Pooja Gauthami Umashankar is an Indian-Sri Lankan actress who has primarily appeared in Indian Tamil and Sri Lankan Sinhala cinema.

Early and personal life

Pooja was born on June 25, 1981, in

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

, Sri Lanka. Pooja's father, H. R. Umashankar, is an Indian

Kannada Brahmin Kannada Brahmins or Carnatic Brahmins are Kannada-speaking Brahmins, primarily living in Karnataka, and also present in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. They belong to one of three traditions: Smartism, Sadh Vaishna ...

from

Sringeri Sringeri (IAST: Śṛṅgerī; ) also called Shringeri is a hill town and Taluk headquarters located in Chikkamagaluru district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Sringeri is the site of Sri Sharadamba temple, a part of the Sringeri Sharada Pe ...

, in the

Chikkamagaluru Chikmagalur (officially Chikkamagaluru, ), previously known as ''Kiriya-Muguli'' is a city and the headquarters of Chikmagalur district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Located on the foothills of the Mullayanagiri, Mullayanagiri peak of the We ...

district of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

while mother, Sandhya, is a Sri Lankan Sinhalese. Her father worked with

Hindustan Unilever Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is an Indian fast-moving consumer goods company, headquartered in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products a ...

Valparai Valparai (originally known as Poonachimalai) is a Taluk and hill station in the Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. It consists of Anamalai Tiger Reserve (earlier known as Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park (IGWLS&NP) and ...

as a manager. 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

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

. Later she continued her education at

Baldwin Girls' High School Baldwin Girls' High School (BGHS), founded in 1880, is an all-girls Methodist school and one of the oldest in Bangalore, India. The school follows the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education syllabus and has classes from pre-nursery up to the ...

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and did graduation (B.Com.) and Post Graduation (MBA) at

Mount Carmel College, Bangalore Mount Carmel College (MCC) is an autonomous college located in Bangalore, India, affiliated to Bengaluru City University. Its ultimate aim is to empower women with the help of education. MCC has been featured on ‘India Today’ since its conce ...

. Pooja can speak

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

, Sinhala,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

, and English. In December 2016, she married Prashan David Vethakan, who is a Sri Lankan businessman.

Career

Pooja was introduced by a friend of her to cinematographer-turned-director Jeeva, who signed her for the role of

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people are a distinct minority group, minority community of mixed-race British and Indian ancestry. During the colonial period, their ancestry was defined as British paternal and Indian maternal heritage; post-independence, "Angl ...

girl in his Tamil venture ''

Ullam Ketkumae ''Ullam Ketkumae...'' () is a 2005 Tamil-language musical coming of age film written, cinematographed and directed by Jeeva, with dialogues by Sujatha. The film stars Shaam, Arya, Laila, Asin and Pooja as five college students. The film's sc ...

''. 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". She was soon offered a role opposite R. Madhavan, which she could not decline and made her rethink her decision. ''Ullam Ketkumaes massive delay meant that her second film, the romantic comedy ''

Jay Jay ''Jay Jay'' is a 2003 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Saran. The film stars R. Madhavan, Amogha and Pooja, while Kalabhavan Mani, Charle, Dhamu and Malavika Avinash also play key supporting roles. Produc ...

'' (2004), directed by Saran, became her first official release. Pooja received favorable reviews for her performance in ''Jay Jay''; G. Ulaganathan from ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by businessman K. N. Guruswamy and launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printers Mysore, a privately hel ...

'' wrote: "Spirited, lively, Pooja's sparkling eyes and smile do leave an impression". She next played the romantic interest of

Ajith Kumar Ajith Kumar Subramaniam (born 1 May 1971) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil cinema. To date, he has starred in over 63 films, and won four Vijay Awards, three Cinema Express Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and three Ta ...

in another Saran film, ''

Attahasam ''Attahasam'' () () is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language action film written and directed by Saran. The film stars Ajith Kumar in dual roles alongside Pooja while Sujatha, Nizhalgal Ravi, Babu Antony, Karunas, and Ramesh Khanna play supporting ro ...

'', which, in spite of mixed critical response, went on to become a financial success. Pooja, too, met with criticism, with critics citing that she had "only limited role" and was "wasted ..in an insignificant and half-baked role". Pooja's subsequent release happened to be ''Ullam Ketkumae'' that featured her in one of the five leading roles alongside

Shaam Syria, ( or ''Shaam'') also known as Greater Syria or Syria-Palestine, is a historical region located east of the Mediterranean Sea in West Asia, broadly synonymous with the Levant. The region boundaries have changed throughout history. Howe ...

Laila Leila (, , ) is a feminine given name primarily found in the Middle East, including all Arab countries, as well as Iran, Turkey, and Israel. In the Latin alphabet, the name is commonly spelled in multiple ways, including Leila, Layla, Laylah, ...

Arya ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''),Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood i ...

and

Asin Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononyomusly as Asin, is an Indian former actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu films. Asin is a recipient of List of awards and nominations ...

. The film fetched positive remarks and emerged as a

sleeper hit In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit refers to a film, television series, music release, video game or other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release, but eventually became a surprise success. A sleeper hit may have ...

. She went to appear in commercial Tamil films such as '' Thambi'' and ''

Pori Pori (; ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Satakunta. It is located on the west coast of the country, on the Gulf of Bothnia. The population of Pori is approximately , while the Pori sub-region, sub-region has a population of a ...

''. In 2007, Pooja also appeared in a Malayalam film, ''Panthaya Kozhi'', before landing the lead female role in

Bala Bala may refer to: Films * ''Bala'' (1976 film), an English-language dance documentary * ''Bala'' (2002 film), a Tamil-language action film * ''Bala'' (2019 film), a Hindi-language black comedy Life forms *Bala shark (''Balantiocheilos melano ...

's ''

Naan Kadavul ''Naan Kadavul'' () is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language action drama film directed by Bala and produced by K. S. Sreenivasan under Vasan Visual Ventures. The film is based on the Tamil novel ''Yezhaam Ulagam'' by Jeyamohan, who also penned the fi ...

''. Her portrayal of Hamshavalli, a blind beggar, was critically appreciated and earned her several accolades, including the

Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil The Filmfare Best Actress Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Tamil (Kollywood) films. The awards were extended to "Best Actress" in 1972. The year indicates the year of release of the fil ...

and Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Character Artiste. Following ''Naan Kadavul'', Pooja went on a sabbatical, appeared just in

cameo role A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking one ...

s in ''

TN-07 AL 4777 ''TN-07 AL 4777'' is a 2009 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language thriller film directed by A. Lakshmikanthan. The film stars Ajmal Ameer, Pasupathy, Simran (actress), Simran and Meenakshi (actress), Meenakshi. It is a remake of the 2006 Hindi f ...

'', '' Drohi'' and the Telugu film ''

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

''. 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.

Filmography

Television

Awards

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Umashankar, Pooja Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Indian actresses 21st-century Sri Lankan actresses Indian film actresses Actresses in Malayalam cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Telugu cinema Sri Lankan film actresses Actresses from Karnataka Filmfare Awards South winners Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Indian people of Sri Lankan descent Sri Lankan people of Indian descent Kannada actresses Sinhalese artists People from Chikmagalur district Mount Carmel College, Bangalore alumni Indian expatriates in Sri Lanka Sri Lankan expatriates in India Expatriate actresses in India