Pooja Hegde is currently basking in the praise coming her way for her turn as a stand-up comedian in the Telugu film, Most Eligible Bachelor. Sharing her excitement over the response, Pooja says she feels blessed and is happy with the recognition she has received because of the movie.
Pooja, who made her acting debut with the Tamil superhero film, Mugamoodi, has had a dream run down South. After starring in a couple of films there, she made her Bollywood debut opposite Hrithik Roshan with Mohenjo Daro, which didn’t work in her favour. But her success streak continued in the South film industry. Several of her recent releases like Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava, Maharshi, Gaddalakonda Ganesh, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo have managed to rake in the moolah at the box office.
“I have made a conscious decision to pick the right scripts. It is also about the hard work one puts in and when it is rewarded, it feels great. But what is also important is the kind of accolades you receive for your performance and that is heartwarming,” she says. “Most Eligible Bachelor was my first release after the pandemic began. Before Covid, I had Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo with Allu Arjun, which was a blockbuster,” an elated Pooja adds.
The Housefull 4 actor’s work diary is currently overflowing with some interesting projects. Given a glimpse of her films, she shares, “In Telugu, I have Acharya with Ram Charan and Chiranjeevi sir, Radhe Shyam with Prabhas. Then there’s a film with Mahesh Babu, the Tamil film Beast with Vijay Thalapathy, and Bhaijaan and the Ranveer Singh-starrer Cirkus and in Hindi.”
Pooja is happy that the theatres are reopening across the country and the film she is looking forward to watching is Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi, with whom she is working in Cirkus. “We have that Shetty connection,” Pooja beams.
Apart from working with the megastars in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil films, Pooja has done a few films in Telugu opposite newcomers as well. “One needs to have the right balance. It could be the co-actors for some project, the script and the filmmakers for the others,” she adds.
Pooja currently is looking forward to celebrating Diwali in her new house she purchased in February in Mumbai. “I want to move in soon, decorate it and celebrate Diwali there,” says Pooja.
Despite a slow and cautious approach towards her career, Pooja has managed to grab the spotlight with the projects that she has done so far. Ask her how she unwinds at the end of a hectic day, Pooja says, “I hail from a simple middle-class family and I generally hang out with my childhood friends when I do not want to think about work.”
