Pooja Hegde

Pooja Hegde
Born Mumbai, Maharashtra
Nationality Indian
Education M.Com
Occupation Model and actress
Years active 2010–present
Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)[1]

Pooja Hegde is an Indian model and actress. A former beauty pageant contestant, she was crowned as the second runner-up at the Miss Universe India 2010 competition, before going on to make her acting debut in Mysskin's Tamil superhero film Mugamoodi (2012).[2] She then featured in the Telugu films Oka Laila Kosam and Mukunda (2014), while signing on to feature as the lead actress in Ashutosh Gowariker's next venture, Mohenjo Daro (2016).

Early life

Pooja was born and brought up in Mumbai, Maharashtra, while her family's native place is Mangalore, Karnataka. She is fluent in Tulu, English, Kannada and Hindi.[3] During her time at college, she revealed she gained confidence by helping out with her mother's network marketing business, improving her networking skills. Furthermore, she regularly sought to enter in intercollegiate competitions, participating in dance and fashion shows.[4]

Career

Pooja Hegde competed in the Miss India 2009 competition, but was eliminated in an early round despite winning the Miss India Talented 2009 honour. She re-applied the following year and was the second runner-up in the Miss Universe India 2010 competition, while also being crowned Miss India South Glamorous Hair 2010 in the subsidiary competition. She made her acting debut in Mysskin's Tamil superhero film Mugamoodi (2012) opposite Jiiva, portraying the female lead character of Shakthi, a fun-loving girl who inspires the male lead to change his outlook on society.[5] She was selected after Mysskin had seen still photographs from her pageant success, and Hegde helped practice Tamil dialogue for the film by writing and memorizing words in English, adding that the similarity between Tamil and her native tongue Tulu was also useful.[6] Prior to release, the film garnered high expectations as a result of the novel theme of a superhero in Tamil films and the film took a grand opening at the box office in August 2012. However, the film received mixed to negative reviews from critics, hampering its progress, and the film ended up becoming a surprise commercial failure.[7] Hegde's performance also received mixed reviews with a critic from Sify.com citing that she "disappoints", though a critic from The Hindu noted "she doesn’t have much scope for talent display."[8][9] She earned a nomination for the Best Tamil Female Debut Actress at the 2nd South Indian International Movie Awards, but lost out to Lakshmi Menon.[10]

Her second film release, the Telugu film Oka Laila Kosam (2014), featured her opposite Naga Chaitanya. She was praised for her performance in the movie. Following a brief hiatus after Mugamoodi, she revealed that the film's prominent production house and the success of the director Vijay Konda's previous venture, had prompted her to work on the project. She undertook Telugu lessons to help her portray the leading female role.[11] She is also currently filming for Mukunda opposite debutant Varun Tej, nephew of actor Chiranjeevi. The romantic-action tale, set in the backdrop of a village, will release in late 2014.[12][13] In her second Telugu film, Hegde impressed many with her memorable performance in Gopikamma song from Mukunda.[14]

In July 2014, Hegde agreed terms to make her Bollywood debut opposite Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowariker's forthcoming period film Mohenjo Daro, set against the backdrop of the Indus Valley civilisation. She was selected after Gowariker's wife had spotted her in an advertisement and called her to audition, which she successfully completed.[15][16] As a result of her commitment to the film, she revealed that she would take a break from appearing in regional Indian movies until her Hindi film's release and rejected an opportunity to work in a film directed by Mani Ratnam.[17][18]

Filmography

Year Film Role Language Notes
2012 Mugamoodi Shakthi Tamil Nominated - SIIMA Award for Best Female Debutant
2014 Oka Laila Kosam Nandana Telugu
2014 Mukunda Gopika Telugu
2016 Mohenjo Daro Hindi Filming

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Pooja Hedge". The Times of India. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "It’s not Amala Paul, a newbie bags it - Amala Paul -Pooja Hegde". 5 August 2011.
  3. ↑ 'Working with Bal Asha was amazing' - Pooja Hegde. coolage.in. 19 September 2012
  4. ↑ Manigandan, K. R. (19 August 2012). "Picture of confidence". The Hindu.
  5. ↑ "Pooja Hegde is Mugamoodi`s girlfriend!". Sify. 15 September 2011
  6. ↑ Upadhyaya, Prakash (3 September 2012) "Interview: Jeeva’s down-to-earth actor – Pooja Hegde". www.filmibeat.com.
  7. ↑ "Review: Mugamoodi fails to impress". Rediff. 31 August 2012.
  8. ↑ "Movie Review : Mugamoodi". Sify.
  9. ↑ Rangarajan, Malathi (1 September 2012). "Mugamoodi: Unmasked!". The Hindu.
  10. ↑ South Indian International Movie Awards. IMDb
  11. ↑ "Luck, preparation are my strength: Pooja Hegde". Sify. 11 August 2014
  12. ↑ Kumar, Hemanth (6 August 2014) Varun Tej's debut film gets into dubbing phase. Times of India
  13. ↑ Mukunda's audio to be launched in September. Times of India. 21 August 2014
  14. ↑ "Pooja's second Tollywood venture Mukunda". Surli.in. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  15. ↑ "Pooja Hegde signed opposite Hrithik Roshan in Mohenjo-Daro". Bollywood Hungama News Network. 12 July 2014.
  16. ↑ "Bengaluru is home for me: Pooja Hegde". Deccan Chronicle.
  17. ↑ Kamal, S. S. (21 August 2014) "Pooja Hegde focuses on Hrithik Roshan's Mohenjo-daro". The Times of India.
  18. ↑ Chowdhary, Y. Sunita (23 September 2014). "It’s her turn". The Hindu.
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