Meet The ‘Salty' Poonam Pandey Who Turns Controversy Into Currency

In a country which is still prudish about sex, this middle class girl from Thane has unashamedly built a thriving business as an erotic star

- Mohua Das

Mahatma Gandhi is the name Poonam Pandey thoughtfully picks to suggest who signifies ‘competition’ to her. “He’s possibly the most controversial figure in our country and I’d rather compete with him than Sunny Leone or Kim Kardashian,” she deadpans. If controversies are what she is courting, the 30-year-old is not far from her goal since they follow Pandey like Mary’s little lamb, and have helped turn her from just another aspiring model to an adult entertainer who earns big bucks.

Her lockdown diary in brief: In May, Pandey was booked by Mumbai Police for flouting lockdown rules by taking a spin around the city in her car. In September, within a fortnight of marrying her boyfriend Sam Bombay, she filed an FIR against him for assaulting her during their honeymoon in Goa. Even as they returned on Instagram as “Mr & Mrs Bombay” curled up in each other’s arms, much to the consternation of the Goa police — a complaint was filed and the couple detained — this time for allegedly shooting an obscene video at the Chapoli dam in the coastal state.

“We thought it was a beautiful location to shoot in. I had no clue that it was a government restricted property. I’ve shot in places and temperatures you can’t even think of taking your clothes off,” she says. “But I accept my fault. Goan people are so sweet.”