Pooja Kumar

Pooja Kumar is an Indian–American actress known for her work in Indian films. After winning the title of Miss India USA, she started her global career as an American actress, producer, and model. Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan chose her as one of the bright new stars where he looked at over 60,000 contestants fighting for that recognition. He introduced her to Priyadarshan and they gave her the opportunity to host the International Miss World Competition which was broadcast live in over 50 countries.

Pooja Kumar
Pooja Kumar at Promotions of Vishwaroopam
Born (1977-02-04) 4 February 1977
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S
NationalityAmerican
Occupationactress, model, television presenter, producer
Years active1997–present
Websitehttp://www.poojakumar.com/

She has appeared in Hollywood feature films such as, Man on a Ledge, Brawl in Cell Block 99, Bollywood Hero, (starring opposite SNL star Chris Kattan), Flavors, Hiding Divya, Park Sharks, Bollywood Beats, Night of Henna, Anything for You, Drawing with Chalk, and Knots Urbane. Her international projects includeVishwaroopam, and Vishwaroopam 2 opposite actor Kamal Haasan and Uttama Villain. These were shot simultaneously in both Hindi and Tamil. She made her Tollywood debut with PSV Garuda Vega starring Rajasekhar.

She was a VJ for BPL Oye for India's Channel V, an Indian movie show called Bajaj Ki Lehren with Jaaved Jaffrey, and hosted game show based in Milan, Italy called Jaago aur Jeeto for Zee TV.

Early life

Pooja was born into a Mathur family in St. Louis, Missouri.[1] Her parents are immigrants from India; her father is from Dehradun and her mother is from Lucknow.[1] She attended Washington University where she graduated with degrees in political science and finance.[1] Pooja is also trained in the Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Kathak forms of Indian classical dance.[1] She was crowned Miss India USA in 1995.[2][3]

Career

Pooja Kumar first signed on to appear in director K. R.'s Tamil film Kadhal Rojave in 1997 alongside George Vishnu, but the film's production delays meant that it only released in 2000 and her stint as an actress in the Tamil film industry went unnoticed.[4] She was earlier signed and then left out of the 1997 film V. I. P, while she had also signed to appear alongside Karthik in Chithra Lakshmanan's Chinna Raja, but was eventually dropped from the film.[5]

Pooja produced a short film, "1001 Auditions", that has been selected in eight film festivals, including being nominated for "Best Short" at the Stuttgart Film Festival in Germany.[6] She has also produced a short film called "Shoot My Life". Pooja has also been seen in national TV commercials for Bombay Dreams, Verizon, Dodge, Pearle Vision, New York Lottery, Tata True Roots, AOL Time Warner, and Outback Steakhouse.[7]

In 2003, she received the Screen Actors Guild Emerging Actress Award for Flavors. In 2008, she hosted a late-night live quiz show on Zee TV in India, known as Jaago Aur Jeeto. She appeared in the musical comedy miniseries Bollywood Hero on the IFC in 2008. She starred opposite Saturday Night Live comedian Chris Kattan in the three part series. In the late 2000s, she appeared in the Pakistani drama serial Ishq Junoon Deewangi on Hum TV. After a long gap she reappeared in Kollywood industry from the film Viswaroopam paired with Kamal Hassan.[8][7]

Filmography
YearFilmRoleLanguageNotes
2000Kadhal RojavaePoojaTamil
2003Magic Magic 3DDeeptiTamil
2004FlavorsRachanaEnglish
2005Night of HennaHava
2006Hiding DivyaPalini Shah
2009Bollywood BeatsLaxmi
Knots UrbaneRachna
Park SharksPri
2010Anything For YouUma Krishnan
Anjaana AnjaaniPeshtoHindi
Drawing With ChalkJasmineEnglish
2012Man on a LedgeNina
2013VishwaroopamDr. Nirupama Viswanath/Nirupama wisamTamil
VishwaroopHindi
2015Uthama VillainKarpagavalliTamil
2016Meen Kuzhambum Mann PaanaiyumMala
2017Sivaranjiniyum Innum Sila PengalumDelayed
PSV Garuda VegaSwathiTelugu
Brawl In Cell Block 99Denise PawtherEnglish
2018Vishwaroopam IIDr. Nirupama ViswanathTamil
Vishwaroop IIHindi
TBAThe Invisible Mask
gollark: The power of yet™.
gollark: YET.
gollark: I'm engaging in inconsistent devil advocacy!
gollark: Which is a very significant amount of cashmoney.
gollark: An entire day's work, ignoring any other expense you might have.

References
  1. "Conversations with American Indian Actor Pooja Kumar", South Asian Insider, n.d.
  2. Girn, Raj. "Open Chest/Cover Story: Pooja Kumar" Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Anokhi, Fall 2009
  3. "Miss India USA", WorldwidePageants.com
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 January 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "1001 Auditions" Archived 1 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine (official site)
  7. Poooja Kumar: Resume Archived 15 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 15 May 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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