![\"Pooja](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Pooja-Bhatt-on-body-paint-cover.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nActor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt has revisited one of the most talked-about moments of her career, opening up about the famous body-paint magazine cover that generated widespread discussion in the 1990s. Speaking about the photoshoot decades later, Pooja clarified that the image was never intended to be provocative or controversial. In a conversation with Vickey Lalwani, Pooja recalled how the idea first came to her through journalist Dinesh Raheja and photographer Jagdish Mali.<\/p>\n
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Pooja Bhatt recalls creating her Demi Moore-inspired body-paint cover: \u201cI was not naked in the photograph\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI received a lot of flak from one section of people and a lot of love from another. But for me, it was never designed to be controversial. Dinesh Raheja, a journalist for whom I still have a great deal of respect, showed me the cover of Vanity Fair featuring Demi Moore. Jeetu and Dinesh came to meet me and said, \u2018Pooja, look at this cover.\u2019 I thought it was stunning. Demi Moore looked glorious. They said they wanted to recreate something similar and asked if I would do it. I said, \u2018Sure.\u2019 When I asked who would do the body painting, they said Anna Singh would,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The actor revealed that the photoshoot happened after a long day on set while she was filming the song \u2018Tere Dar Par Sanam\u2019 from Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee. \u201cI finished work around 9.30 pm and then went to Jagdish Mali\u2019s house. They painted me and we did the shoot. After that, I completely forgot about it,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n
However, the reaction changed dramatically once the magazine hit the stands. \u201cThe magazine came out and there was mayhem. But then an unfortunate incident took place in the city. One of the most horrific tragedies happened, the bomb blasts. Naturally, people had far more important things to worry about than a woman who had chosen to paint her body,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Addressing a misconception that has followed the image for years, Pooja stressed that she was not nude during the photoshoot. \u201cI was not naked in the photograph. In Demi Moore\u2019s case, the cover referred to a \u2018birthday suit\u2019, which meant she was naked underneath the paint. I was not. I was wearing underwear because we knew exactly where the line was and we chose not to cross it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The actor acknowledged that the concept may have seemed bold at the time but maintained that she never approached it with the intention of creating controversy. \u201cI suppose it was audacious and unthinkable for many people. But I simply did it because I liked the idea that was presented to me. I trusted the people I was working with and went ahead with it. The idea was never to be controversial. It was just me being my authentic self,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
Looking back, Pooja admitted she is surprised that the image continues to be discussed decades later. \u201cVery recently, it was brought up again and people started calling it a cult image. But you can\u2019t create something like that by design. I was simply being my authentic self. The problem is that we are living in a world full of lies, so truth itself has become controversial today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The photograph, shot for Movie magazine, featured body painting by designer Anna Singh and was captured by acclaimed photographer Jagdish Mali.<\/p>\n
Also Read:\u00a0Pooja Bhatt opens up about her relationship Bobby Deol; calls it the \u2018magical time\u2019 of her life<\/a><\/p>\n BOLLYWOOD NEWS – LIVE UPDATES<\/p>\n Catch us for latest Bollywood News<\/a>, New Bollywood Movies<\/a> update, Box office collection<\/a>, New Movies Release <\/a>, Bollywood News Hindi<\/a>, Entertainment News<\/a>, Bollywood Live News Today<\/a> & Upcoming Movies 2026<\/a> and stay updated with latest hindi movies only on Bollywood Hungama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Actor and filmmaker Pooja Bhatt has revisited one of the most talked-about moments of her career, opening up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28474,102591,82854,146,2664,82855,85,46,148404,397,20096,60046],"class_list":["post-467688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-demi-moore","tag-down-memory-lane","tag-down-the-memory-lane","tag-entertainment","tag-features","tag-flashback","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-magazine-cover","tag-movies","tag-pooja-bhatt","tag-throwback"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}