Poonam Dhillon was a timid 16-year old when she won the Miss Young India crown in 1978 – a feat that catapulted her fame almost overnight. The next thing you know, she was receiving offers, including one from the legendary Yash Chopra.

Thus, Poonam made her debut with Yash Chopra’s Trishul (1978) in which she shared screen space with Bollywood heavyweights like Sanjeev Kumar, Shashi Kapoor and Amitabh Bachchan. It was quite an achievement for a teenager, especially one who had never, even in her wildest dreams, thought of joining the film industry.

Poonam Dhillon tied the knot in 1988 to Bollywood producer Ashok Thakeria, whom she had met through common friends. After 9 years of marriage, the couple filed for divorce citing ‘lack of passion’ as the number one cause.

While Poonam married Ashok, he was definitely not the only love of her life. Let’s take a closer look at the Poonam Dhillon marriage story as well as her other trysts with love.

Poonam Dhillon – An Unplanned Acting Career

Poonam Dhillon was born on 18th April 1962 in Kanpur into a Sikh family. Educated in Chandigarh, she decided to participate in the Miss Young India contest while still in school. To her amazement, she won the crown, receiving ample publicity in the process. In fact, Yash Chopra saw her photograph in a magazine and decided that Poonam was the one he wanted for his next film.

Chopra found out that Poonam resided in Chandigarh, and thus got in touch with his friend Balwant Gargi – Head of Dramatics at the Punjab University in Chandigarh. In a pleasant coincidence, Gargi knew Poonam’s family, and he immediately visited Poonam’s place to make an offer on behalf of his friend Yash Chopra.

Poonam and her family were hesitant and initially declined the offer. But Gargi assured them that Poonam’s education would not take a hit because of the film, and Dhillons relented. Poonam appeared in her first film Trishul (1978), a blockbuster success, and brought onto herself ample fame and attention.

After the success of Trishul, Poonam planned to return to Chandigarh. After all, she had signed on her first film just for fun – but she had now another offer from Yash Chopra, this time for a film titled Noorie. Since it was an offer from her mentor, she accepted it, considering it the last film she ever did before returning to Chandigarh for good.

Noorie (1979) too was a success, and this made Poonam reconsider her career plans. She realised there was an opportunity in cinema for her, and thus, Poonam stayed back in Mumbai, deciding to make a career in Bollywood.

Since her debut in 1978, Poonam Dhillon has gone on to work in Marathi, Telugu, Kannada and Bengali films. She has also ventured into theatre, and has worked on several television soaps. More recently, Poonam has expanded her interests beyond the performing arts, making a foray into business with the founding of her own make-up company.

Ramesh Talwar – Actress Poonam’s First Crush

In the year 1978, film producer, director and actor Ramesh Talwar came up with an idea for a film, which he took to Yash Chopra in search of a producer. Chopra liked the story, and gave his nod to the project. The film was titled Noorie and Ramesh had always envisioned Poonam Dhillon in the titular role.

Ramesh and Poonam became good friends during the course of the shooting of the film. It didn’t take long, however, for Ramesh’s feelings to develop more romantic overtures – becoming more infatuated with Poonam with each passing day. In fact, word got around in film circles that Ramesh has lost his heart to Poonam.

Ramesh and Poonam denied any romantic involvement and said that they were just good friends. It must have been quite a friendship though, since Ramesh even purchased a bungalow for Poonam after she decided to stay back in Mumbai and continue in the industry. Rumor has it, however, that the relationship was more amorous from Ramesh’s end, whereas Poonam always treated him more as a well-wisher.

By the early 1980s, the media was abuzz details of how Poonam and Ramesh were romantically involved. Things would have continued that way had gossip-mongers not gone overboard, and linked Poonam with her mentor Yash Chopra. Poonam found the latter allegation utterly disgraceful. She maintained a cordial relationship with Chopra’s family, and thus saw the rumours as a threat to her relationship with the producer.

She decided that it was time to maintain some distance from filmmakers to prevent being romantically linked with them. As a result Poonam severed her ‘friendly’ ties with many filmmakers, which included Ramesh Talwar.

Raj Sippy – The Fling With The Married Man

However, it seems that Poonam’s trysts with filmmakers weren’t quite over. After the alleged affair with Ramesh Talwar, Poonam fell for the popular filmmaker Raj Sippy. He was an active filmmaker in 1980s, which was when Poonam reached her peak as well.

Raj and Poonam met during the making of a film, but it is not known when and how they got romantically involved. Raj was a married man though, and unlike the pseudo-affair with Ramesh, Poonam was very much smitten by Raj and was keen on marrying him. But Raj was not ready to leave his wife, while Poonam was not interested in playing second fiddle. By the 80s, the duo had split, with the breakup leaving Poonam distressed for months.

Ashok Thakeria – Finally Marrying A Film Producer

Poonam grew aloof after the failed relationship with Raj. Unfortunately, in 1988, she also lost her father, compounding her misery. A few weeks after the incident she was invited for the Holi celebrations at Khandala by film producer Umesh Mehra, who was a good friend of Poonam’s. She obliged on the condition that she will not participate in the festivities. On the day of the festival, she stayed indoors, while others celebrated the festival of colours. It was when she was seated quietly at one corner of the farmhouse that she grabbed the attention of Ashok Thakeria, a film producer who was one of the invitees for the celebrations.

Thakeria was stunned by Poonam’s good looks, but was perturbed to see such a gorgeous woman seated somberly all by herself. He learnt from others that she was mourning her father’s death but nevertheless decided to cheer her up and break the ice, and poured a bucket of water on her. Poonam was taken aback by this impromptu gesture but also was touched by Ashok’s concern. That day marked the beginning of Poonam and Ashok’s friendship, and he decided to stay in touch with her.

After that day, Ashok would send Poonam a bouquet of flowers everyday with a sweet romantic note affixed to it. He eventually proposed, and Poonam accepted. The two tied the knot in 1988. Well-wishers, however, were concerned that Poonam married Ashok on the rebound, finding it difficult to recover from the heartbreak caused by her breakup with Raj.

Trouble In Paradise

Poonam and Ashok were blessed with a son, Anmol, and later, a daughter whom they christened Paloma. Their marriage was a happy one, but after an extended honeymoon phase of 4-5 years, cracks began to appear.

By 1990, Ashok was a prolific producer working seven days a week. He would not have time even for his wife and children, and that would irk Poonam – who was already bored of sitting at home. She had taken a hiatus from acting after her marriage, only to realise that she needed to find her footing once again.

While Poonam did go on to work in television, it did little to hold the marriage in place. Frequent arguments between the couple became the norm.

In 1994 Ashok got involved with another woman, candidly acknowledging the fact when confronted by his wife. Thereafter, Poonam began airing the dirty laundry in public, candidly sharing the details of her crumbling marriage with her friends. She would be heard at parties stating that she does not feel ‘connected’ to Ashok anymore, and that he does not care for her.

Poonam even had her very own extra-marital affair with a Hong Kong-based businessman aimed at giving her husband a taste of his own medicine. Things were certainly going awry and the downhill descent in the marriage saw them on their path to hit rock bottom.

That fateful day came in 1997, when Poonam packed her bags and left her husband to live with her sister. A few days after the incident she visited a divorce lawyer and filed a legal separation from Ashok Thakeria. Ashok assented to it, and the two split the same year. Poonam retained the custody of their two children.

Life Ever Since

After the dissolution of her marriage, Poonam concentrated on reviving her career. Her children became the centre of her world, and she showed great courage in raising them as a single mother. Post 2010 she has made a brand new identity for herself as a succesful entrepreneur and television actress. Even today, she is considered one of the prettiest women in showbiz, and we tend to agree! Here is wishing Poonam Dhillon every success in life and all of its pursuits.

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