Ssmilly Suri Says Cousin Pooja Bhatt Dropped Her from Film, Pressured Mahesh Bhatt Against Casting Her

Actor Smilly Suri, known for her role in Kalyug, recently talked about being removed from her cousin Pooja Bhatt’s 2006 movie Holiday. She mentioned that after being dropped from Holiday, she got a role in Mahesh Bhatt’s Kalyug, but couldn’t get more roles due to pressure from Pooja Bhatt. In an interview with Siddharth Kannan, she said that Pooja dropped her from her first film Holiday.

She recalled, “Pooja dropped me from her first film Holiday. I am happy that I got dropped from the film because I got to do Kalyug which was a hit.” She added, “I was going through a lot of shame and depression as she used to write a lot about me in Mid Day.”

When Ssmilly faced depression after being dropped from Holiday, Mahesh Bhatt offered her a role in Kalyug to help her. Recalling the time, she said, “When I came back from the sets of Holiday, I locked myself in a room. At that time, Bhatt sahab (Mahesh Bhatt) told me that I would be doing Kalyug. I feel after Kalyug, Bhatt sahab couldn’t offer me any films because he had to listen to his daughter, and I don’t blame him.”

When asked why she was dropped from Holiday, she said that it was Pooja’s decision. Ssmilly said that she was really involved in the project, working closely with choreographer Sandeep Soparkar. “That was her call. I actually made that project. I worked with choreographer Sandeep Soparkar. We did rehearsals. Dropping me was her decision, but I will say that I learned a lot while working on that film for six months. She knows her reasons. A lot happened, and it was a traumatic time, so I don’t want to talk about it,” she remembered.

Ssmilly recently made a comeback with Zee5’s House Of Lies and is gearing up for the next innings of her career. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Smilie looked back at the years that passed by and says that she could never really reap the fruits of belonging to a family with a film lineage. “In my case, I never received the perks of nepotism. Yes, I began my career with Kalyug. But I had to audition for it. After that, I only worked with other production houses. It never mattered to anyone that I was Bhatt sahab’s niece or Mohit’s sister,” she said.