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Hamari Love Marriage Thi, Lekin...” Poonam Dhillon Gets Candid About Her Personal Journey 13th June 2026, Mumbai: On Tum Ho Naa, Host Rajeev Khandelwal in conversation with Poonam Dhillon asks her about her challenges and struggles, Rajeev says, “Aapko dekh kar lagta hai ki jitni bhi ladkiyan hain, sab aapko dekhkar inspire hoti hongi. Lekin main koshish karta hoon ki jab bhi koi public figure yahan aata hai, toh kam se kam yeh zaroor samjhe ki hum sab normal hi hote hain. Hamare challenges bhi hote hain, shayad kabhi-kabhi thode bade challenges hote hain kyunki hum public limelight mein hote hain.” (Looking at you, it feels like all the girls must be inspired by you. But whenever a public figure comes here, I try to ensure that people understand at least this much, that we are all normal human beings. We have our challenges too, and sometimes perhaps even bigger challenges because we live in the public spotlight.) Poonam says, “Jab aap ek celebrity ya public figure hote hain aur Monday to Friday ya Monday to Sunday kaam kar rahe hote hain, toh aapko bahut kam logon se milne ka mauka milta hai. Half the people aapko aise dekhte hain ki ‘yeh toh meri pahunch ke bahar hai,’ aur aadhe log sochte hain ‘film stars aise hi hote hain.’ Dono situations mein aapki ek alag image ban jaati hai.” (When you are a celebrity or public figure and are working from Monday to Friday, or Monday to Sunday, you get very few opportunities to meet people. Half the people look at you as if ‘this person is beyond my reach,’ and the other half think, ‘film stars are just like that.’ In both situations, a different image of you gets created.) Then more to it Poonam adds, “Mere case mein bhi aisa hi hua tha. Hum bahut kam logon se mil paate the. Mere parents bahut strict the. Mujhe apni age ke logon se milne ya date karne ki permission nahi thi. Actor banne ke baad bhi actors mujhe friend nahi maante the. Agar koi group movie dekhne ka plan banata tha toh mujhe kaha jaata tha, “No, you are not allowed to go.” (The same happened in my case. We could meet very few people. My parents were very strict. I was not allowed to meet or date people of my own age. Even after becoming an actor, other actors did not consider me a friend. If a group planned to go watch a movie together, I would be told, ‘No, you are not allowed to go.’) Then talking about strict upbringing Poonam says, “Mujhe lagta hai strict upbringing achhi hoti hai, lekin aaj main parents se kahungi ki bachchon ko thoda sa mauka dijiye. Unhe thoda udne dijiye, explore karne dijiye, taaki woh sahi decisions lena seekh sakein. Agar hum unhe bahut zyada protect karenge toh unka worldview bahut restricted ho jaata hai.” (I think a strict upbringing is good, but today I would tell parents to give their children a little opportunity. Let them spread their wings a little, let them explore, so that they can learn to make the right decisions. If we protect them too much, their worldview becomes very restricted.) Then Poonam shares, “Meri life bhi kaam se ghar aur ghar se kaam tak seemit thi. Main bahut logon se nahi mil paayi. Mere husband Ashok bahut achhe insaan hain. Main aaj bhi unki burai nahi karungi kyunki woh genuinely a nice human being hain. Lekin har do achhe log ek achha couple ban jaayein, zaroori nahi hai. Shaadi sirf do achhe logon ke saath hone se nahi chalti. Bahut saari cheezein match honi chahiye – upbringing, attitude, education, values. Jab yeh sab compatible nahi hota, toh journey mushkil ho jaati hai.” (My life too was limited to work and home, and home and work. I was not able to meet many people. My husband Ashok is a very good human being. Even today I will not speak ill of him because he is genuinely a nice human being. But it is not necessary that every two good people will make a good couple. A marriage does not work simply because two good people are together. Many things need to match upbringing, attitude, education, values. When all of these are not compatible, the journey becomes difficult.)