POOJA UMASHANKAR

Pooja (born 25 June 1981 as Pooja Gautami Umashankar in Sri Lanka) is an actress in Kollywood and the Sinhala film industry. She has a Masters Degree in Business & Management. She was also a part of Mani Ratnam's stage show, Netru, Indru, Naalai (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow).

Early life

Her mother is a Sri Lankan Sinhalese and her father is Kannadiga. The languages she can speak are Kannada, Tamil, Sinhalese, and English. She went to school and college in Bangalore, Baldwin's and Mount Carmel College respectively.

Career

Her debut film was Ullam Ketkumae in Tamil with Shaam, Laila, Arya, and Asin Thottumkal which was directed by the late Jeeva. It wasn't released until her second and third films Jay Jay and Attagasam released in 2003 and 2004 respectively. She bagged one of the main roles in Bala's Naan Kadavul by replacing Bhavana and Karthika and was appreciated by the critics for her fantastic performance.

She became a sensation in Sri Lankan film industry and a household name after the success of Anjalika (2005) and Asai Man Piyambanna (2007). This also earned her the role of broadband ambassador for SLT (Sri Lanka Telecom).

Television

She is one of the judges in the popular reality dance show Aatam Paatam Kondatam opposite dance master Prasanna on Kalaignar TV.

Find out more interesting photos of Pooja below: