Pooja Hegde is an Indian actress and model who works predominantly in Telugu, Hindi, and Tamil cinema. Born on October 13, 1990, in Bombay (present-day Mumbai), Maharashtra, to a Tulu-speaking family hailing from Udupi, Karnataka, she completed her schooling at Maneckji Cooper Education Trust School and earned a Master of Commerce degree from M. M. K. College in Mumbai. She began her career in pageantry, being crowned the second runner-up at the Miss Universe India 2010 competition, which led to high-profile modeling campaigns and paved her entry into cinema. She made her acting debut in Mysskin's Tamil superhero film *Mugamoodi* (2012), followed by her entry into Telugu cinema with the romantic comedies *Oka Laila Kosam* (2014) and *Mukunda* (2014). She made her Bollywood debut opposite Hrithik Roshan in Ashutosh Gowariker's period epic *Mohenjo Daro* (2016). Hegde achieved major commercial stardom in Telugu cinema with Harish Shankar's action comedy *Duvvada Jagannadham* (2017), followed by a string of high-profile blockbusters including *Aravinda Sametha Veera Raghava* (2018), *Maharshi* (2019), *Gaddalakonda Ganesh* (2019), and the multi-starrer comedy *Housefull 4* (2019). She achieved massive critical and box-office acclaim portraying Amulya in Trivikram Srinivas's industry blockbuster *Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo* (2020), which won her the SIIMA Award for Best Actress – Telugu, followed by another SIIMA Award for Best Actress for the romantic comedy *Most Eligible Bachelor* (2021). She continued headlining large-scale pan-Indian and commercial ventures, including the period romance *Radhe Shyam* (2022), Nelson Dilipkumar's action thriller *Beast* (2022) opposite Vijay, *Acharya* (2022), *Cirkus* (2022), and *Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan* (2023). Her filmography extends to the action thriller *Deva* (2025) alongside Shahid Kapoor, Karthik Subbaraj's action drama *Retro* (2025) opposite Suriya, H. Vinoth's political action drama *Jana Nayagan* (2026) alongside Vijay, and the comedy-drama *Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai* (2026). A recipient of multiple SIIMA Awards and Filmfare nominations, she remains one of the most prominent leading female stars across South Indian and Hindi film industries.