Artist Biography
Pooja Hegde Born 13 October 1990 is an Indian film actress who appears in Telugu and Hindi films. She was crowned as the second runner-up at the Miss Universe India 2010 competition. She made her acting debut in Mysskin’s Tamil superhero film Mugamoodi . In 2016, she made her Hindi film debut alongside Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Mohenjo Daro .
Pooja was born and brought up in Mumbai, Maharashtra, to Manjunath and Latha Hegde. Her family is from Mangalore, Karnataka. Her mother tongue is Tulu, and she is also fluent in English, Marathi, Kannada and Hindi. She went to M.M.K College, she revealed she gained confidence by helping out with her mother’s network marketing business, improving her networking skills. She regularly sought to enter in intercollegiate competitions, participating in dance and fashion shows.
Her parents Manjunath Hegde and Latha Hegde were also born and raised in Mumbai. They are originally from Mangalore, Karnataka. She also has an elder brother Rishabh Hegde, who is an orthopedic surgeon. Her mother tongue is Tulu, and she is also fluent in English, Marathi, and Hindi. She revealed that she went to M. M. K. College. She regularly sought to enter in intercollegiate competitions, participating in dance and fashion shows.
Before making a mark in the film industry, Pooja began her journey as a model. Her modeling career took off in a topsy-turvy manner as she had to suffer an early exit from Miss India 2009 competition despite winning the title of Miss India Talented 2009. However, the following year, Pooja re-applied in the competition and went on to become the runner-up at Miss India 2010 competition. She also bagged the title of Miss India South Glamorous Hair 2010 in the subsidiary competition. Following her success at the competition, Pooja entered the acting world and made her acting debut with Mysskin`s Tamil superhero movie, Mugamoodi (2012). Pooja`s debut role: Pooja portrayed the character of a fun-loving girl, Shakthi, who changes the lead character, Anandan`s (portrayed by Jiiva) perspective towards the society.
Mysskin selected Pooja to play the lead after scanning through her photographs from the Miss India event. To attain fluency in Tamil, Pooja practiced writing the words in English and the similarities in Tamil and her native language, Tulu, helped her prepare for the role. Being a Tamil superhero movie, it generated immense curiosity amongst the audience. However, the movie failed to impress the audience and opened to negative reviews. Pooja`s performance was also criticized, with The Hindu quoting “she doesn`t have much scope for talent display.”
Two years later, in 2012, Pooja appeared in the Telugu movie, Oka Laila Kosam, opposite Naga Chaitanya. Impressing everyone with her performance, Pooja was highly praised for her acting. She also took Telugu lessons for her role. After a gap of two years, in 2014, Pooja appeared in her second Telugu movie, Mukunda, directed by Srikanth Addala. The movie marked the debut of actor Varun Tej, the nephew of actor Chiranjeevi, and received a positive response at the box office.
In the same year, Pooja bagged a lead role in Ashutosh Gowarikar`s period drama, Mohenjo Daro, opposite Hrithik Roshan. The movie is scheduled to release in August 2016. It was Ashutosh Gowarikar`s wife, Sunita, who spotted Pooja in an advertisement and later called her to audition for the role. Being committed to work in her debut Bollywood movie, Pooja revealed that she would not sign any regional movie until Mohenjo Daro is released. More so, she even rejected an opportunity to work with the acclaimed director, Mani Ratnam. In 2017 the actress appeared alongside Allu Arjun in the Telugu movie Duvvada Jagannadham directed by Harish Shankar. Her 2018 releases include Rangasthalam, Race 3, Saakshyam and Aravindha Sametha. In 2019 she played a lead role in the comedy Housefull 4. Her 2020 release includes Angu Vaikuntapurathu, directed by Trivikram Srinivas.
