Pooja Batra Shah (born 27 October) is an

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

actress and model who primarily works in

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

films. She was crowned Femina Miss India International in 1993.

Early life and background

Batra was born on 27 October to Ravi Batra, an army colonel and Neelam Batra, a

Miss India Miss India may refer to: * Femina Miss India, the most prestigious and oldest surviving national beauty pageant in India that started in 1964. It sends its winner to Miss World. * Miss Diva, the national beauty pageant that sends its winners to Miss ...

(1971) participant. She lived in

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...

with her extended family while she was young. While in school, she was an athlete and competed in the 200 and 400-meter dash. She is related to Second Lieutenant

Arun Khetarpal Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal PVC (14 October 1950 – 16 December 1971) born in Pune, Maharashtra, was an officer of the Indian Army and a posthumous recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military decoration for valour in fa ...

. She graduated in Economics from Fergusson College, Pune and holds an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in marketing from Symbiosis, Pune. She has two brothers. She participated at the

Miss International Miss International (''Miss International Beauty'' or ''The International Beauty Pageant'') is a Japan-based international beauty pageant organized by the International Culture Association. First held in 1960, it is the fourth largest pageant i ...

in 1993.

Career

At a young age, she started modelling as a part-time job. She was best known for her Liril soap commercial. She was the first Indian face to launch and be a spokesperson for Head and Shoulders in India. She has participated in over 250 modeling events and ad campaigns. She shot to fame when she was crowned

International in 1993. She went on to become one of the top models in India. She walked the ramp for over 250 fashion shows in India and overseas. She is an ambassador for Parag Sarees. Batra turned down many offers to complete her education before signing a contract with the Virasat Film Studio. The first film she signed was '' Virasat'' in 1997 followed by another hit movie '' Bhai''. She went on to work in over 20 films including ''

Haseena Maan Jayegi ''Hasina Maan Jayegi'' () is a 1968 Hindi film directed by Prakash Mehra. The film stars Shashi Kapoor, Babita, Ameeta, Yunus Parvez and Johnny Walker. The film's music, composed by Kalyanji Anandji, has songs which are quite memorable, with t ...

'', '' Dil Ne Phir Yaad Kiya'' and ''

Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye ''Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye'' () is a 2000 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy film starring Salman Khan and Rani Mukerji and directed by K. Muralimohana Rao. This is a remake of the 1998 romantic comedy film ''The Wedding Singer'' starring Ada ...

''. One of her films, '' Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story'', a historical epic, was shown at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

in 2004. She is a life member of International Film And Television Club of

Asian Academy of Film & Television Noida Film City houses the Asian Academy of Film & Television and Marwah Films & Video Studios along with prominent news channels from India. It is located in Sector 16-A Noida, India. It was founded in 1988 by Sandeep Marwah, an Indian film pr ...

, Noida. Batra has also appeared in South Indian films, including three

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

films and two

Tamil film Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywo ...

s, including a cameo in the 1995 film ''

Aasai ''Aasai'' () () is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language romantic thriller film, written and directed by Vasanth and produced by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Ajith Kumar and debutant Suvaluxmi, with Prakash Raj, Rohini, Poornam Viswanathan, Nizhalgal R ...

''. Batra has acted in theater and toured North America, which earned her considerable acclaim. She appeared at the 2009 Academy Awards in Los Angeles, where she reunited with her ''Virasat'' costar,

Anil Kapoor Anil Kapoor (born 24 December 1956) is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in Hindi films, besides television and international films and television. In a career spanning over 40 years as an actor and since 2005 as a producer, Kapo ...

. She is set to appear as Nandini Rajput in the upcoming movie '' Squad''.

Personal life

Batra was married to orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Sonu S. Ahluwalia in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

from 2002 to 2010. In January 2011 she filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Batra revealed her relationship with actor

Nawab Shah Nawabshah ( sd, نوابشاھ, ur, ) is a tehsil and headquarters of the Shaheed Benazirabad District of Sindh province, Pakistan. This city is situated in the middle of Sindh province. It is the 27th largest city in Pakistan. Nawabshah Tehsi ...

in June 2019. They got married on 4 July 2019 in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

according to Arya Samaj traditions.

Philanthropy

Batra has volunteered time and money to charitable causes including AIDS (Mukti Foundation), homeless children, the Bombay Police Department and injured soldiers in the Kashmir war. She did pro bono work in the film ''My Little Devil'' (''Bas Yari Rakho''), subtitled in Hindi, English, and French, to raise funds for the poor children in India. The film was co-produced by NFDC-La Fete (Canada) and directed by Gopi Desai. It was screened at the 24th Annual Montreal World Film Festival, 2000;

Chicago International Children's Film Festival In 1983, Facets Multi-Media founded the Chicago International Children's Film Festival (CICFF), the first competitive festival of films for children in the U.S. The impetus for the Festival came from a need to introduce new, culturally diverse fil ...

, 2000; 10th Annual Philadelphia Film Festival of World Cinema, 2001; and the Indian Film Festival in Malaysia, 2005.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Batra, Pooja 1974 births Living people People from Faizabad Actresses from Uttar Pradesh Female models from Uttar Pradesh Indian film actresses Femina Miss India winners Miss International 1993 delegates Indian emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States Actresses from Los Angeles American film actresses American actresses of Indian descent American female models of Indian descent American expatriate actresses in India Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Kendriya Vidyalaya alumni Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses 21st-century American women 21st-century American actresses