There is no mistaking the invisible crown of congeniality that Poonam Dhillon wears on her pretty head as she indulges in a stream of selfies with buyers at Poonam’s Pop-Up, her first fashion curation in Dubai last week. From a teen beauty pageant winner to a top actor in Bollywood, to working in television and theatre, Dhillon has always had the entrepreneur gene in her and it’s fashion — an extension of the glamour business she has been an intrinsic part of since she was a teenager — that she’s lending her entrepreneurial skills and business acumen to.
tabloid! caught up with her at the En Vogue exhibition at Ritz Carlton DIFC for a quick chat.
How did the idea of curating your first fashion line, Poonam’s Pop-Up come about?
It is a collaboration that I have curated with my friend Poonam Sahgal as we both enjoy fashion but don’t intend to have a store. We’ve already had them in Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mumbai, Los Angeles and New York, so we just had to bring it to Dubai. I plan to come again for a solo one [instead of being in] an exhibition like this time. I have been inadvertently styling friends over the years. Like, I would wear a scarf over a pair of trousers and my friends in Los Angeles would demand the same outfit; or, I would wear a sari on stage and people would come backstage and want to buy it off me there and then.
This collection is an assortment of outfits that are good for everyday wear as well as a cocktail evening or a sangeet [music ceremony before a wedding] or a festival. If we had kept it too heavy or festive or seasonal, then it would have been restrictive to the buyer. Indians abroad love wearing such clothes during celebrations and our line is perfect for that kind of wearer as it is fairly priced and exciting for all age groups.
What do you think of fashion in films today?
When I was acting, I had the best of designers — Bhanu Athaiya who did Sohni Mahiwal, Mani Rabadi, Leena Daru, Neeta Lulla — and I learnt a lot from them, imbibing their aesthetics. [When I joined the industry] I was 16 and had no personal style. I evolved over the years. I realised our films and actors impact the fashion sense of viewers enormously. Bollywood and fashion have merged now and it is tricky, because, in my time, there was a lead actress, a vamp. [There’s no segregation of the hero or villain and the heroine or vamp now]. As the scripts have changed, so have the clothes — they have as many dimensions just as the characters wearing them. What you see girls and boys wearing on the streets today is what you see on screen on the toned, beautiful bodies of the actors.
Your kids are now grown up. Would they want to follow you in to films?
My daughter Paloma is 20, and my son Anmol is 24. Both of them are keen to work in films. Both of them have their own individual fashion styles and I cannot shop for them anymore. I was shocked when I read a feature on Paloma recently that she is the new darling of Instagram and I was shocked and wondered what had she done.
Was she wearing your ‘Trishul’ swimsuit and posing?
Hello! My daughter wears bikinis and not one piece swimsuits like me. Today’s kids are so comfortable in their skin. My son has turned into this tall and buff dude from a skinny boy. I enjoy their growth. They are no longer just my kids; they have personalities of their own. I am so proud of them and grateful that I have good kids.
Whilst I was spotted by Yashji [Chopra] when I won Miss Young India, Paloma has her own fan following on social media, and a fan page, and she’s not even acting yet. I am told my son is a fabulous dancer but he never dances in front of me. I will be the only star mother who will have no reservations to her bikini shots, given I wore a swimsuit in Trishul at a time when it was considered a big deal. I was a swimmer and wearing a swimsuit and shorts were de riguer for me despite coming from a conservative family.
You’ve been married and divorced and are single again. What do you want in a man and will you marry again?
I am not looking for Mr Perfect because they don’t exist — right? I don’t want to settle for just any frog but I definitely don’t want to kiss 200 frogs to find a man either. I don’t know if I will marry again… and it’s a big if.
