Exclusive: 'Radhe Shyam' star Pooja Hegde says she was a 'tomboy', reveals destiny's role in her becoming an actress

Pooja Hegde starrer 'Radhe Shyam' which was released on March 11 opened big at the box office but failed to garner an overall positive response. While Pooja's performance has been lauded by the audience and critics alike, the film had little to offer in terms of script. Pooja Hegde, who essays the role of Prerna -- a doctor suffering from a rare and incurable tumour, has managed to make her mark despite being saddled with a film with a poor script. 

Recently, the actress was in New Delhi to promote her film. During the media interactions, we at DNA spoke to Pooja about love, destiny and more and asked if criticism affects her. Here's what she had to say. Read on. 

Talking about the film which explores the concept of a war between love and destiny, when we asked Pooja if she believes in destiny, she said, "I do believe in destiny. I am here as an actor today because of destiny, God, or divine intervention or energies. I don't know what kind has put me here because growing up I was a very shy kid, I had stage fright and people in school were stunned when they got to know that Pooja Hegde became an actor. I was so quiet."

When interjected and asked her about her participation in beauty pageants since she mentioned 'stage fright', Pooja explained, "Nobody from my family is in this field. I come from a very academically driven middle-class family. My brother is a doctor, my father is a lawyer, my mom has studied law, MBA, Genetics, and Immunology. So, we come from a very educated background and for some reason, somebody spotted me in college and asked me to apply for Miss India and I was like..me? I was a tomboy. I remember somebody gave me mascara and I did not know how to apply it. I did not know what it was. So, from there to walking in six-inch heels...It is destiny."

Pooja made her debut in film with 2012 film, 'Mugamoodi' opposite Jiiva. Pooja's was written off by critics in her first film. And today, when she has a lineup of projects opposite superstars like Salman Khan, Vijay, Ram Charan among others, when we asked if the criticism affected her back in the day, Pooja said, "My first ever film, I just landed up on the set. I have never been to an acting school in my life. I didn't have the privilege to be on a film set before. When the offer came to me, I told my mom that I really don't know if I should do this, I don't know if I can do this. So, mom said, normally people pay to learn acting and here they are paying you to be a part of this film. So, my mom said what is the worst that could happen? The worst is that you go on set and you realise that films are not meant for you and what if you like, we have nothing to lose."

READ: 'Radhe Shyam' movie review: Prabhas-Pooja Hegde starrer is visually overloaded, lacks soul

She added, "So, I went and it was a learning process. I used to finish my lines fast and my co-star Jiiva was kind to me and he said 'I know you are trying to finish and get done with it but take time between your lines'. I learnt technical terms, I did not know what 48 frames were. I was learning the basics of filmmaking. People did speak about my screen presence. They said we wish we could see more of her which is not a bad thing, I'd rather have people say I want to see more instead of we don't want to see her."

Since her debut, Pooja has starred alongside several superstars including Allu Arjun, Hrithik Roshan among others. When asked if there's any pressure starring alongside a superstar, Pooja averred, "I feel God has always done this to me. He always puts me with these superstars and I have to cope with it somehow or the other because my first ever ad was with Ranbir Kapoor and he is a master actor. I used to forget my lines and I was on a bike and every time I forgot lines, we had to go back to the first spot. So, from the start, whether it has been Ranbir, Ranveer or Hrithik, god has been testing me and preparing me for all the moments that are yet to come in my life."

Ask her if she's a romantic at heart given her film's premise, Pooja promptly replied, "I a complete romantic. I have grown up watching love stories."

"I have grown up just loving life and that is something inherently in me which is why people think I have good chemistry with my co-stars in a romantic film. I give it my all," Pooja signed off.