This actor-turned-director was among the most popular child artists in the 1990s. However, he couldn’t repeat the success after becoming an adult.
We often see relationships on-screen that surprisingly reflect real life too. Sometimes distant family ties are discovered, and sometimes entirely new bonds are formed. A great example is actress Pooja Bhatt and the actor who once played her son in a film — he’s now 41 years old and, interestingly, shares a real-life family connection with her too.
We’re talking about actor Kunal Kemmu, who played the role of “Ajay,” Pooja Bhatt’s son, in the 1998 film Zakhm. The film was directed by Pooja Bhatt’s father, Mahesh Bhatt. Both Mahesh and Pooja produced the movie, and it even won a National Award. Years after the movie, it turns out that Kunal Kemmu actually shares a distant family connection with Pooja Bhatt in real life too. Here’s how:
Watch Jr Kunal Kemmu in Zakhm
Pooja Bhatt’s half-sister is Alia Bhatt — they share the same father, Mahesh Bhatt. Alia is married into the famous Kapoor family — she’s the wife of actor Ranbir Kapoor. The Kapoor family, in turn, has another daughter, Kareena Kapoor, who is married to Saif Ali Khan. Here’s where Kunal Kemmu comes in. Kunal is married to Soha Ali Khan, who is Saif Ali Khan’s sister. That makes Kunal Saif’s brother-in-law. And because Saif is Kareena’s husband, Kunal and Kareena are connected as in-laws too.
So, connecting the dots — Alia Bhatt (Pooja’s sister) is married into the Kapoor family. Kareena Kapoor (from the Kapoor family) is connected to Kunal Kemmu through marriage. That means Pooja Bhatt, through her sister Alia and Alia’s marriage into the Kapoor family, is now distantly connected to Kunal Kemmu — her former on-screen son — in real life as well. In short, what started as a fictional mother-son relationship in a movie has now turned into a real-life family connection. On the work front, Kunal made his directorial debut with the comedy drama Madgaon Express.
