Veteran actress Poonam Dhillon has opened up about growing up under strict parental supervision, revealing she was not permitted to date or socialise freely with peers — a restriction that shaped her personal life well into her acting career. The candid disclosure came during an appearance on the talk show Tum Ho Naa, hosted by Rajeev Khandelwal on Sony Entertainment Television and Sony LIV.

Life Under Strict Rules

Dhillon told the host that her social world was sharply limited — both by her parents and by the peculiar isolation that comes with celebrity. '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,' she said. '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.'

She added that even after establishing herself as an actor, she was excluded from ordinary group outings. '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,"' she recalled.

Her View on Parenting Today

While Dhillon acknowledged that a disciplined upbringing carries value, she urged present-day parents to strike a balance. '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,' she said. 'If we protect them too much, their worldview becomes very restricted.'

The remarks reflect a broader conversation in India about generational shifts in parenting — where the tension between protection and autonomy is increasingly debated, particularly for young women navigating public life.

On Her Love Marriage and Its Challenges

Dhillon also spoke with rare candour about her marriage to Ashok, describing it as a love marriage that she entered with limited life experience. 'Ashok ji pursued me a lot, and he was a very good person, so I felt that this was the right choice. But at that time, I did not know how difficult the journey ahead would be,' she said.

She was careful to speak respectfully of her former husband. '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 not every two good people need to make a good couple,' she noted. '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.'

The Broader Conversation

The episode of Tum Ho Naa was framed around the idea that public figures face human struggles often invisible to audiences. Host Rajeev Khandelwal pressed Dhillon to move beyond the inspirational image and speak to the ordinary difficulties of life in the public eye — a framing that drew out some of her most personal reflections to date. The show continues to air on Sony Entertainment Television and stream on Sony LIV.