Pooja Hegde’s entry into the Indian film industry was bolstered by a strong self-esteem developed outside the films, but the South Indian films early on built her career as an actress. She made her debut in Tamil films and followed it up with success in the Telugu film industry. She soon had an idea of the industry practices and the effort required to be successful in a highly competitive landscape. Through her Hindi film journey, she further grew to understand the differences between the two industries, becoming more flexible to these practices. In hindsight, Pooja has repeatedly stated that these factors from her early life gave her an added advantage and helped her adapt with alacrity to the much larger pan-India film status.
Learning from Superstars: Discipline, scale, and professional support
Collaborating with top-tier actors of Indian cinema was something of a game changer for her. Pooja Hegde has expressed how the different co-stars helped her in her first outings before the number of actors on set. From being there to help her when she needed to do hard scenes to ensuring good working conditions, the other actors in this movie provided a safe space for some difficult sequences to be filmed. Pooja thanks her fellow actors for teaching her the need for professionalism and sticking to time and concentrating on the job at hand no matter how many people were there because they were all her fans. This was like a ‘stage school’ courtesy of the other actors.
Talking about Prabhas during ‘Radhe Shyam’, Pooja Hegde said at the film’s pre-release event that “he has been very chill and relaxed on the sets… he always teases me about something or the other. He is just little shy around new people.” In a 2018 chat with Bollywood Hungama, Pooja Hegde stated that many of her co-stars including Allu Arjun, Akhil Akkineni and Hrithik Roshan “tell me that the chemistry works in the film,” which she partially credits to her fixation on age-old romantic tales and her commitment to nailing every romantic scene.During an interactive session on X (Twitter) while promoting ‘Beast’, Pooja Hegde referred to her ‘Beast’ co-star Thalapathy Vijay as the “sweetest” actor when asked to sum him up in one word due to his niceness.
Mass commercial cinema and understanding audience pulse
Exposure to high-budget commercial films gave Pooja insight into what appeals to the masses. Dance performances with high energy, action-packed scenes, and gripping emotions needed physical conditioning and skill sets. Hegde also observed how veteran actors managed to balance the extravagance with their performances to keep the audiences hooked. Hegde mentions that through these films, she learned about timing, screen presence, and the importance of the grandness of commercial films while still maintaining her unique style as an actress.
Seeking depth through character-driven roles
While glamour roles provided immediate recognition, Pooja has slowly become aware of the need to evolve as an actor. Owing to discussions with veterans from her industry, she has started to discover different roles centered on narratives as well as developed characters. Indeed, she has been said to have indicated that her senior cast members “advised” her against a “rat race” for early success in the film industry, indicating her “focus on choosing impactful roles with longevity.” This indicates that she has a desire to receive approval for her presence of acting talent, in addition to being an attractive film actress, and furthermore her wish for her characters to really stand out.
Challenges, resilience, and the road ahead
With stardom came the burden of box office reports and pressures, which she learned to handle from fellow actors’ experiences with failures. Pooja Hegde also acknowledges her fellow co-stars who were there with her to pull through during trying times, and how she recognized that in a career, one should take their time as it is a long-distance journey and not a race. Looking towards the future, Pooja Hegde has already wrapped up her shooting schedule for ‘Jana Nayagan’ alongside Vijay. She continues to shoot for ‘Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai’, ‘Kanchana 4’, and ‘DQ41’ in different languages. Striking the right chord between commercial and the actor-based roles, Pooja Hegde has proved to be a strong-minded, strong-willed successful woman.
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