Pooja Hegde

an orthopaedic surgeon. Pooja comes from an affluent rich cultured family.

Pooja Hegde made her debut in her acting career with the Tamil film Mugamoodi in 2012. She also made her debut in the Telugu film Oka Laila Kosam in 2014 for which she received a lot of praises. She then featured opposite Hrithik Roshan in Mohenjo-Daro in 2016, which was her debut in Hindi films.

Between 2012 and 2017, Pooja Hegde had done several films. The success of Oka Laila Kosam by production house of Annapurna Studios and directed by Vijay Konda. This further prompted her to learn the Telugu language to play the lead role in the films. She was nominated for Filmfare Best Actress-Telugu. She was next cast in the film Mukunda opp Varun Tej directed by Srikant Addala. 

For her debut role in the Hindi film Mohenjo-Daro in 2016, it was Ashutosh Gowariker’s wife Sunita who had spotted her in an advertisement and invited her for an audition. She was selected for the female lead. Thereafter in 2107, Pooja acted in a Telugu action-comedy film, DJ Duvvada Jagnnadham opposite Allu Arjun a famous star by then. The film went over a successful grossing figure of Rs. 1.5 billion emerging as one of the highest-grossing films of 2017.

In 2018, Pooja featured in three Telugu films one after another. She also did an item number Jigelu Rani for the Period action film Rangasthalam. She then starred as a middle-class Brahmin girl in the film Saakshyam a fantasy action film.

Pooja played the titular character in Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava, directed by Trivikram Srinivas. The film went on to be a worldwide blockbuster crossing 1.8 billion. In 2019, Pooja did several films such as Maharishi her second Telugu film, and Jaigarthanda a Tamil language film.

She had returned to Hindi films with Sajid Nadiadwala’s comedy film Housefull 4, the fourth instalment of the Housefull franchise. 

In 2022, Pooja reunited with the Telugu drama film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. Her song Butta Bomma received wide response. The film went on to be the first South Indian film to have achieved 2 billion nett. Hegde then starred in the film Most Eligible Bachelor in which she portayed the role of a stand-up comedian. To understand this role, she met several stand-up comedians to learn the punchlines. Her performance won her the SIIMA Best Actress Award for Telugu films 

In 2022, she was the lead opposite Prabhas for the multilingual romantic film, Radhe Shyam which was directed by Radha Krishna Kumar. She next starred opposite Vijay in the Tamil action-comedy film Beast directed by Nelson. The film marked Pooja’s return to Tamil films after a gap of 9 years. Her Arabic Kuthu went viral on social media and many recreated her signature step. Thereafter she had a brief role in a Telugu film Acharya. She performed her second dance number in the film F3:Fun and Frustration alongside Venkatesh and Tej in a party number. The song, ‘Life Ante Itta Vundaala’ became a superhit song. Pooja played a role opposite Ranveer Singh’s film Circus and an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play, The Comedy of Errors. However the film did poorly. She was one of the lead female stars.

In 2023 Pooja starred opposite Salman Khan in Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan. She plays the Telugu girl. 

Her most recent work in 2025 is her film Deva, a thriller film starring opposite Shahid Kapoor. She is in a Tamil film Retro which released in 2025. She made a special appearance in the Tamil version of the film Coolie starring Rajnikanth. She did a dance number, ‘Monica’. She also did a film, Maha Shivratri early this year in 2025. She will be reuniting with Vijay in Jana Nayagan. Pooja will also star in the film Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai opposite Varun Dhawan. She will also be seen in the sequel series of Kanchana films, in the Kanchana 4 co-starring Raghava Lawrence and in DQ41 opposite Dulquer Salmaan. 

Pooja’s other work: Pooja Hegde supports various causes through her foundation, ‘All About Love’. The foundation focuses on providing free education and healthcare, and supports the underprivileged children across India. She contributes a part of her earnings to fund the foundation and its operations. She has been honoured as the Star on the Rise at Femina.

She also collaborated with the Drools campaign for the support of stray animals. She helped in fundraising for two children of the cancer ward at the Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai. 

In 2020 she participated in fund raising for cure foundation for children with cancer organized by Cure Foundation for Children with cancer.

Pooja has devoted a lot of time to supporting various causes.