Engineer-turned-model Pooja Janardhan is carefully taking her first steps onto the silver screen. While shooting campaigns for US brands and featuring in Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s music video 'Khwaish' gave her initial visibility, she decided to make her acting debut in Kannada despite offers from other industries.
"I have been getting calls from Telugu and Tamil industries as well, but my first priority is Kannada cinema," says Pooja. Returning to Bengaluru two years ago, she patiently listened to over 20 scripts before greenlighting her debut project, Guddada Bootha. Produced by NMK Cinemas, Guddada Bootha is directed by Bharath S Navunda. The film has cinematography by Deepak Kumar and music by Srihari.
In Guddada Bootha, which has no hero-heroine concept, Pooja stars alongside Samarjit. The characters are rooted in an investigative thriller space, without typical romantic fillers. "There is no hero or heroine dynamic here; the content itself is the hero," says Pooja, adding, "The prominence of my character is the sole reason I selected Guddada Bootha."
Signing off, she says she doesn’t want to do movies just to chase numbers: "Even if I do only one or two films, I want to deliver my absolute best and leave a real mark."