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Pooja Kumar is an American actress of Indian descent who works in Tamil, Hindi, and English-language Indian films. After winning Miss India USA in 1995, she pursued a career as an actress and producer. 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 Indian films include Vishwaroopam, and Vishwaroopam 2 opposite actor Kamal Haasan, and Uttama Villain. These were shot simultaneously in Hindi and Tamil. She made her Telugu debut with PSV Garuda Vega, starring Rajasekhar.

Pooja Kumar
Kumar in 2013
Born	St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present

Early life

Kumar was born in St. Louis, Missouri.[1] Her parents immigrated from India in 1970.[2] She attended Washington University, where she graduated with degrees in political science and finance.[2] She is also trained in Indian classical dance. Kumar won Miss India USA in 1995.[2]

Career

Kumar first signed on to appear in director Keyaar'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.[3] 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.[4]

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.

Personal life

Kumar is married to Vishal Joshi. They have a daughter born in 2020.[5]

Selected filmography

Film

List of film appearances, with year, title, and role shown

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
2000	Kadhal Rojavae	Pooja	Tamil
2003	Magic Magic 3D	Deepti	Tamil
2003	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	Tamil
	Vishwaroop		Hindi
2015	Uthama Villain	Karpagavalli	Tamil
2016	Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum	Mala	Tamil
2017	PSV Garuda Vega	Swathi	Telugu
	Brawl in Cell Block 99	Denise Pawther	English
2018	Vishwaroopam II	Dr. Nirupama Viswanath	Tamil
	Vishwaroop II		Hindi
2020	Forbidden Love	Anamika	Hindi

Television

List of television appearances, with year, title, and role shown

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2021	Never Have I Ever	Noor Qureshi	1 episode
2011	Chuck	Jinsana	1 episode

References

External links

• Pooja Kumar at IMDb
• "Pooja Kumar the face of Bombay Dreams" Rediff – 10 February 2004
• Rohit, Parimal M. "Pooja Kumar – The New Heroine: Rising Star Ready for Primetime with 'Bollywood Hero'", Bollywood Buzzine July 2009

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