Pooja Chopra

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Pooja Chopra
Pooja Chopra graces Esha Amin's Holiday Edit (04) (cropped).jpg
Chopra in 2018
Born1985or1986(age 38–39) [1]
OccupationActress
Beauty pageant titleholder
Title Femina Miss India World 2009
Years active2009-present
Major
competition(s)
Femina Miss India World 2009
(Winner)
Miss World 2009
(Top 16)
(Beauty with a Purpose)

Pooja Chopra is an Indian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She won the title of Femina Miss India World 2009 and represented India at Miss World 2009 pageant where [2] she became the first Indian to win the "Beauty with a Purpose" title at the Miss World competition for India. [3] 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. [4]

Contents

Pooja Chopra features in the Times list of 50 most beautiful faces of India. [5]

Early life

Chopra was born in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. She stated was abandoned by her father at birth since he wanted a boy. [6] 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. [7] [1] She is a resident of Pune, Maharashtra.[ citation needed ] 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.[ citation needed ]

Career

2009–12: Career beginnings

Chopra in 2009 Copy of pooja chopra.jpg
Chopra in 2009

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.[ citation needed ]

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. [8] Doctors advised 3 weeks of complete bed-rest, but she continued with the competition. [9] She finished as one of the top 16 finalists out of 120 contestants. [10] [11]

During her reign as Miss she endorsed brands such as Tata Docomo, [12] Bajaj Allainz, [13] Richfeel, [14] Body and Soul, Roots Comb, Evolve Med Spa, [15] and Juvederm Voluma. [16]

2013–present: Acting

Chopra at the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image in 2016 Pooja Chopra promoting short film 'Ouch' at MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival (cropped).jpg
Chopra at the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image in 2016

Chopra made her acting debut in the 2011 Tamil film Ponnar Shankar , [17] playing the role of Princess Muthaayi, opposite Prashanth Thiagarajan. [18] Before she made her debut in Bollywood as a leading lady, she had minor roles in Madhur Bhandarkar's films Fashion and Heroine . [19]

Chopra acted in Vipul Shah's action film Commando opposite Vidyut Jammwal, in her first lead role. [20] Chopra starred in Neeraj Pandey's short film Ouch, a dramatic love story. [21]

Meena Iyer from Times of India said, "Pooja Chopra (Femina Miss India-2009) is super-confident in her film debut and a welcome addition to Bollywood's heroines". [22]

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 and Jeevan Beema Yojna both releasing in 2022.

She has given a TED Talk on the subject of "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. [23]

Considering their shared interest in fitness, Pooja chopra, along with Akshay Kumar, launched the Asian Heart Institute Initiative "Happy Heart India" campaign for underprivileged children in 2018. [24] Chopra was also invited by the BMC to lead the campaign #EkChammachKam alongside Farhan Akhtar to spread awareness about non-communicable diseases. [25]

Post Pulwama attack in 2019, Pooja Chopra donated part of her Aiyaary earnings to families of Martyred Soldiers. [26]

Filmography

Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released
YearFilmRoleNotes
2008 Fashion HerselfSpecial appearance
2011 Ponnar Shankar Princess Muthaayi Tamil film
2012 Heroine Shaheen KhanSpecial appearance
The World Before Her HerselfEnglish Documentary film
2013 Commando: A One Man Army Simrit Sarabjit Kaur
2016 Yea Toh Two Much Ho Gayaa Meena
OuchPriyaShort film -
2018 Aiyaary Captain Maya Semwal
2021 Babloo Bachelor Avantika
2022 Jahaan Chaar Yaar Sakina [27]
2022Jeevan Beema YojnaTBA [28]

Web series

YearTitleRolePlatformNotes
2020 Poison 2 Isha Khanna ZEE5 [29]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Miss India Pooja Chopra's dad told mum to kill her or forfeit marriage". DNA India. 3 May 2009. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  2. "Pooja Chopra is Miss India 2009". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. "Injured Miss India is 'Beauty with a Purpose'". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  4. Media, 5 Dreams. "Pooja Chopra Wins The Times Most Powerful Women Award 2017!". elfaworld.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. "The Times 50 Most Desirable Women 2013 | Pooja Chopra at 31". Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2020 via YouTube.
  6. "Pooja Chopra & her Mom BREAK DOWN: "Daddy didn't want her 'coz he wanted a male child!" - Exclusive Interview". Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  7. "Neera Chopra: My Husband threw us out". The Times of India. 26 April 2009. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  8. "Miss Gibraltar crowned Miss World; Miss India wins plaudits". DNA India. 13 December 2009. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  9. "I am not withdrawing from Miss World, says injured Pooja Chopra". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 July 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  10. "Pooja Chopra misses the crown; but wins loudest applause". Zee News. 13 December 2009. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  11. "Outlook India Photo Gallery". outlookindia.com/. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
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  15. "Evolve Med Spa". Evolve Med Spa. Archived from the original on 17 June 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
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  18. "Ponnar Shankar sold to Martin Productions". Kollytalk.com. 15 August 2010. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  19. "Former Miss India Pooja Chopra became an actress for her mother". Archived from the original on 7 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  20. Sharma, Sarika. "Ayushmann Khuraana's 'Nautanki Saala', Vidyut Jamwal's Commando hit screens today". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  21. Bhattacharya, Roshmila. "'Ouch' review: Neeraj Pandey's short film turns the tables on the man-woman equation". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
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  25. "Farhan Akhtar, Pooja Chopra team up to fight against health risks in the city". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 22 June 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by Femina Miss India World
2009
Succeeded by
Preceded by Miss World Beauty with a Purpose
2009
Succeeded by
Natasha Metto