Pooja Gauthami Umashankar, mononymously known as Pooja, is an Indian-Sri Lankan film actress, who has appeared in Tamil films as well as Sinhalese, Malayalam 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, Hiru golden Film awards ( Most popular actress ) and Tamil Nadu State Film Awards. She simultaneously worked in Sinhalese cinema and was part of several successful films like Anjalika (2006), Asai Man Piyabanna (2007), Suwanda Denuna Jeewithe (2010) and Kusa Pabha (2012), thus establishing herself as one of the leading actresses of Sinhalese cinema.

EARLY LIFE

Pooja's mother Sandhya is a Sinhalese and her father H. R. Umashankar is an Indian Kannadiga Hindu.[1] Pooja's father Umashankar was at Valparai working with Hindustan Unilever Limited 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 Mysuru. Later she continued her education at Baldwin's Girls High school in Bengaluru and did graduation (B. Com) and Post Graduation (MBA) at Mount Carmel College, Bangalore.

PERSONAL LIFE

In 2016, Pooja married a Sri Lankan Tamil business man, Prashan D. Vethakan, in a low-key ceremony, with close family in attendance.

CAREER

Pooja was introduced by a friend of her to cinematographer-turned-director Jeeva, who signed her for the role of Anglo-Indian girl in his Tamil venture Ullam Ketkumae. 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".[4] She was soon offered a role opposite R. Madhavan, which she could not decline and made her rethink her decision.[4] Ullam Ketkumae's massive delay meant that her second film, the romantic comedy Jay Jay (2004), directed by Saran, became her first official release.[5] Pooja received favorable reviews for her performance in Jay Jay; G. Ulaganathan from Deccan Herald wrote: "Spirited, lively, Pooja's sparkling eyes and smile do leave an impression". Similarly a critic from nowrunning.com noted: "[A]mong the two new heroines, it is Pooja who scores with her good performance and dances..."She next played the romantic interest of Ajith Kumar in another Saran film, Attahasam, which, in spite of mixed critical response, went on to become a financial success.[8] 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, Laila, Arya and Asin. The film fetched positive remarks and emerged as a sleeper hit.[11] She went to appear in commercial Tamil films such as Thambi and Pori. In 2007, Pooja also appeared in a Malayalam film, Panthaya Kozhi, before landing the lead female role in Bala's Naan Kadavul. Her portrayal of Hamshavalli, a blind beggar, was critically appreciated and earned her several accolades, including the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Tamil and Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Character Artiste. Following Naan Kadavul, Pooja went on a sabbatical, appeared just in cameo roles in TN-07 AL 4777, Drohi and the Telugu film Orange.

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 Sinhalese cinema and rose to high popularity. 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.

Pooja has been a part of a short film titled Mirage that was shot in September 2011. She says, her good friend Abhishek Venkteswar asked for her participation in this short film. The film was screened in various short film festivals in India and The West Midlands International film festival in UK, fetching accolades for the film and Pooja's performance. When she was shooting for Mirage, she also starred in Smoking kills a short film made by University students as a student welfare initiative.