After starring in a block-buster romantic Kannada film Mungaru Male in 2006, Pooja Gandhi became a very popular and highest paid actress in the Kannada cinema. It was her Kannada debut film, this film gave her an immense success and she became an overnight sensational star in the Kannada film industry.
Ganesh and Pooja Gandhi starred in Mungaru Male which became the first Indian film to get screened continuously for one year in a multiplex and it was screened for over 865 days. It grossed over 75 crore and became the highest grossing South Indian film of that time.
After Mungaru Male she starred in several hit films in Kannada such as Milana opposite Puneeth Rajkumar, it was her second film in Kannada and it was screened over 500 days in the theatres.
Her third film in Kannada was Krishna opposite Ganesh and it was also a commercially hit film, it completed 100 days. This film has become her hat- trick 100 days film in Kannada.
Until 2008 her career was good in the Kannada film industry as acted in super hit films like Taj Mahal and opposite Upendra in Budhivanta both were released in 2008.
2009 onwards most of her films failed at the box office. In 2009 she acted in 12 films in different languages including Kannada.
In 2010 she acted in her third Hindi film I Am alongside Juhi Chawla, it received positive reviews and also won National Film Award for Best Film.
In 2012 she made her comeback with Kannada film Dandupalya in a non glamorous get-up. It was a crime, female orientated film and was a box-office hit and completed 100 days and collected 40 crore againt 3 crore budget. She gave an exceptionally good performance in a realistic way and she won SIIMA Award and was nominated for Filmfare Award South for Best Actress in a Negative Role.
But Pooja Gandhi got criticised from social activists of some groups for exposing in a particular scene in the film Dandupalya, they called it an offense. Some groups demonstrated against it in Bangalore for depicting anti social activities in the film.
In 2012 she joined Politics by joining JDS but in 2013 she contested Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections for the seat in Raichur from BSR Congres but she couldn't win the seat .
In 2015 she acted and also produced Kannada film Abhinetri.
In 2017 she starred in Dandupalya 2 and in 2018 in Dandupalya 3 and in both the films she performed brilliantly and more confidently.
In 2023 she got married with Vijay Ghorpade. When we refer to her background she is from a Punjabi family, she was born in Meerut, UP and brought up in Delhi. She began her career as a model and then acted in some television series. She made her filmy debut at the age of 18 with the Bollywood film Kathron Ke Khiladi in 2001. She then acted in a Bengali film in 2003 and in a Tamil film Kokki in 2006. Kannada film Mungaru Male made her a big star. After Dandupalya 3 she didn't appear in any Kannada film. In 2022 she acted in a Telugu film in a supporting role. After her marriage she didn't act in any film.
Pooja Gandhi might have lost her popularity when she entered into politics in 2012, it might be her wrong decision, she failed in politics and also lost her filmy career. In 2012 she got engaged with industrialist Anand Gowda but it got ended in a month. She also got criticised when she took part in Kannada Bigg Boss Season 3. But Pooja Gandhi is happy with her filmy career, she feels that she didn't appear in the same type of roles, she gave big hits and also big flops but she doesn't have regret because she feels that it was all the part of making her what she is today. She says that a film can be a flop but an actor can never be a flop.
Pooja Gandhi gave many block-buster films but even for today she is famous for her role Nandini in Mungaru Male, the audience liked her very much in that role. She is popularly known as Male Hudugi (Rain Girl) in the Kannada film industry. She acted in over 50 films in a decade in 5 languages and she mainly worked in Kannada films.