'Bhatt genes run strong': Young Pooja Bhatt is a dead ringer for Alia Bhatt in unseen photo, internet loses its mind

A throwback picture of Pooja Bhatt from the 90s has fans amazed as to how much she resembles Alia Bhatt.

Alia Bhatt’s resemblance to her mother, veteran actor Soni Razdan, is often discussed by fans. A young Soni looked very much like the Alia of today. But it seems Alia has a lot of Bhatt genes in her, too. A recently-shared old picture of her half-sister, Pooja Bhatt, has fans confused as to which Bhatt sister it is.

Pooja Bhatt (left) in the 90s, looked a lot like her half-sister Alia Bhatt from today.

Pooja Bhatt's throwback photo

The picture of Pooja, seemingly from sometime in the early 90s, was shared on Reddit on Thursday morning. “Thought it was Alia Bhatt till I looked closely,” wrote the original poster in the title. The caption read: “Bhatt genes run strong! Also, how stunning does Pooja Bhatt look?”

The picture features Pooja, dressed in a pink swimsuit, looking away from the camera, standing in front of a water body. With her eyes almost closed and face turned away from the camera, she resembles a young Alia, almost down to the T. Fans were surprised at the resemblance.

Thought it was Alia Bhatt till I looked closely
byu/atrocious_almonds inBollyBlindsNGossip

Fans react

“Same same but different,” wrote one. Another one added, “Or Mahesh Bhatt has a type? How does Pooja’s mom look? Coz Alia is a xerox of her mother.” Many praised Pooja’s glam look in the photo. One comment read, “Pooja in her prime >>>>”.

Pooja and Alia's film careers

Pooja Bhatt is the daughter of filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt and his first wife, Kiran, aka Lorraine Bright. Born in 1972, Pooja began her film career at 17 with her father Mahesh’s film Daddy. In the 90s, she worked in successful films like Sadak, Junoon, and Border. After a hiatus in 2000, she turned to direction, making films like Paap and Dhokha. She returned to acting in 2022 with Chup: Revenge of the Artist, directed by R Balki.

Alia is the daughter of Mahesh and Soni, his second wife. She began her film journey at age 19 with Karan Johar’s Student of the Year 2. She has since worked in successful films like Highway, Raazi, Gully Boy, Gangubai Kathiawadi, Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, and Brahmastra. The actor will be next seen in Alpha, a female-led spy thriller from Yash Raj Films. The film also stars Sharvari and Bobby Deol. It releases in 2026.