Effortlessly Élégante

Scrolling through her Instagram posts, as we wait to hear from the very photogenic actress, one cannot help but notice her lively profile that mirrors glimpses of her projects across different film industries. A perfect marriage between seduction and innocence, the down-to-earth and hard-working Pooja Hegde (PH) feels grateful to her fans as she opens up to Shruti Sharma for Wedding Affair (WA) through some happy notes and a sweet voice.

- Shruti Sharma

WA: On your Instagram, you seem like a happy, positive ‘Panda’ who loves to eat, travel, smile, pose and care for the causes close to her heart. Our readers would like to know who the real Pooja is and what is her mantra in life?

PH: Whatever I upload on Instagram, is what I am in real life. I consciously made this decision to put out stuff that is real and not get into the trap of being fake. I feel that when people know who you really are and when you’re truer to yourself, the more people fall in love with you. And if someone loves me for who I am, then there’s nothing greater than that. Of course, there are days when I need to recharge myself and am not active on Instagram. I prefer to fight negativity. I don’t want to be just another person spreading it. I look at most negative things in a positive way and that is what my Instagram speaks of. Otherwise, yes, I love to travel, I am a panda (smiles), I love to eat and I love to spread love. Even when I am really upset, I just try to brush it off and smile. I am a happy person.

WA: You made your acting debut with Mysskin’s directorial ‘Mugamoodi’. Can you make us a part of the journey of how you bagged the role?

PH: I was getting a lot of film offers from South (film industries) after the Miss India pageant, and then this Tamil film (Mugamoodi) came and the director wanted me to be a part of the project. I was modelling at that time, a bit apprehensive if I could act. Neither had I attempted it before nor attended any acting class or a film school. But my mother convinced me. She said, “Until you are a part of it, you will never know if you like it or not. If you look at the sunny side of it, most people pay to learn acting, whereas you will be getting paid for your first acting stint.” That is how I got my first movie.