Pooja was born and brought up in Mumbai, Maharashtra, to Manjunath and Latha Hegde. Her family is from Mangalore, Karnataka. Her mother tongue is Tulu, and she is also fluent in English, Marathi, Kannada and Hindi.
Hegde is a surname from Karnataka, India. It is found amongst Hindus of the Bunt community, Havyaka Brahmins and Kurubas in Karnataka.
Hegde made her acting debut in Mysskin's Tamil superhero film Mugamoodi (2012). She then featured in the Telugu films Oka Laila Kosam and Mukunda (2014). She also appeared as female lead in Ashutosh Gowariker's Mohenjo Daro (2016)
