Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; December 11, 2017)

In 2012, soon after Jism 2 released, Pooja Bhatt took off with her then-husband Manish (Munna) Makhija to Dubai for a much-needed break. While they were away, their oldest dog, Garbo, was bitten by a baby cobra at their farm in Kalote. The only vet around treated Garbo like he treated cattle and he almost died before an SOS call to their lawyer, Sridhar Gorthi, brought them a saviour in a stranger, Sameer Vohra, who not only saved their dog, but ended up becoming a good friend.

Sameer had shifted back from Miami 12 years ago and within three days of moving to Lonavala with his two dogs, he landed his first sheep, another dog and a cat. Since he was one of only three animal rescue workers there, his family grew to include cows and bullocks knocked down by cars when they went grazing near the highway, to pigs in ditches, horses, goats, donkeys, parrots and even turtles and an emu, Pooja’s favourite that answers to the name of ‘Tazo’. This weekend, he moved out of his 4,000-square feet home in Lonavala to a 22,000 square feet animal shelter in Kalote with 160 animals. The shelter is the brain child of four trustees, Sridhar, Rukhsana Mithani, Pia Bhattacharya and Chandra Bhan, and Sameer currently has a staff of seven to help him.

“It’s a tough life, with lots of suffering and only a few splashes of joy,” he sighs, brightening up when he looks at the St. Bernard he’d found tied to a lamppost and left to starve. “The usually 60-kg dog was a frail 20 kg and it’s taken me a year to get him back to a semblance of its old self. I hope here I can care for old dogs who’ve gone deaf and blind, give them a place where they can live their last days in comfort.”

The shelter was designed and built by Munna and on Saturday, Pooja who’d driven down to the farm the previous day, was there to welcome the animals. “I worked like a production designer and nanny on the shelter, setting up the place, down to the candles in the bathroom, and held fort with 22 cats, Rocco, a 17-year-old mix, a day-old pup and two parrots while Sameer shifted the rest of the brood. I played the cats Bossanova music while I was baby-sitting them,” she laughs merrily.

Sameer offers to sterilize animals for the entire valley and give rabies vaccines to both animals and humans. The idea also is to sensitize those living in the two nearby villages, to not just care for the cattle while they are of use, but also when they are old and ailing. “Bullocks shouldn’t be marched to the butcher when they can no longer work on the fields and the shelter shouldn’t turn into a dumping ground for animals that are no longer wanted or are difficult to feed. I have rescued many Great Danes from the highway and I wish people wouldn’t leave them there to be run over by speeding cars,” he says, informing that the idea is for kids in batches of six-10 to go there for the weekend after taking prior booking, get to feed and clean the animals, learn how to behave around them and feel for them. “There’s a need for more homes than shelters, for empathy rather than sympathy.”

Pooja adds that 15 years ago when Munna and she moved to Kalote, they were the only ones who had dogs for pets who were treated like family. “Over the years, a dog culture has evolved in the area. Now, with this shelter coming up, maybe we can learn to care for other animals as well,” she says.

Upala KBR (DNA; September 20, 2016)


The best gift
When contacted, Pooja laughs and says, “For the last three years, Munish and I were together in Kalote. He tells my father jokingly, ‘Bhattsaab, ab toh apni beti ki zimmedari utha lo! We both didn’t feel the need to cheat. I changed from the person I was and had become completely devoted to my marriage. One fine day, I realised that I had got bored of myself and that I needed to become a wild child again and I told Munish, who was man enough to understand what I was going through, that when we got married we had promised each other that we won’t look over each other’s shoulder and I needed to find my earlier self again. As a woman, you should have the right to do what you want. Munish told me, ‘Pooja, I won’t prevent you from being you.’ Our marriage is the best gift I had.”

Where’s the permanence?
Pooja explains her telephonic conversation. “I have tried marriage and the best part about it was that we were completely honest with each other and he has dealt with me at my worst. If I get married again, it has to be that someone who can go through life with me and my six dogs and four cats. Do not look at my naked body if you cannot look at my naked soul. Any man I need has to want to be with me — one day I will be placid and another day I can be like a tsunami, so I say that if you can’t deal with a tsunami, don’t even come close to me. In my conversation, what I meant was that marriage in this present day and age is a redundant institution. I don’t want your sperm, money or flat so what do I need you for? I only want to be an equal with you, have your companionship and am happy to hold hands without tags. I don’t think there is permanence in marriage today.”

Ex husband = Best friend
Though Munish and Pooja announced their break-up in 2014, they are yet to divorce. Pooja says, “Yes, Munish and I are still married on paper, but I won’t ever divorce him unless he falls in love and his woman wants to have children. I love kids, but I don’t have the biological urge to produce them. Kids are delightful company and I love my friends’ children, but I won’t be a lesser woman if I don’t have them. At one point in time, I had the urge to have six kids, but now that has changed. I continue to have the best break-up of my f**king life, so f**k your marriage! My best friend is my ex-husband. We get together when we get lonely and there is nothing sexual about it. I won’t call my father at 4 am, but I can call Munna who will ask me, Kya ho gaya?”

Munish ki ‘bachchi’
While they remain separated, this is one marriage that will never get back on track again. Pooja says, “I don’t go back in life. I have learned from Munna that only go back to see how far you have come. For me, when it’s over, it is over. We are both single but we don’t make it murky by having sex. Yes, I would like to fall in love again if I meet someone who loves me the way I am. I am a hopeless romantic… Am I open to love? I am addicted to love! The day I say I don’t want love is when you should be worried about me. Do I believe in permanence? Not in that way anymore. Munish is more like a father to me as he takes so much care of me. I tell him, ‘Main toh tumhari bachchi hoon.’ Munish is honest to a fault and the greatest compliment I could give him is when I feel lonely on occasions, he never takes it personally.”

Pooja adds, “I had a string of relationships and could have married any man — Bobby Deol or anyone else, but why did I marry Munish? Because I met the right person at that time. And after 11 years of marriage to him, drinking with him, the love won’t go out of our friendship. We stay in separate bedrooms and I know he’s got my back. What Munna and I created is magic. Today, my father has built a house next to our farmhouse and chills with us every weekend in Kalote. Munish and I are more together in our separateness. I got lucky with him, he’s a very good guy… Dildaar. They don’t make men like him anymore - he broke the mould.”

Subhash K Jha (DNA; December 10, 2014)


Speaking exclusively to this paper, Pooja said, “We (Manish and Pooja) share too dignified a relationship to live a lie. Now I feel we are more together in our separation than others who are enveloped in supposed marital bliss.”

Explaining why she chose Twitter for the announcement Pooja says, “I chose this medium to announce the status of my marriage because I owe my fans and well-wishers the truth, and nothing but the truth. Neither Munna nor I will ever give the media the privilege of breaking ‘truths’ or putting out falsities about our marriage. We’ll let the world know the truth ourselves.”

Pooja doesn’t see the end of her marriage as the end of her relationship with her Munish. Says Pooja, “In every end, there is an inherent beginning. Death, in fact, is life!”

Hiren Kotwani & Renuka Vyavahare (BOMBAY TIMES; December 9, 2014)