Pooja Kumar moves from Ed Harris To Kamal Haasan

Her last co-star was Ed Harris, no less, in the psychological thriller Man On A Ledge. Pooja Kumar who straddles two continents and cinema in Tamil, Telugu, Hollywood and also American television is not too pleased with the fact that her new film Vishwaroop has the hero performing the classical Indian dancing, and that too under the guidance of the redoubtable Pandit Birju Maharaj. Pooja who is a trained classical dancer apparently expressed a wish to do a spot of dancing. The request, we hear, was politely but firmly turned down. When quizzed about the serious absence of some dancing in her role Pooja laughed, “Well I would have liked to dance. I’m a trained Kathak, Bharat Natyam and Kuchipudi dancer. I inherited a penchant for dancing from my mother who was from Lucknow. She passed away. But she left this yearning in me to continue my training in dance. There would’ve been no greater pleasure for me than to show my dancing skills in Vishwaroop. But it’s Kamal Sir who got to dance in Vishwaroop.” Pooja who is a US-based model and actress said, “Kamal Sir is an institution. There’s so much I’ve learnt by simply observing him. To get to work with him was dream come true.” Pooja has been constantly flying back and forth between the two continents Asia and America to promote Vishwaroop. “I’m living out of suitcases these days. I’ve no life beyond my work. And I like it that way. How many people get to live out their dreams? I love the movies and today I am part of it.” Pooja further shared that she gets offered roles in the US that are not culture-specific. “I guess more parts are being written in the West for non-Caucasian actresses. For an episode of popular American series Chuck Versus The Balcony I played a ‘Hinjew’ a mixture of a Hindu and a Jew. So the permutations being thrown up in the movies abroad are quite challenging for an actor. I like it.” What was it like moving from one renowned actor Ed Harris to another Kamal Haasan? “That’s what I enjoy the most about my global career. I get to share seen space with someone of Ed Harris’ caliber and then I am working with someone as extraordinary as Kamal Haasan. And mind you, it’s not a small irrelevant role in Vishwaroop. I am part of the main drama.” Pooja speaks fluent Hindi .So she has dubbed all her lines in Vishwaroop, though not for the Tamil version of the film. Recalling the ordeal with a shudder she stated, “I can’t speak Tamil. I had to mug up all my lines in Tamil and then also memorize everyone else’s lines too.”