooja was shaken by all of this. It was fortunate that her future husband came into her life at the right time. Otherwise, I think she might have collapsed completely emotionally,” she said.
“I left for two and a half years at the peak of my career.”
Anita revealed that the family initially expected Pooja to begin her journey with television serials.
However, getting a film under Rajshri Productions raised hopes of bigger opportunities.“We thought it would start with a TV serial. But when I got Rajshri’s film, our hopes naturally rose. We felt that things would finally fall into place and something good would happen. When that didn’t happen, coming down from that level of expectations was very painful,” she said.Determined to support her daughter, Anita put her career on hold for about three years.“I didn’t work for about two and a half years. I would travel with her wherever she went to shoot. If she had a shoot in the south, I would go there. If she was shooting in Bangkok, I would accompany her there too. I was struggling alongside her.”“I left for two and a half years at the peak of my career because my daughter was only 17 years old. I couldn’t send her out alone. As a mother, I felt it was my responsibility to be there for her,” she added.
