Veteran actress Anita Kanwal has spoken candidly about her daughter, actress Pooja Kanwal’s struggles while trying to establish herself in the entertainment industry. Reflecting on the difficult phase, Anita revealed that she put her thriving career on hold, helped her daughter shoot across the country and abroad and protected her from inappropriate proposals that left her emotionally shaken.
“I fought more for Pooja than 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 he hoped for never materialized, and he eventually moved away from acting to focus on hosting and anchoring.Speaking on Siddharth Kannan’s podcast, Anita revealed how much she invested in her daughter’s dream.“I think I fought more for Pooja than for me because I knew more than ever how much she wanted to become an actress from a young age. She had everything going for her. She was a great dancer, good looking and a talented actress. That’s why I fought so hard for her,” said Anita.Looking back, however, the actor believes things turned out well.“Today, I am very happy that he did not follow in my footsteps. He is in a much better place in his life now,” he added.
Anita recalls confronting people over inappropriate advances
Anita also opened up about her daughter’s unpleasant experiences while working in the entertainment industry, particularly in Southern projects.“While he was working in the South, there were people who would call him and say all sorts of inappropriate things. Every time I got such calls, I would give him a piece of mind. They never called after that,” he recalled.The actor alleged that some people were suggesting “compromises” in exchange for job opportunities.“There were people talking about compromises 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,'” he said.According to Anita, these events had a great impact on her daughter.“Pooja was shaken by all this. She was lucky that her future husband came into her life at the right time. Otherwise, I think she could have completely broken down emotionally,” she said.
“I quit my job for two and a half years at the peak of my career”
Anita revealed that the family initially hoped that Pooja would start her journey with TV serials. However, landing a Rajshri Productions film raised hopes of bigger opportunities.“We thought it would start with TV serials. But when Rajshri got a film, our expectations naturally rose. We felt things would finally fall into place and something good would happen. When that didn’t happen, it was very painful to come down from that level of expectation,” he said.Determined to support her daughter, Anita put her career on hold for almost three years.“I didn’t work for almost two and a half years. I would travel with him wherever he went to shoot. If he had a shoot in the south, I’d go there. If he was shooting in Bangkok, I’d accompany him there too. I was fighting by his side.”“I quit my job for two and a half years at the peak of my career because my daughter was only 17. I couldn’t send her alone. As a mother, I felt it was my responsibility to be with her,” she added.
