Pooja Bhatt Says It’s Important For Women Battling Alcoholism To Be Open About It. It Could Happen To Anyone

We live our lives in hypocrisy. Which means even if we’re doing wrong things ourselves, we’d rather not talk about it, yet judge others for doing the same things. And it is this attitude that has made our society so judgemental when it comes to unconventional choices or vices. Plus, if it’s a woman who is indulging in either of these things, well then, unleash the taunts and sneers! Take alcohol consumption, for example. Even if our society has to some extent warmed up to women drinking just as much as men, it is apparently hard for women to admit that they’ve an alcoholism problem. Attesting to the fact is actor, producer and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt.

Pooja Bhatt has battled alcoholism and has now been sober for four years. She has, in several interviews, opened up about dealing with the judgement that comes with being an alcoholic, even if a recovering one. In a recent interview with Filmfare, she pointed out how her debut film, Daddy, had her playing the daughter to an alcoholic father. Little did she know then that years later, she would be dealing with the same problem in her real life.

However, the Bombay Begum actress has never shied away from speaking about it. In fact, she insists that women who are struggling with a drinking problem should be able to talk about it openly, especially because it could happen to absolutely anyone.

She said, “We try to cover up many things. But four years ago, when I decided to quit drinking, I decided to be open about it. I began my career with a film like Daddy, which was about a young girl getting her father who’s an alcoholic to stop drinking. And there I was dealing with the same problem. I reached out to people to let them know that it’s something that could happen to anyone. Women especially need to be a bit more open about that. And I was overwhelmed by the response that I got from random strangers.”

Also Read: Pooja Bhatt Says She Turned Intimacy Coordinator For Jism, Told Bipasha Basu To Decide How Far She Wanted To Go

Pooja Bhatt isn’t wrong here. Women, especially, underplay their afflictions because, one, they’ve been conditioned all their lives to downplay their pain and emotions and to grin and bear it. And two, because they are worried about being shamed for indulging in a vice that has been ‘male-dominated’ for a while now. It’s purely the conditioning and judgement of the society that keeps women suffering in silence and denying their problem. Even the women that are able to successfully deal with their alcoholism might be afraid that they’d be judged for their past.

It’s great that celebrities like Pooja Bhatt are setting an example by talking about their issues openly, because that’s just how you set examples for others to follow suit. More power to her sobriety and to all the women who’re embroiled in their own battles.

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