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 career as an actress, producer, and model. Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan picked her as a bright new star in a contest involving 60,000 entrants competing for that recognition.

Pooja Kumar
Pooja Kumar, 2013
Born (1977-02-04) 4 February 1977
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S
NationalityAmerican
Occupation
Years active1997–present

She has appeared in a number of American films and shows, including Man on a Ledge, Brawl in Cell Block 99, Bollywood Hero, 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 Hindi and Tamil. She made her Tollywood debut with PSV Garuda Vega, starring Rajasekhar.

Early life

Kumar 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 from Lucknow.[1] She attended Washington University, where she graduated with degrees in political science and finance.[1] She is also trained in the Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Kathak forms of Indian classical dance.[1] Kumar was crowned Miss India USA in 1995.[2][3]

Career

Pooja Kumar first signed on to appear in director Kothanda Ramaiah's Tamil film Kadhal Rojave in 1997, but the film's production delays meant that it was 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 project.[5]

She produced the short film 1001 Auditions, which was shown at various festivals and was nominated for Best Short at the Stuttgart Film Festival in Germany.[6] She has also produced a short film called Shoot My Life. Kumar 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 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 onscreen in the film Viswaroopam.[8][7]

Filmography
YearFilmRoleLanguageNotes
2000Kadhal RojavaePoojaTamil
2003Magic Magic 3DDeeptiMalayalam
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
2017PSV Garuda VegaSwathiTelugu
Brawl In Cell Block 99Denise PawtherEnglish
2018Sivaranjiniyum Innum Sila PengalumTamil
Vishwaroopam IIDr. Nirupama Viswanath
Vishwaroop IIHindi
TBAThe Invisible Mask

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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