Actor Pooja Hegde shares excitement on working in Retro, Jana Nayagan; calls Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo a 'Tamil' film

CHENNAI: Actor Pooja Hegde whose Hindi film Deva opposite Shahid Kapoor is currently running in theatres, has two major Tamil films lined up for release this year. She will play the female lead in both Suriya’s Retro and Vijay’s Jana Nayagan.

Expressing her excitement about working in both projects, the actor in an interview shared that she chose Jana Nayagan because fans were eager to see her pair up with Vijay again. Their on-screen chemistry in Nelson Dilipkumar’s Beast caught attention, despite the film receiving mixed reviews. She also mentioned she came on board immediately as Jana Nayagan could reportedly be the actor-politician's last film.

Speaking about how she bagged Retro, Pooja Hegde revealed that director Karthik Subbaraj cast her after watching Radhe Shyam. She reminisced, “Karthik Sir really liked an emotional scene of mine in Radhe Shyam and felt that such a performance would suit this character.” The actor further added that sometimes, a single scene is enough for a filmmaker to overlook past roles and offer new films.

Pooja was also recently trolled on social media for referring to Allu Arjun-starrer Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo as a “Tamil film.” In an ANI interview, she stated, “Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo was a Tamil film, not a pan-India film. But it was seen by many in Hindi. So if it works, it will reach people.” Directed by Trivikram, the film was one of the biggest hits in Telugu cinema in 2020. As the video surfaced on social media, fans strongly criticised the actor, who had starred opposite Allu Arjun in the film, for her blunder.