Pooja Chopra

Pooja Chopra

Beauty pageant titleholder
Chopra promoting short film ‘Ouch’ at MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival in October 2016
Born	Pooja Chopra 3 May 1986 Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Hair color	Black
Title(s)	Miss World- Beauty With Purpose 2009 Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2009 Talwalkars Femina Miss Beautiful Body Femina Miss Beautiful Smile Pantaloons Miss India East 2009 PFMI East 09 Miss Sparkling Beauty PFMI East 09 Miss Beautiful Body PFMI 09 East Best Catwalk
Major competition(s)	Femina Miss India Miss World 2009

Pooja Chopra (born 3 May 1986) is an Indian model and film actress. In 2009, she was crowned as the Femina Miss India. She was also a semi-finalist at Miss World 2009 and won the Beauty with a Purpose award at Miss World 2009 in Johannesburg, South Africa.^[1][2] Chopra has won as many as 8 national and international titles in a single year.

Early life

Chopra was born on 3 May 1986.^[3] She is the child of a single mother^[4] and was brought up by her mother and grandmother.^[5] Pooja Chopra is a resident of Pune, Maharashtra.^[6]

Career

2009–12: Pageantry and 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, Pooja Chopra 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 on 12 December 2009. Doctors advised her 3 weeks complete bed-rest, but she continued with the competition. Chair of the Miss World Organization Julia Morley suggested that Pooja drop out of the dance round,^[7] and so she took only a few steps before being allowed to stop. She finished as one of the top sixteen finalists out of 112 contestants

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.^[8][9] She won US$10,000 for her "Nanhi Kali" project which helps small girls fight poverty.^[7]

During her reign she endorsed brands such as Tata Docomo,^[10] Bajaj Allainz,^[11] Richfeel,^[12] Body and Soul, Roots Comb, Evolve Med Spa,^[13] and Juvederm Voluma.^[14] On 30 April 2010 Pooja crowned her successor Manasvi Mamgai as the next Miss India World.

Pooja was also featured in Times 50 Most Beautiful Women at No. 28. The list features India's most beautiful faces.^[15]

2013–present: Acting debut and recent work

Chopra made her acting debut in the 2011 Tamil film, Ponnar Shankar,^[16] playing the role of Princess Muthaayi, opposite Prashanth Thiagarajan. The film was written by the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi and directed by Thiagarajan.^[17] Before she made her debut in Bollywood as a leading lady, she had minor roles in Madhur Bhandarkar's films Fashion and Heroine.^[18]

She recently was seen in Vipul Shah's action film Commando opposite Vidyut Jammwal, where she appeared in her first lead role .^[19] Taran Adarsh mentioned that COMMANDO is, at heart, an action fare, but as the reels unfold, you realise her role in the film has shades that are essential for a Hindi film heroine and Pooja Chopra gives it her best shot. She's photogenic, but most significantly, comes across as a poised and self-assured actress."^[20]

Meena Iyer from Times of India also mentioned, "Pooja Chopra (Femina Miss India-2009) is super-confident in her film debut and a welcome addition to Bollywood's heroines".^[21]

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
2008	Fashion	Herself	Hindi	Special appearance
2011	Ponnar Shankar	Princess Muthaayi	Tamil	Lead role
2012	Heroine	Shaheen Khan	Hindi	Special appearance
2012	The World Before Her	Herself	English	Documentary
2013	Commando	Simrit Sarabjit Kaur	Hindi	Lead role
2016	Abhi Nahi Toh Kabhi Nahi		Hindi	Lead Role

References

1. "2009 – India". Beautywithapurpose.com. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
2. "Welcome". Miss World. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
3. "Miss India Pooja Chopra's dad told mum to kill her or forfeit marriage". DNA India. 3 May 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
4. "Neera Chopra: My Husband threw us out". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
5. (ref: the documentary 'The World Before Her')
6. "Pooja Chopra".
7. Business Standard (19 December 2009). "Global highlights of the week". Business-standard.com. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
8. "Spotlight on Fashion 2009". Zeenews.com. 28 December 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
9. "Katrina Kaif clinches the number one spot in sexiest Asian women poll – Bhangra News Feed". Bhangra.org. 19 December 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
10. "Pooja Chopra brand ambassador of Tata Docomo". Bollyone.com. 6 August 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
11. "Business : Bajaj Allianz launches women-specific scheme". The Hindu. 10 April 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
12. "Launch – Richfeel Trichology Centre by Pooja Chopra in Delhi – Buzzintown | user comments, ratings for venue". Buzzintown. 10 February 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
13. "Evolve Med Spa". Evolve Med Spa. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
14. "Pooja Chopra unveils Juvederm Voluma | Launch Events | Bollywood Bytes". Hamaraphotos.com. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
15. "Times Most Desirable People 2009". Itimes.com. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
17. "Ponnar Shankar sold to Martin Productions". Kollytalk.com. 15 August 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
18. "Former Miss India Pooja Chopra became an actress for her mother". Retrieved 4 April 2013.
19. Sharma, Sarika. "Ayushmann Khuraana's 'Nautanki Saala', Vidyut Jamwal's Commando hit screens today". Indian Express. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
20. Adarsh, Taran. "Commando (2013) Movie Review". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
21. Iyer, Meena. "Commando (2013) Movie Review". Times of India. Retrieved 11 April 2013.

External links

• Pooja Chopra at the Internet Movie Database
• Miss India – Official website
• Miss India – Profile
• Pooja Chopra crowned Femina Miss India 2009