Pooja Hegde is an Indian actress and model who came second in the 2010 Miss Universe India pageant. She Pooja gained recognition as a model and she then tried her hand at acting in South Indian films. She made her acting debut in the Tamil film ‘Mugamoodi’ directed by Mysskin. The film was released in 2012 and starred Jeeva, Narain, Nassar, and Girish Karnad in important roles.

About her Life

Pooja was born and brought up in Mumbai. She is from Mangalore. She is fluent in Hindi, Tulu, Kannada, Marathi and English. She completed her education at Maneckji Cooper Education Trust School and completed her M.Com from MMK College, Mumbai. Pooja honed her networking skills while helping her mother network and market her business while attending college. She also regularly participated in intercollegiate dance and fashion competitions, which further boosted her confidence.

Career

Before making a name for herself in the film industry, Pooja started her career as a model. Her modeling career failed as she had to withdraw early from the Miss India 2009 competition, despite winning the title of Miss India Talent 2009. However, the following year, Pooja again applied for Miss India and she was the runner-up of Miss India 2010. She also won the title of Miss India South Glamorous Hair 2010 in a side competition. After her success in the pageant, Pooja entered her acting world and she made her acting debut in the Tamil superhero film Mugamoodi (2012) directed by Mysskin.

Source: Pinterest

Her Pooja debut film: Pooja played the character of Shakti, a fun-loving girl who changes the way her protagonist Anandan (played by Jeeva) views society. After reviewing the photos from the Miss India event, Mysskin chose Pooja as the lead role. To become fluent in Tamil, Pooja practiced writing words in English, but the similarities between Tamil and her native Tulu helped her prepare for the role. Since it was a Tamil superhero movie, it created a lot of curiosity among the audience. However, the film failed to impress audiences and received negative reviews. Her performance in Puja was also criticized, with The Hindu reporting that “she doesn’t have much scope to showcase her talent”.

Source: Pinterest

Two years later, in 2012, Pooja appeared in the Telugu film Oka Laila Kosam opposite Naga Chaitanya. Pooja impressed everyone with her performance and her performance was highly appreciated. After a gap of two years, Pooja appeared in her second Telugu film ‘Mukunda’ directed by Srikanth Adara in 2014. The film marked the debut of actor Varun Tej, nephew of actor Chiranjeevi, and received positive reviews at the box office. In the same year, Pooja played the lead role in Ashutosh Gowarikal’s historical drama Mohenjo Daro alongside Hrithik Roshan. The film is scheduled to be released in theaters in August 2016.

Source: Pinterest

It was Ashutosh Gowarikal’s wife Sunita who spotted Pooja in her advertisement and called her to audition for the role. Consolidating her determination to work on her Bollywood debut, Pooja revealed that she will not sign any regional film until ‘Mohenjo Daro’ is released. Moreover, she even turned down the opportunity to work with acclaimed director Mani Ratnam. In 2017, she co-starred with Arul Arjun in the Telugu film Duvvada Jagannadham, directed by Harish Shankar. Her 2018 releases include Rangasthalam, Race 3, Saakshyam, Aravindha Sametha. In 2019, she played the lead role in the comedy Housefull 4. Her 2020 releases include Aang Vaikunthapratu, directed by Trivikram Srinivas.