Pooja Hegde On Why Making People Laugh Is Serious Work: Comedy Is Harder Than Glamour

Pooja Hegde, often cast as the stylish face of big-budget films, says audiences misread what is hardest about commercial cinema. While many link Pooja with glamour and chartbuster songs across Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films, Pooja insists the real challenge lies elsewhere. "People think looking glamorous is the difficult part," Pooja says. "Honestly, comedy is much harder."

Pooja will next appear in David Dhawan's film Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, where comedy drives much of the story. Pooja explains that comic acting needs sharp technical control, even when scenes appear casual. "In comedy, timing is everything. Even one second too early or too late changes the scene completely. Your expressions, reactions, body language — everything has to move in sync with the energy around you," Pooja explains. "And in David sir's films, the energy is always at 200 percent."

Pooja Hegde comedy craft in mainstream Hindi cinema

Pooja links this focus on timing to a broader shift in Hindi cinema over recent years. Pooja points out that loud, theatrical comedy once defined many 1990s and early 2000s hits, where actors like Karisma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon and Juhi Chawla anchored humour. As realistic performance styles spread, that broad comic tone reduced in many mainstream Bollywood releases.

Pooja feels this change has raised the bar for anyone attempting screen humour today. "Today audiences are exposed to so many kinds of humor because of social media and streaming. Making people genuinely laugh in theatres is not easy anymore," Pooja says. Pooja adds that an actor must drop all self-consciousness. "You have to commit fully. If an actor feels embarrassed doing comedy, the audience immediately sees it."

Pooja Hegde comedy, glamour and hidden hard work

Pooja also thinks comic roles can be tougher for women, despite a strong tradition. "For women, it is twice harder. While we come from the legacy of actors like Sridevi and Juhi Chawla who soared in comedy, there is a perception than women can't do comedy well," Pooja says. Pooja shares that the genre tested Pooja deeply. "As an actor, my endeavour is to make sure I put in the work and shine in every genre. This time I realised how tough comedy is."

According to Pooja, glam-heavy entertainers, often seen as light viewing, demand serious physical and emotional effort. Elaborate songs, tricky choreography, chaotic confusion tracks and tight shooting schedules leave little space for mistakes. "There's a reason audiences remember these films for years," Pooja says. "Commercial entertainers may look light-hearted, but they require discipline and instinct. Comedy especially is very technical. So you have to really rehearse, know you script fully well so once the camera rolls, it looks easy!"

Pooja notes that this mix of precision and pressure helps explain why old Hindi film comedies continue to find fans. For Pooja, the lasting pull of those films lies in how hard it is to create honest laughter on screen. Pooja sees mastering that difficulty, alongside glamour and drama, as central to the next phase of Pooja's film career.