Pooja Hegde Biography – an Indian leading Actresses in Telugu Cinema

Pooja Hegde (born 13 October 1990) is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Telugu films, in addition to Hindi and Tamil films. She began her career as a model and was crowned as the second runner-up at 2010 I Am She–Miss Universe India pageant. She made her acting debut with the Tamil film Mugamoodi (2012) and had her first Telugu release in Oka Laila Kosam (2014). Hegde established herself as one of the leading actresses in Telugu cinema.

Hegde won the SIIMA Award for Best Actress – Telugu for her performance in Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo (2020) and was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu for Oka Laila Kosam and Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava (2018). Her other commercially successful films include Duvvada Jagannadham (2017), Maharshi (2019), Gaddalakonda Ganesh (2019), Housefull 4 (2019), and Most Eligible Bachelor (2021). In 2022, three of her films were poorly received namely Beast, Radhe Shyam, and Acharya which impeded her career.

Early life

Pooja Hegde was born and brought up in Mumbai, Maharashtra in a Tulu-speaking family. Her parents are Manjunath Hegde and Latha Hegde. They are originally from Udupi, Karnataka. She also has an elder brother Rishabh Hegde, who is an orthopedic surgeon. Besides Tulu, she is fluent in Kannada, English, Hindi, and Marathi. She later learned Telugu and Tamil following a career in her respective cinema. She did her schooling at Maneckji Cooper Education Trust School, Mumbai. She went to M. M. K. College, where she regularly participated in dance and fashion shows.

Hegde competed in Miss India 2009 competition but was eliminated in an early round despite winning the Miss India Talented 2009 honor. 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.

Career

Early work (2012–2017)

Hegde 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. 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. 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. Times of India stated that “Pooja Hegde though has little to do and comes across as just another pretty face.” NDTV wrote, “Pooja Hegde, the debutante may have floored everyone with her amiable appearance, but she definitely needs some coaching in expressions.” She earned a nomination for Best Tamil Female Debut Actress at the 2nd South Indian International Movie Awards.

Hegde’s second film release, the Telugu film Oka Laila Kosam (2014), featured her opposite Naga Chaitanya. She was praised for her performance in the movie. Around the same time, she bagged the nomination for Best Actress at the 62nd Filmfare Awards (South). Following a production house and the success of the director Vijay Konda’s previous venture prompted her to work on the project. She undertook Telugu lessons to help her portray the leading female role. In her second Telugu film, Hegde impressed many with her memorable performance in the “Gopikamma” song from Mukunda (2014). It was a romantic-action tale, set in the backdrop of a village, released in late 2014.

In July 2014, Hegde agreed on terms to make her Bollywood debut opposite Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowariker’s period film Mohenjo Daro, set against the backdrop of the Indus Valley civilization. She was selected after Gowariker’s wife had spotted her in an advertisement and called her to audition, which she successfully completed. 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. Mohenjo Daro was released in 2016 which was panned by critics and became a major box office flop. In 2017, she appeared in the Telugu-language vigilante action comedy film Duvvada Jagannadham alongside actor Allu Arjun. Writing for The Indian Express, Manoj Kumar R found that “Pooja Hegde has convincingly done the given job that is to look stunning in every frame of the film. Especially, she looks ravishing in all the song sequences.” The film was successful at the box office grossing over ₹150 crores.

Commercial success (2018–present)

In 2018, Hegde was featured in three Telugu films. The first is a special appearance in the song “Jigelu Rani” for the period action Rangasthalam. The song was trending on YouTube and she was praised for her performance. Later in Saakshyam, alongside Bellamkonda Sreenivas and Trivikram Srinivas-directed action-drama Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava, opposite Jr. NTR. In 2019 too, she made an appearance in three films which are Maharshi, Gaddalakonda Ganesh, and Housefull 4. Maharshi is a Telugu film directed by Vamsi Paidipally and co-starring Mahesh Babu. It received mixed reviews on release. Her second Telugu film in the same year was the Harish Shankar-directed Gaddalakonda Ganesh, a remake of the 2014 Tamil-language film Jigarthanda, featuring Varun Tej and Atharvaa her. Hegde returned to Bollywood after a gap of three years with Sajid Nadiadwala‘s comedy film directed by Farhad Samji, featuring her as Rajkumari Mala and Pooja (reincarnated), which went on to gross over ₹280 crores worldwide.

Her 2020 Telugu-language action drama film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, alongside Allu Arjun and directed by Trivikram mark their collaboration with both Arjun and Trivikram, for the second time, after DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham (2017) and Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava (2018). On her performance, a The Times of India critic wrote, “Pooja Hegde manages to bring in spunk into a character that is nothing more than a manic pixie dream girl, but she sure is a delight to watch on-screen.” The film became one of the highest-grossing Telugu films of all time, grossing over ₹250 crores. Her performance fetched her several awards, including the SIIMA Award for Best Actress – Telugu. Hegde’s dance performance in the song “Butta Bomma” received a wide response.

In 2021, Hegde starred in Most Eligible Bachelor, directed by Bommarillu Bhaskar opposite Akhil Akkineni in which she played the role of a stand-up comedian. Her performance in the film received critical acclaim and won her the SIIMA Award for Best Actress – Telugu. In 2022, Hegde starred in the multilingual period romance film Radhe Shyam with Prabhas directed by Radha Krishna Kumar. Hegde’s performance received positive reviews. The film’s song “Aashiqui Aa Gayi” also gained more popularity among audiences with Hegde’s grace and style are appreciated. Her second film in the same year was the Tamil film Beast directed by Nelson, alongside Vijay. Released on 13 April, the film marked her return to Tamil cinema after a gap of 9 years. Her next brief appearance was in the Koratala Siva-directed film Acharya alongside Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan. These three films were commercial failures. She performed her second dance number in the film, F3 alongside Venkatesh and Varun Tej in the party song “Life Ante Itta Vundaala”.

Upcoming projects

Her upcoming projects include the Hindi film Cirkus directed by Rohit Shetty where she is playing one of the female leads opposite Ranveer Singh She will also star opposite Salman Khan in Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan, directed by Farhad Samji, which is scheduled to release on 21 April 2023. Additionally, she will appear in Trivikram Srinivas‘ next film with Mahesh Babu tentatively titled #SSMB28. The film, which went on floors last week, she will join the sets after Dussehra.

In the media

Hegde is considered among the most popular actor in Telugu cinema. Hegde has frequently been featured in The Times of India‘s listing of the “Most Desirable Woman” and the winner of the “Hyderabad Most Desirable Woman” of the year 2017. Hegde is an active endorser for several brands and products. Hegde stood in the 7th place on Forbes India‘s Most Influential Stars on Instagram in South Cinema for the year 2021.

Filmography (Pooja Hegde Biography)

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role(s)	Language(s)	Notes
2012	Mugamoodi	Shakthi	Tamil
2014	Oka Laila Kosam	Nandana “Nandu”	Telugu
	Mukunda	Gopika	Telugu
2016	Mohenjo Daro	Chaani	Hindi
2017	Duvvada Jagannadham	Pooja	Telugu
2018	Rangasthalam	Jigelu Rani	Telugu	Special appearance in song “Jigelu Rani”
	Saakshyam	Soundarya Lahari	Telugu
	Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava	Aravinda	Telugu
2019	Maharshi	Pooja	Telugu
	Gaddalakonda Ganesh	Sridevi	Telugu
	Housefull 4	Rajkumari Mala/Pooja	Hindi	Dual role
2020	Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo	Amulya	Telugu
2021	Most Eligible Bachelor	Vibha	Telugu
2022	Radhe Shyam	Prerana	Telugu / Hindi
	Beast	Preethi	Tamil
	Acharya	Neelambari	Telugu
	F3	Herself	Telugu	Special appearance in the song “Life Ante Itta Vundaala”
	Cirkus	TBA	Hindi	Filming
2023	Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan	TBA	Hindi	Filming
	SSMB28	TBA	Telugu	Filming

Accolades

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