Pooja Banerjee (born 8 November 1991) is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi television. She began her television career as a contestant in MTV Roadies and subsequently starred as Tejal Majumdar in her first lead show, Ek Doosre Se Karte Hain Pyaar Hum.She gained initial fame by teaming up with Ekta Kapoor for few temporary supporting roles in Chandrakanta, Chandra Nandini and Dil Hi Toh Hai. Shortly thereafter, Banerjee became a household name and gained wider popularity with her roles in Kapoor's hugely successful shows Kasautii Zindagii Kay as Nivedita Basu and Kumkum Bhagya as Rhea Mehra. Since 2018, she was also playing the pivotal character of Bani Mehra in 3 seasons of Kapoor's web series Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain.

Early life

Pooja Banerjee was born on 8 November 1991 in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh to Neil Banerjee and Poornima Banerjee. She has a brother, Akash Banerjee. Though she belongs to a Bengali Hindu family, she has primarily spent her childhood in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Banerjee completed her schooling from Centre point school and college from Hislop College, Nagpur. She pursued her graduation in Bachelor of Commerce and completed her post graduation in Masters in English literature. She has also represented Maharashtra at the national level swimming tournaments. She swam the 5 km sea race in the Arabian Sea and 14 km river race in river Hooghly. Banerjee has also played a swimmer, Rewa Mathur, in Swim Team.

Career

Banerjee started her acting career in 2011, participating in ''MTV Roadies'' season 8. Her 1st fiction show came in 2012 with ''Ek Doosre Se Karte Hain Pyaar Hum'' on StarPlus, in which she portrayed the lead role of Tejal Majumdar. In 2013, she was cast in fantasy show ''The Adventures of Hatim'' on Life OK as Perizaad.That year Banerjee acted in Sahara One show ''Ghar Aaja Pardesi'' in the role of Rudraani. Shortly thereafter, she went on to be a contestant in the first season of ''Box Cricket League'' and appear as Rewa Mathur in Channel V's youth drama ''Swim Team''.In 2016, Banerjee found her first break as Noorie Shastri opposite Pearl V Puri in Life OK drama show ''Naagarjuna''. In 2017, she was cast in supporting roles as the antagonistic Vishakha in the historical romance ''Chandra Nandini'' and as Suryakanta in the fantasy drama ''Chandrakanta''. In 2017, she was cast in supporting roles as the antagonistic Vishakha in the historical romance ''Chandra Nandini'' and as Suryakanta in the fantasy drama ''Chandrakanta''.She next returned to reality television as a contestant in fourth season of ''Box Cricket League'' and was cast in June 2018 to play Aarohi Verma in the romance ''Dil Hi Toh Hai'', a character that she later reprised in season 2 that was streamed directly on ALT Balaji. She also had a cameo appearance as Sonprabha in the fantasy drama ''Vikram Betaal Ki Rahasya Gatha''.In September 2018, Banerjee appeared as the stylish yet married Nivedita Basu in ''Kasautii Zindagii Kay'', that ended after a successful two years run in October 2020.From 2018 to 2020, she was also seen starring as Bani Mehra in the web series ''Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain'', and participated in ''Nach Baliye'' season 9 in 2019. In 2020 she featured in the web series ''The Casino''.From 2020 to 2022, Banerjee played the grey-shaded lead character of Rhea Mehra in the daily soap ''Kumkum Bhagya.''

Initial career (2011–16)

Banerjee started her acting career in 2011, participating in ''MTV Roadies'' season 8. Her 1st fiction show came in 2012 with ''Ek Doosre Se Karte Hain Pyaar Hum'' on StarPlus, in which she portrayed the lead role of Tejal Majumdar. In 2013, she was cast in fantasy show ''The Adventures of Hatim'' on Life OK as Perizaad.That year Banerjee acted in Sahara One show ''Ghar Aaja Pardesi'' in the role of Rudraani. Shortly thereafter, she went on to be a contestant in the first season of ''Box Cricket League'' and appear as Rewa Mathur in Channel V's youth drama ''Swim Team''.

Personal life

Banerjee married professional Indian Swimmer, Sandeep Sejwal on 28 February 2017. The couple had their first child, a baby girl who they named Sana on 12 March 2022.

Establishment as Lead Actress (2016–present)

In 2016, Banerjee found her first break as Noorie Shastri opposite Pearl V Puri in Life OK drama show ''Naagarjuna''. In 2017, she was cast in supporting roles as the antagonistic Vishakha in the historical romance ''Chandra Nandini'' and as Suryakanta in the fantasy drama ''Chandrakanta''. In 2017, she was cast in supporting roles as the antagonistic Vishakha in the historical romance ''Chandra Nandini'' and as Suryakanta in the fantasy drama ''Chandrakanta''.She next returned to reality television as a contestant in fourth season of ''Box Cricket League'' and was cast in June 2018 to play Aarohi Verma in the romance ''Dil Hi Toh Hai'', a character that she later reprised in season 2 that was streamed directly on ALT Balaji. She also had a cameo appearance as Sonprabha in the fantasy drama ''Vikram Betaal Ki Rahasya Gatha''.In September 2018, Banerjee appeared as the stylish yet married Nivedita Basu in ''Kasautii Zindagii Kay'', that ended after a successful two years run in October 2020.From 2018 to 2020, she was also seen starring as Bani Mehra in the web series ''Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain'', and participated in ''Nach Baliye'' season 9 in 2019. In 2020 she featured in the web series ''The Casino''.From July 2020 to February 2022, Banerjee played the grey-shaded lead character of Rhea Mehra in the daily soap ''Kumkum Bhagya.''