Pooja Kumar

Pooja Kumar

Pooja Kumar in 2012
Born (1977-02-04) 4 February 1977
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Occupation actress, model, television presenter, producer
Years active 1997–present
Website http://www.poojakumar.com

Pooja Kumar is an American actress, producer, model and television hostess. She was crowned Miss India USA and has been a VJ for Channel V, a newsreader on the show Namaste America and has starred in such feature films as Kadhal Rojave, Night of Henna, Flavors, Hiding Divya, Park Sharks, Bollywood Beats, Man on a Ledge, Anything For You, Vishwaroopam and Uttama Villain'

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] Kumar 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

Year Film Role Language Notes
2000 Kadhal Rojavae Pooja Tamil
2003 Magic Magic 3D Deepti Malayalam
2004 Flavors Rachana English
2005 Night of Henna Hava English
2006 Hiding Divya Palini Shah English
2009 Bollywood Beats Laxmi English
Knots Urbane Rachna English
Park Sharks Pri English
2010 Anything For You Uma Krishnan English
Anjaana Anjaani Peshto Hindi
Drawing With Chalk Jasmine English
2012 Man on a Ledge Nina English
2013 Vishwaroopam Dr. Nirupama Viswanath/Nirupama wisam Tamil
Vishwaroop Hindi
2015 Uthama Villain Karpagavalli Tamil
2016 Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum Mala Tamil
Vishwaroopam 2 Dr. Nirupama Wisam Tamil Filming
Vishwaroop 2 Hindi Filming
Sivaranjiniyum Innum Sila Pengalum Tamil Filming

References

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