Pooja Hegde (/puːdʒɑː hɛɡdeɪ/ born 13 October 1990) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films. One of the highest-paid actresses of South Indian cinema,[1] Hegde is a recipient of four SIIMA Awards along with three Filmfare Awards South nominations.
After participating in the 2010 Miss Universe India beauty pageant, Hegde made her film debut with the Tamil film Mugamoodi (2012). She received praise for her starring role in her first Telugu release Oka Laila Kosam (2014), and gained further success with Mukunda (2014). She then featured opposite Hrithik Roshan in her first Bollywood release Mohenjo Daro (2016).
Early life and work
Hegde was born on 13 October 1990,[2][3] and states she was raised up in Mumbai, Maharashtra in a Tulu-speaking Bunt family.[4][5] Her father, Manjunath Hegde, is a criminal lawyer and her mother, Latha Hegde, is a Immunologist and entrepreneur.[6] They are originally from Udupi, Karnataka.[7] Her elder brother Rishabh Hegde, is an orthopaedic surgeon.[8] Besides Tulu, she is fluent in English, Hindi, Marathi and Kannada.[9] She later learnt Telugu following a career in Telugu cinema.[10] She considers Bengaluru as her home town, and maintains strong connections there.[7][11] She did her schooling in Maneckji Cooper Education Trust School, Mumbai.[12] She went to M. M. K. College, graduating with a Bachelor of Commerce degree.[13] She has trained in classical dance and music, including Bharatanatyam.[14][15][16]
A representative from Miss India met Hegde at one of her college events and suggested that she participate in the pageant.[17] Hegde competed in the Miss India 2009 competition, but was eliminated in an early round despite winning the Miss India Talented 2009 honour.[18] She re-applied the following year and was the second runner-up in the Miss Universe India 2010 competition.[19] She rejected offers of several projects from big production banners over three years before debuting in Mugamoodi.[20] She accepted the project by her mother’s suggestion.[21]
Early work (2012–2017)
After noticing still photographs of her pageant win,[22] Mysskin offered Hegde her debut in his Tamil superhero film Mugamoodi (2012) opposite Jiiva.[23] She portrayed Shakthi, a fun-loving girl who inspires the male lead to change his outlook on society.[24] Hegde practised Tamil dialogues for the film by writing and memorising words in English, adding similarities between Tamil and her mother tongue Tulu.[25] Prior to its release, the film garnered high expectations due to its novel theme of a superhero in Tamil cinema, and had a strong opening at the box office in August 2012.[26][27] She earned nominations for the SIIMA Award for Best Female Debut – Tamil and Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South.[28]
Expanding to Telugu cinema in 2014, Hegde starred opposite Naga Chaitanya in the romantic comedy Oka Laila Kosam.[29][30] The success of the production house Annapurna Studios and director Vijay Konda’s previous ventures prompted her to sign the project.[31] She learned Telugu language to play the female lead.[31] Her portrayal of Nandana received positive reception.[32] Ranjani Rajendra of The Hindu was appreciative of Hegde’s screen presence.[33] While Suresh Kavirayani of Deccan Chronicle lauded her debut.[34] Around the same time, she was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu.[35] The film proved to be a commercial success.[36] Hegde was next cast opposite Varun Tej in Srikanth Addala‘s drama Mukunda.[37] Reviewers of the film were generally pleased with the chemistry between the lead pair.[38][39] Hegde has said that the song “Gopikamma” marked a major breakthrough in her career.[40] It became another successful financial venture for her.[41]
In 2016, Hegde made her Hindi film film debut as the female lead opposite Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowariker‘s period film Mohenjo Daro, set against the backdrop of the Indus Valley Civilisation.[42] She was selected after Gowariker’s wife, Sunita Gowariker, spotted her in an advertisement and called her for an audition.[43][44] Lisa Tsering of The Hollywood Reporter dismissed her performance as “forgettable blandness”.[45] In 2017, she starred in Harish Shankar‘s Telugu action comedy DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham, opposite Allu Arjun.[46] Hegde described her role as an outgoing and modern girl, unlike her previous roles in Telugu films, which she considered traditional.[47] Manoj Kumar R from The Indian Express wrote that “Hegde has convincingly done the given job that is to look stunning in every frame of the film”.[48] DJ opened to commercial success grossing over ₹1.5 billion (US$18 million) emerging one of the highest-grossing Telugu film.[49]
Commercial success and fluctuations (2018–2024)
In 2018, Hegde featured in three Telugu films. She began the year with an item number “Jigelu Rani” for the period action Rangasthalam.[50] She next starred opposite Bellamkonda Sreenivas in the fantasy action Saakshyam, portraying the role of a middle-class Brahmin girl who was a spiritual leader.[51] Murali Krishna C H found that she “gets more screen time in this film compared to her last outing DJ and she does a good job”.[52] In her final appearance that year, she played the titular character in Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava directed by Trivikram Srinivas, where she dubbed for herself.[53] She played Aravinda, who significantly influenced Veera Raghava Reddy (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.), to challenge the deep-rooted enmity and seek a path of non-violence and self-discovery.[54][55] Sangeetha Devi Dundoo from The Hindu credited her role as “impressive” and wrote that she “gets to be more than a glam doll and enjoys her role”.[56] The film was the second-highest-grossing Telugu film of the year and grossed over ₹1.8 billion (US$21 million) worldwide attaining a blockbuster status.[57]
In 2019, Hegde’s first film was Vamshi Paidipally‘s Maharshi co-starring Mahesh Babu.[58][59] Her second Telugu film that year was the Harish Shankar-directed Gaddalakonda Ganesh, a remake of the 2014 Tamil-language film Jigarthanda, co-starring Varun Tej and Atharvaa.[60] Lauding her chemistry with Tej, Hemanth Kumar noted that she “fits into her character quite well”.[61] She suffered sunburn during the filming of the song “Elluvochi Godaramma“, in the middle of the river at Yanam.[62] Hegde returned to Bollywood after a gap of three years with Sajid Nadiadwala‘s comedy film Housefull 4, directed by Farhad Samji, the fourth instalment of the Housefull franchise, featuring her as Rajkumari Mala and Pooja (reincarnated).[63] The film received predominantly negative reviews, but was one of the highest grosser of the year, earning ₹2.9 billion (US$34 million).[64]
