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Pooja Gauthami Umashankar, mononymously known as Pooja, is an Indian-Sri Lankan actress, who has primarily appeared in Tamil, Sinhala and Malayalam language films.

Pooja Umashankar
Born	Pooja Gauthami Umashankar Colombo, Sri Lanka
Occupation	Model, actress
Years active	2003–present
Spouse	Prashan David Vethakan ​ ​ (m. 2016)​

Early and personal life

Pooja's mother, Sandhya, is a Sri Lankan Sinhalese and her father, H. R. Umashankar, is an Indian Kannadiga Brahmin from Sringeri, in the Chikmagalur district of Karnataka.[1] Umashankar was at Valparai, working with Hindustan Unilever Limited, as a manager. Pooja can speak Kannada, Sinhala, Tamil, and English.[2] After she did her pre-schooling in Sri Lanka, she came to India and went to Poornapragnya in Aldur, Chikmagalur and then to Nirmala Convent in Mysuru.[2] Later she continued her education at Baldwin's Girls High school in Bengaluru and did graduation (B.Com.) and Post Graduation (MBA) at Mount Carmel College, Bangalore.[2]

In December 2016, she married Prashan David Vethakan, who is a Sri Lankan businessman.[3]

Career

Pooja was introduced by a friend of her to cinematographer-turned-director Jeeva, who signed her for the role of Anglo-Indian girl in his Tamil venture Ullam Ketkumae.[4] Pooja said that at that time she planned to finish that film and return to her original job and did not take an acting career into consideration. She stated: "I said to myself I'd act in just this film, see what it's like, make good use of the money and get back to studying".[4] She was soon offered a role opposite R. Madhavan, which she could not decline and made her rethink her decision.[4] Ullam Ketkumae's massive delay meant that her second film, the romantic comedy Jay Jay (2004), directed by Saran, became her first official release.[5] Pooja received favorable reviews for her performance in Jay Jay;[6] G. Ulaganathan from Deccan Herald wrote: "Spirited, lively, Pooja's sparkling eyes and smile do leave an impression". She next played the romantic interest of Ajith Kumar in another Saran film, Attahasam, which, in spite of mixed critical response, went on to become a financial success.[7] Pooja, too, met with criticism, with critics citing that she had "only limited role" and was "wasted [...] in an insignificant and half-baked role".[8] Pooja's subsequent release happened to be Ullam Ketkumae that featured her in one of the five leading roles alongside Shaam, Laila, Arya and Asin. The film fetched positive remarks and emerged as a sleeper hit.[9] She went to appear in commercial Tamil films such as Thambi and Pori. In 2007, Pooja also appeared in a Malayalam film, Panthaya Kozhi, before landing the lead female role in Bala's Naan Kadavul. Her portrayal of Hamshavalli, a blind beggar, was critically appreciated and earned her several accolades, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil and Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Character Artiste. Following Naan Kadavul, Pooja went on a sabbatical, appeared just in cameo roles in TN-07 AL 4777, Drohi and the Telugu film Orange.

Her big budget film Kusa Pabha released in early 2012 and became the highest grosser ever in the history of Sri Lankan film industry. Critics praised Pooja for her role of Pabawathi.

Television

She was one of the judges in the reality dance show Aatam Paatam Kondatam Kalaignar TV, Sun TV.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
2003	Jay Jay	Seema	Tamil
2004	Attahasam	Sapna	Tamil
2005	Ullam Ketkumae	Irene	Tamil
2005	Jithan	Priya	Tamil
2006	Anjalika	Anjalika, Uththara	Sinhala
2006	Pattiyal	Sandhya	Tamil
2006	Thambi	Archana	Tamil
2006	Thagapansamy	Marikozhundhu Shanmugam	Tamil
2007	Pori	Pooja	Tamil
2007	Panthaya Kozhi	Shenbagam	Malayalam
2007	Asai Man Piyabanna	Ranmalee / Maleesha	Sinhala
2007	Oram Po	Rani	Tamil
2007	Yahaluvo	Manorani	Sinhala
2009	Naan Kadavul	Hamshavalli	Tamil
2009	TN-07 AL 4777		Tamil	Guest appearance
2010	Suwanda Denuna Jeewithe	Rashmi	Sinhala
2010	Drohi	Roja	Tamil	Guest appearance
2010	Orange	Meenakshi	Telugu	Guest appearance
2011	Smoking Kills	Pooja	English	Short film
2012	Kusa Pabha	Pabawathi	Sinhala
2012	Mirage	Priya	English	Short film
2013	Vidiyum Munn	Rekha	Tamil
2015	Kadavul Paathi Mirugam Paathi		Tamil	Guest appearance
2016	Paththini	Kannagi (Paththini)	Sinhala
2016	Sarigama	Mariya	Sinhala

Television

Show	Role	Language	Notes
Daskon	Princess Pramila	Sinhala	Teledrama
Derana city of dance session 5	Judge		Reality show
Aatam Paatam Kondatam	Judge	Tamil	Reality show
Derana city of dance session 6	Judge	Sinhala	Reality show
Dance Jodi Dance	Judge	Tamil	Reality show

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Achievements
2006	Sarasaviya Awards	Most Popular Actress	Anjalika	Nominated
		Best Actress		Nominated
2007			Asai Man Piyabanna	Nominated
		Most Popular Actress		Nominated
2009	Tamil Nadu State Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Naan Kadavul	Won
2010	Filmfare Awards South	Best Actress		Won
	Vijay Awards	Best Actress		Won
2013	Derana Film Awards	Most Popular Actress	Kusa Pabha	Won
		Best Actress		Nominated
	Hiru Golden Film Awards	Most Popular Actress		Nominated
	Norway Tamil Film Festival Awards	Best Actress	Vidiyum Munn	Won
	Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards			Won
2014	Filmfare Awards South			Nominated
	Vijay Awards			Nominated
	SIIMA - Tamil			Nominated
2016	SLIM-Nielsen Peoples Awards	Most Popular Actress		Won
	Sarasaviya Awards	Best Actress	Sarigama	Won
2017	Derana Film Awards	Most Popular Actress	Paththini	Won
	Janabhimani Honorary Award			Won	Honor From Sri Lankan Government[10]
2018	Hiru Golden Film Awards	Most Popular Actress		Won

References

External links

• Pooja Umashankar at IMDb
• Pooja Umashankar on Facebook

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