Pooja Kumar

Nefertiti · May 17, 2010

Pooja Kumar (Hindi:पूजा कुमार Pūjā Kumār) is an American actress, producer, model and television hostess. She was crowned Miss India USA and has been a veejay for Channel V, a newsreader on the show Namaste America and has starred in such feature films as Kaadhal Rojave, Night of Henna, Flavors, Hiding Divya, Park Sharks, Bollywood Beats, and Anything For You.

Kumar was born into a Mathur family in St. Louis, Missouri. Her parents are immigrants from India; her father is from Dehradun and her mother is from Lucknow. She also has a younger brother. She attended Washington University where she graduated with degrees in political science and finance. Kumar is also trained in the Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Kathak styles of Indian classical dance.

Pooja Kumar recently produced a short film, "1001 Auditions", that has been selected in eight film festivals, including being nominated for "Best Short" at the Stuttgart Film Festival in Germany. She has also produced a short film called "Shoot My Life" which is currently in the festival circuit. Kumar has also been seen in national TV commercials for Bombay Dreams, Verizon, Dodge, Pearle Vision, New York Lotto, Tata True Roots, AOL Time Warner, and Outback Steakhouse.

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 the IFC in 2008. She starred opposite Saturday Night Live comedian Chris Kattan in the three part series. She can currently be seen in the Pakistani drama serial Ishq Junoon Dewaangi on Hum TV.

Filmography

* Kaadhal Rojave (2000)

* Chota Jadugar (2003)

* Flavors (2003)

* The Kiss (2003)

* Night of Henna (2005)

* "1001 Auditions" (2006)

* Hiding Divya (2006)

* The Man in My House (2007)

* Shoot My Life (2007)

* Anything For You (2008)

* Bollywood Beats (2009)