Radio gaga

Actor Puja Batra starts a radio station Mera Sangeet for Indians abroad

Mona

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty…wrote Winston Churchill long, long back and it is so true!

Former Miss India and actor Pooja Batra moved base to Los Angeles more than a decade back, took courses in various aspects of film-making and dabbled in a few.

She is to roll out a new radio station — Mera Sangeet.

“I am a radio person. With so many Indians around, and little that was on air for them, I thought of bridging the gap,” shares Pooja. She got in touch with like-minded people and so Mera Sangeet was born.

“This internet-based radio station would be available on phones, iPads and computers. Largely a music channel, it will have the content concerning Bollywood, Indians in America and major happenings in India.” The radio station would be available in America and parts of Canada to begin with and plans are on to bring it to India too.

You might have missed Pooja’s screen appearances as she did little Bollywood post Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story, but, she has been active in films.

In fact, she has currently finished shooting for three films and two of them are Punjabi. “Mere Vatan is a Punjabi film that I am part of, there is another untitled one. There is one in English called Checkmate,” shares Pooja.

Miss India title catapulted Pooja Batra form an ordinary army kid to a celebrity, commercials, films fell in her kitty. “I am still referred to as former Miss India, it fills me with pride to have represented the country at an international level.” She appreciates the platform she got and totally okay with how her career has shaped up. “Not everyone who acts would have a glorious inning like Amitabh Bachchan. I did get my share,” says Pooja who just couldn’t bring herself to so scripts that were offered to her before she made her move to America.

The actor, who has learnt the nuances of production and script writing, is comfortable in her new country. “I love the freedom that America gives me. I could do everything like a normal person that I couldn’t, being an actor in India.”

But yes, she misses her home country. “It’s easier to adapt to a new country when one is in her childhood or in teens. I left behind my family and career. I miss the whole vibrant energy that India offers and would be happy to move for work and more,” Pooja signs off.

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