Curtain Calls: Pooja Devariya

She has won four best actor awards for her roles in My Name is Cine-ma and Carpouram, which premiered in 2012 and 2014 respectively. Born in Bengaluru and raised in Chennai, Pooja Devariya is also trained in the sport of rowing. She has had the good fortune of trying her hand at various activities, thanks to her mother signing her up for a number of them while the actor was growing up. “While at school, theatre was an extracurricular activity and rowing was a major passion,” she elaborates. Due to an unfortunate injury that dashed her dreams of representing the country in rowing, she switched her attention from winning at the Olympics to getting an Oscars.

Her first stage experience was when she was five. “I loved every moment of it. The lights, the smiling crowd and my mother jumping in joy. I still carry a very vivid image of the entire experience.” She loves to shoot YouTube videos and also practises giving speeches after winning an award. Pooja says she has gained confidence and wants to constantly learn, while simultaneously creating opportunities for herself in other genres as well.

She has a couple of Tamil feature films like Kuttrame Thandanai (directed by Manikandan) and Iraivi (directed by Karthik Subbaraj) in her kitty. About her greatest challenge so far, she says, “Sometimes, when we really want something, we set high expectations for ourselves.”