4 min readNew DelhiMay 14, 2026 05:12 PM IST
Pooja Bedi had a strong start in the movies when she made her debut in Aamir Khan-starrer Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. However, shortly afterwards, Pooja quit her career in the movies as she decided to marry Farhan Furniturewala. In a recent chat with Suhasini Maniratnam, Pooja shared that they decided to get divorced 12 years after their marriage but are best friends till date.
Pooja Bedi ‘married a Muslim man’
Pooja shared with Jos Alukkas’ YouTube channel, that she “married a Muslim man” but back then, in 1994, “there wasn’t that much of an uproar as it is today.” “This sentiment of Muslim and Hindu which is so sad because when I was growing up, it was actually true democracy and truly secular in so many ways,” she said. Pooja described her former in-laws as “conventional” and said that if she claimed her identity while living with them, it would have made them uncomfortable so she decided to quit movies.
So despite the Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar, which led to many more film offers, Pooja decided to return all the signing amounts she had taken, and quit films altogether. “I thought to myself that if I am going to be a wife, and a daughter-in-law, I think I should aim to be the best version of that. That’s my new avatar,” she said and added that back in those days, female actors’ careers were considered to be over once they got married.
‘I was happy to be divorced’
Talking about her marriage, she said that while she made “plenty of mistakes” in her life, she did not see her marriage as a mistake. “Marriage is an experience, it’s a journey. I thank him for my two beautiful children. I don’t know how life would have been without them. I love them. My marriage gave me a best friend because my ex-husband, till today, is my best friend, and my children, they are my love, my life,” she said.
Pooja shared that after 12 years of marriage, they decided to go their separate ways and she recalled that her daughter was 5 at the time, and her son was 2 years old. She said, “I was 24 when I got married, and 32 is when I got divorced.” Discussing how the divorce impacted her children, Pooja said that her “joy was never taken away. I was so happy to be married and I was so happy to be divorced.”
She shared that she chose divorce because she wanted to feel happy again, as the marriage had become unhappy. “I am thankful and grateful for the 12 years I had together, the children that we had together. Thank you, but just because I had 12 good years doesn’t mean I should have 50 bad years,” she said.
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Divorce came as a ‘crushing blow’
Despite all the high praise, Pooja admitted that divorce came as a “crushing blow in many ways” as she realised that “things are utterly miserable and are not going to change. It’s beyond repair and at that point, you have a decision to make.” Pooja shared that she never saw divorce as a bad thing as her parents – Kabir Bedi and Protima – divorced when she was just 5, and they were just as cordial with each other even after they separated. “I grew up seeing my father and mother being divorced. I was 5 when they got divorced, and I saw them having the most loving and respectful relationship. I saw them being best friends with each other. My dad, on his honeymoon, wth his second wife, came and stayed with us,” she said.
She shared that she has a great relationship with his ex-husband’s current wife, Layla, as well. “His current wife, Layla, she is so lovely. I have known her since I was in Junior KG. Their son is like a part of my family. My daughter, in an interview, said that I can’t imagine my life without Layla Aunty and without Zaan (their son) because our family got bigger,” she said.
Pooja has been engaged to Maneck Contractor since 2019.
