Pooja Bhatt: Zakhm’s Hindu-Muslim plot may not be allowed in 2026

Mumbai: Pooja Bhatt isn’t convinced that Bollywood could make a film like Zakhm in today’s India. The actor-filmmaker, who produced and starred in the 1998 classic, has questioned whether its explosive story of religious identity, communal riots and political manipulation would even be allowed to reach theatres in 2026.

During a conversation with film archivist and author SMM Ausaja on The Pooja Bhatt Show, Pooja spoke about growing censorship and how writers now begin censoring themselves even before putting pen to paper.

“But we are self-censoring also, na? Before even writing a line, we are now thinking 10 times about how we may offend,” she said. Pooja then recalled the “nightmare” her family faced while trying to release Mahesh Bhatt’s deeply personal film Zakhm in 1998.

Set against the blood-soaked backdrop of the 1992-93 Bombay riots, Zakhm was not merely another film about communal violence. It was inspired by Mahesh Bhatt’s own life and his relationship with his Muslim mother, Shirin Mohammad Ali, who had raised him while concealing her religious identity.

The film follows Ajay, played by Ajay Devgn, whose mother is critically injured during communal riots. Her death leaves him with one final responsibility: to bury her according to Islamic customs. However, her hidden Muslim identity soon becomes ammunition for a Hindu fundamentalist politician who attempts to turn her funeral into yet another communal spectacle.

Through one family’s pain, Mahesh Bhatt showed how religion can be weaponised by those seeking power. Pooja portrayed the mother, a Muslim woman who lived publicly as a Hindu because her relationship with a Hindu filmmaker was never socially accepted. Nagarjuna played her partner, while Kunal Kemmu portrayed the younger Ajay.

Speaking about the film’s troubled release, Pooja said, “We went through a nightmare to get it released. Finally, the intention was understood. Not only did it release, but it also got the National Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, which was a big thing.”

The film also earned Ajay Devgn his first National Film Award for Best Actor. Ironically, a story that faced suspicion for discussing religious identity and communal politics was eventually honoured by the government for promoting national integration.

Pooja, however, isn’t sure whether filmmakers would receive the same freedom now.

“But would they allow a Zakhm to be made today? I don’t know. It was the NDA government that gave us the award for Best Film on National Integration. But could we tell that story in 2026?” she questioned.

Her remarks have reopened a debate that Bollywood often prefers to avoid. At a time when films can face boycott calls, complaints and demands for bans over a dialogue, costume or religious reference, Pooja’s question hits harder than ever. Zakhm

spoke about communal hatred without turning an entire community into the villain. Whether mainstream Hindi cinema still has the courage, or the freedom, to do that is precisely the wound she has pressed.