New Delhi, July 3 (IANS) Actors and the media are known to share a “love-hate” kind of relationship, but actress-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt, who has always been vocal about her personal and professional life, says media has always been kind to her in her career.

From her past relationships to announcing separation from her former husband Manish Makhija, Pooja has never shied upon talking about her personal life in public and she says she believes in living with full “freedom”.

“If I look back at my 26-year-old career, the media and public have been very kind to me. When you look at the world with innocence and try to live with that innocence, than there will be no harm to you,” Pooja said at an event here when asked about how she deals with questions on her personal life.

The actress shared insights about her career during a session on the second day of Jagran Film Festival here on Thursday. The five-day gala was being held in Siri Fort Auditorium.

The 43-year-old, who was a member of the jury at the gala, pointed out that women were not allowed to share their opinions in the industry.

“When I entered the industry, my parents used to give me a lot of freedom. I’ve lived my life freely. When I started, I used to hear from people that you can’t have a boyfriend at the age of 19, I used to say ‘Why not?’… The industry does not let women with an opinion and brain, get very far of the ladder because they want to look at you and they don’t want to hear you.

“But I always tried to stick to truth. I have conscience in myself. I have a restless energy that has always prepared me to face people,” added the daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt.

Pooja, who made her Bollywood debut with 1989 film “Daddy” and went on to star in films like “Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin”, “Sadak”, “Sir” and “Zakhm”, was judging the sixth edition of the film fest along with music sensation Udit Narayan, ad-director and cinematographer Mahesh Aney, Malayalam cinema icon Hariharan and renowned film editor A. Sreekar Prasad.

On the professional front, Pooja is currently busy with her next project “Cabaret”, which stars Richa Chadha and Gulshan Devaiah.