Pooja Chopra is an Indian actress. She won the title of Femina Miss India World 2009. She is the first Indian to win the "Beauty with a Purpose" title at the Miss World competition for India. As an actress, Chopra was awarded the Times Most Powerful Woman Award for her contribution to the field of acting. She got her breakthrough with Commando: A One Man Army and since then, appeared in many films. Pooja Chopra features in the Times list of 50 most beautiful faces of India.

Early life

Chopra was born in

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. She was abandoned by her father at birth since he wanted a boy. Chopra's mother, Neera had to leave her marital home since she refused to admit Pooja to an orphanage in Kolkata, and she moved to Mumbai with both kids. She worked and brought up both girls by herself. She is a resident of

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the second-most populous state in India and the second-most populous country subdi ...

. She has an older sister named Shubhra Chopra. She attended Mount Carmel Convent High School and later graduated from Ness Wadia College, both in Pune.

Career

2009–12: Career beginnings

Pooja Chopra was crowned with the 2009 Femina Miss India East title on 17 February 2009, in Kolkata. She also won Miss Perfect 10, Miss Catwalk, Miss Beautiful Smile, Talwarkars Best Body, and Nakshatra Miss Sparkling Beauty, thus gaining direct entry into the top ten finalists of the Femina Miss India 2009. On 5 April 2009, she was crowned the Pantaloons Femina Miss India-World 2009. Chopra sprained her ankle while running down a flight of stairs one week prior to the Miss World Final, which was scheduled to take place on 12 December 2009; still, she participated in the competition and earned a positive response from the public. Doctors advised 3 weeks of complete bed-rest, but she continued with the competition. She finished as one of the top 16 finalists out of 120 contestants. During her reign as Miss she endorsed brands such as

Tata Docomo Tata Docomo was an Indian mobile network operator, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Teleservices. In October 2017, Bharti Airtel announced a merger deal with Tata Teleservices and the acquisition of Tata Docomo. As of 21 July 2019, all Tata ...

, Bajaj Allainz, Richfeel, Body and Soul, Roots Comb, Evolve Med Spa, and Juvederm Voluma.

2013–present: Acting

Pooja Chopra promoting short film ‘Ouch’ at MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival (cropped)

Chopra made her acting debut in the 2011 Tamil film ''

Ponnar Shankar Ponnar Shankar is a historical story (990–1020 CE) as part of the post-Sangam history of the Tamil country. This period saw the rise and fall of many kingdoms, some of which were empires that exerted influence far and wide. It is also named as ...

'', playing the role of Princess Muthaayi, opposite

Prashanth Thiagarajan Prashanth Thiagarajan (born 6 April 1973), known professionally as Prashanth, is an Indian actor and businessman, known for his works predominantly in Tamil cinema. Besides Tamil films, he has also appeared in few Telugu, Hindi and Malayalam fi ...

. Before she made her debut in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

as a leading lady, she had minor roles in

Madhur Bhandarkar Madhur Bhandarkar (born 26 August 1968) is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer. In 2016,Bhandarkar was honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour, by the Government of India. The drama film '' Chandni B ...

's films ''

Fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...

'' and ''

Heroine A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero ...

''. Chopra acted in

Vipul Shah Vipul Amrutlal Shah (commonly known as Vipul Shah) is a film producer and director of Hindi films. He began his career with Gujarati theater. He was part/director of a number of Gujarati dramas, some of which were well received by Gujarati audie ...

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

film ''

Commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

'' opposite

Vidyut Jammwal Vidyut Dev Singh Jammwal (born 10 December 1980) is an Indian actor, martial artist and film producer who predominantly works in Hindi films. He is also a practitioner of Kalaripayattu. He is best known for his roles in Commando film series, ...

, in her first lead role. Chopra starred in Neeraj Pandey's short film ''Ouch'', a dramatic love story. Meena Iyer from ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

'' said, "Pooja Chopra (Femina Miss India-2009) is super-confident in her film debut and a welcome addition to Bollywood's heroines". Pooja has won 8 National and International Titles in 2009. She appeared in Kingfisher Calendar 2020. Pooja features in Times 50 Most beautiful faces India. Chopra's next films
Jahaan Chaar Yaar
an

both releasing in 2022. She has given a TED Talk on the subject o
"Write your own destiny : Journey of a once abandoned girl child".
The talk happened in Krupanidhi Institution of Engineering, Bangalore.

Philanthropy

On 12 December 2009, she won the "Beauty With a Purpose" title at Miss World 2009 based on her charitable work in the India "Nanhi Kali" project. She won US$10,000 for her project, which she donated to the NGO which helps small girls fight poverty. Considering their shared interest in fitness, Pooja chopra, along with

Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...

, launched the

Asian Heart Institute Asian Heart Institute Asian Heart Institute, known as India's No. 1 heartcare hospital was set up in 2002 with an aim to provide world-class cardiology and cardiac surgery services in India. The hospital is globally known as a model healthcare ...

Initiative "Happy Heart India" campaign for underprivileged children in 2018. Chopra was also invited by the BMC to lead the campaign ''#EkChammachKam'' alongside

Farhan Akhtar Farhan Akhtar (born 9 January 1974) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, playback singer, producer, and television host who works in Hindi films. Born in Mumbai to screenwriters Javed Akhtar and Honey Irani, he grew up under the influe ...

to spread awareness about non-communicable diseases. Post Pulwama attack in 2019, Pooja Chopra donated part of her Aiyaary earnings to families of Martyred Soldiers.

Filmography

Web series

References

External links

* *
Miss India – profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chopra, Pooja Living people Actresses from Pune 21st-century Indian actresses Indian film actresses Actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Tamil cinema Miss World 2009 delegates Femina Miss India winners Actresses from Kolkata Female models from Kolkata Year of birth missing (living people)