| Pooja Umashankar | |
|---|---|
| Born | Pooja Gauthami Umashankar June 25, 1981 Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| Occupation | Model, Actress |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Religion | Hindu |
| Spouse | None |
Pooja Gauthami Umashankar (Sinhala: පුජා ගෞතමී උමාශංකර්;Tamil: பூஜா கௌதமி உமாஷங்கர்) (25 June 1981) is an actress of Kannadiga Lingayat origin who has appeared in Tamil, Malayalam, Sinhala and Amateur films. Following a series of successful commercial ventures, Bala's Naan Kadavul saw Pooja's performance as a blind beggar praised by the critics, securing major awards, including the South Filmfare and Tamil Nadu State Film Awards which established her as one of the finest actors of Tamil Cinema. She simultaneously appeared in several commercial successes in Sinhala Cinema like Anjalika and Suwanda Denuna Jeewithe, thus establishing herself as one of the leading actresses of Sinhala cinema.Pooja has also been a part of the Malayalam film Panthaya Kozhi and the Telugu film Orange.Pooja in 2011 appeared in an Amateur film Mirage to encourage the Industry.Pooja has confessed in an recent AFI chat show that she has quit acting in movies.
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Her mother is a Sri Lankan Sinhalese and her father is an Indian Kannadiga Lingayat.[1] The languages she can speak are Kannada, Sinhalese, Tamil, and English. She went to school and college in Bangalore, Baldwin's and Mount Carmel College respectively. Her father's name is Uma Shankar who was at Valparai working with Hindustan Unilever Limited as a manager. Her father was not at all interested in film industry but she was attached to it. Vanathy has been her mentor throughout her acting 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 went to appear in several hits like Thambi and Pori which finally established her as a star heroine in Tamil cinema. She bagged one of the main roles in Bala's Naan Kadavul by replacing Bhavana and her performance was appreciated by the Superstar Rajinikanth himself.This film earned her several awards including the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil and Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Character Artiste.This changed people's opinion of Pooja.She transformed from a star to a actress.
She became a sensation in Sri Lankan film industry and a household name after the success of Anjalika (2005) and Asai Man Piyambanna (2007). She then on went to appear in several blockbusters in Sinhala Cinema and went on to become a female superstar of Sri Lankan cinema.Pooja became larger than life in Sri Lanka and her popularity made all her films super hits.Pooja still is the No 1 star in Sinhala Cinema.She is the brand ambassador for SLT (Sri Lanka Telecom).She is filming for the mega budget film KUSA PABHA
Pooja has been a part of the Malayalam film Panthaya Kozhi
Pooja has recently been a part of an AFI (Amateur film Industry) venture titled MIRAGE shot in September 2011. She says, her good friend Abhishek Venkteshwar requested for her participation in this short film. She agreed as, AFI in India is a Bangalore-based Junior Film Industry encouraged by many Schools and Colleges across the State of Karnataka. Initiated basically by youngsters who are passionate about film making FOR THE STUDENTS, BY THE STUDENTS and OF THE STUDENTS .The income received from the proceeds of the film is given to charity and the short film had a good message for the youth.
Pooja appeared in a guest Role as a teacher in the Telugu film Orange.The film starred Ram Charan Teja and Genelia.
She is one of the judges in the popular reality dance show Aatam Paatam Kondatam opposite dance master Prasanna on Kalaignar TV, Sun TV.
| Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes | Hero |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Jay Jay | Seema | Tamil | R Madhavan | |
| 2004 | Attagasam | Priya | Tamil | Ajith Kumar | |
| 2005 | Ullam Ketkumae | Irene | Tamil | Shaam | |
| 2005 | Githan | Priya | Tamil | Jithan Ramesh | |
| 2005 | Anjalika | Anjalika, Uththara |
Sinhala | Channa Perera | |
| 2006 | Pattiyal | Sandhya | Tamil | Bharath | |
| 2006 | Thambi | Archana | Tamil | R Madhavan | |
| 2006 | Thagapansamy | Marikozhundhu Shanmugam | Tamil | Prashanth | |
| 2007 | Pori | Pooja | Tamil | Jeeva | |
| 2007 | Panthaya Kozhi | Shenbagam | Malayalam | Narain | |
| 2007 | Asai Mang Piyabanna | Ranmalee | Sinhala | Roshan Ranawana | |
| 2007 | Oram Po | Rani | Tamil | Arya | |
| 2007 | Yahaluvo | Sinhala | Sujeewa Senasinghe | ||
| 2009 | Naan Kadavul | Hamshavalli | Tamil | Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Character Artiste Vijay Award for Best Actress |
Arya |
| 2009 | TN-07 AL 4777 | Tamil | Guest appearance | Pasupathy | |
| 2010 | Suwanda Denuna Jeewithe | Sinhala | Roshan Ranawana | ||
| 2010 | Drohi | Roja | Tamil | Guest appearance | Srikanth |
| 2010 | Orange | Teacher | Telugu | Guest appearance | Ram Charan Teja |
| 2011 | Kusa-Paba | Pabawathi | Sinhala | Filming | Jackson Anthony |
| 2011 | Mirage | Priya | English | First Short film in AFI | Abhishek Venkteshwar |
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