Pooja Kumar

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title: "Pooja Kumar" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["year-of-birth-missing-(living-people)", "living-people", "actresses-from-st.-louis", "female-models-from-missouri", "american-film-actresses", "american-television-actresses", "american-female-models", "american-actresses-of-indian-descent", "american-female-models-of-indian-descent", "american-expatriate-actresses-in-india", "actresses-in-hindi-cinema", "actresses-in-tamil-cinema", "actresses-in-telugu-cinema", "21st-century-american-actresses", "washington-university-in-st.-louis-alumni"] description: "American actress" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pooja_Kumar" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actress ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Pooja Kumar
image	Pooja Kumar at Promotions of 'Vishwaroop' with Videocon (01) (cropped).jpg
alt	Pooja Kumar wearing a white low-cut top, staring intently left of camera
caption	Kumar in 2013
birth_place	St. Louis, Missouri, US
spouse
children	1
occupation	Actress
years_active	1997–present
::

| name = Pooja Kumar | image = Pooja Kumar at Promotions of 'Vishwaroop' with Videocon (01) (cropped).jpg | alt = Pooja Kumar wearing a white low-cut top, staring intently left of camera | caption = Kumar in 2013 | birth_date = | birth_place = St. Louis, Missouri, US | nationality = | spouse = | children = 1 | other_names = | occupation = Actress | years_active = 1997–present | known_for =

Pooja Kumar is an American actress of Indian descent who works in Tamil, Hindi, and English-language Indian films. After winning Miss India USA in 1995, she pursued a career as an actress and producer. She has appeared in a number of American films and shows, including Man on a Ledge, Brawl in Cell Block 99, Bollywood Hero, Flavors, Hiding Divya, Park Sharks, Bollywood Beats, Night of Henna, Anything for You, Drawing with Chalk, and Knots Urbane. Her Indian films include Vishwaroopam and Vishwaroopam 2, and she made her Telugu-language debut with PSV Garuda Vega.

Early life

Pooja Kumar was born in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents, Ravinder and Nirupama, immigrated from India in 1970.

Career

Kumar first signed on to appear in director Keyaar's Tamil film Kadhal Rojave in 1997, but the film's production delays meant that it was only released in 2000 and her stint as an actress in the Tamil film industry went unnoticed. She was earlier signed and then left out of the 1997 film V. I. P, while she had also signed to appear alongside Karthik in Chithra Lakshmanan's Chinna Raja, but was eventually dropped from the project.

In 2003, she received the Screen Actors Guild Emerging Actress Award for Flavors. In 2008, she hosted a late-night live quiz show on Zee TV in India, known as Jaago Aur Jeeto. She appeared in the musical comedy miniseries Bollywood Hero on IFC in 2008. She starred opposite Saturday Night Live comedian Chris Kattan in the three-part series. In the late 2000s, she appeared in the Pakistani drama serial Ishq Junoon Deewangi (2009). After a long gap, she reappeared onscreen in the film 2013 Vishwaroopam.

Personal life

Kumar is married to Vishal Joshi. They have a daughter, born in 2020.

Selected filmography

Film

::data[format=table title="{{Sronly|List of film appearances, with year, title, and role shown}}"]

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
2000	Kadhal Rojavae	Pooja	Tamil
2003	Magic Magic 3D	Deepti	Tamil
2003	Flavors	Rachana	English
2005	Night of Henna	Hava	English
2006	Hiding Divya	Palini Shah	English
2009	Bollywood Beats	Laxmi	English
Knots Urbane	Rachna	English
Park Sharks	Pri	English
2010	Anything For You	Uma Krishnan	English
Anjaana Anjaani	Peshto	Hindi
Drawing With Chalk	Jasmine	English
2012	Man on a Ledge	Nina	English
2013	Vishwaroopam	Dr. Nirupama Viswanath	Tamil
Vishwaroop	Hindi
2015	Uthama Villain	Parveen/ Karpagavalli	Tamil
2016	Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum	Mala	Tamil
2017	PSV Garuda Vega	Swathi	Telugu
Brawl in Cell Block 99	Denise Pawther	English
2018	Vishwaroopam II	Dr. Nirupama Viswanath	Tamil
Vishwaroop II	Hindi
2020	Forbidden Love	Anamika	Hindi
::

Television

::data[format=table title="{{Sronly|List of television appearances, with year, title, and role shown}}"]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Debbi Channor	1 episode
2011	Chuck	Jinsana	1 episode
2021	Never Have I Ever	Noor Qureshi	1 episode
::

References

References

1. (January 2, 2021). "Pooja Kumar is now mom to a baby girl". The Times of India.
2. "Congratulations: Vishwaroopam Actress Pooja Kumar Blessed with a Baby Girl!".
3. (March 20, 2015). "Pooja Kumar Goes From St. Louis to Bollywood". St. Louis.
4. Shohon, Habibur. (December 28, 2022). "Everything You Want to Know About Pooja Kumar".
5. (November 3, 2020). "Miss India USA 1995 Pooja Kumar courts forbidden love in her ott outing". [[The Telegraph (Kolkata).
6. "1997-98 Kodambakkam babies Page".
7. "A-Z (Ii)".
8. (January 2, 2021). "Pooja Kumar is now mom to a baby girl". The Times of India.

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