Harshika Poonacha

Born	1 May 1990 (age 24) Ammathi, Kodagu district, Karnataka, India
Residence	Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Other names	Harshu,
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2008–present

Harshika Poonacha (born 1 May 1990) is an Indian actress. She mainly appears in Kannada language films and has also worked in Telugu, Kodava, Konkani and Tulu language films. She made her acting debut in 2008, for the film PUC.

Career

Harshika Poonacha was born on 1 May 1990 in Ammathi, a small village in Kodagu district of Karnataka as the only daughter to her parents. She acted in her first film PUC when she was 18 years old and doing her PUC at Christ College. In 2007, she finished her pre-university course. Poonacha spent the next two months working as a television show anchor, before beginning a professional course. She anchored programs like Nimmindha Nimagaagi, Hrudayadinda and the Sarigamapa television reality show. She joined Cambridge Institute of Technology, Bangalore's electronic engineering course and completed her BTech degree in 2011. During the time, she took a two-month break from her shooting assignments to attend her classes, complete assignments and prepare for exams. In 2012 she joined 'Maxpro' Software Company and agreed to work for five days in a month while working 21 days in films She said: "Getting into films was an accident. I never dreamt of becoming an actress".

After PUC, she acted in a Kodava film Ponnamma, a Konkani film Kazar and a Telugu film Edukondalavada Venkataramana Andaru Bagundali. In 2010, Harshika acted in an important role in Jackie, which catapulted her to an instant celebrity status. She later appeared in Thamassu with Shivrajkumar for which she won the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actress,and played Ramya in Nariya Seere Kadha, in which Ravichandran played the lead role. She also acted in a film named Cycle opposite Shivarjun. She played the daughter of a crorepati who gets kidnapped for ransom in the comedy film 5 Idiots In 2013, she first had two releases in a row, Cycle and Ale and her third release Managana Kaili Maanikya opposite Ramesh Aravind, which was her first comedy film, in July.Her two films, B3 a love story directed by Gana Shyam with Srikanth and Adwaitha an action-based film directed by MB Giriraj which has Ajai Rao in the lead, released both on December 6.

She has signed her first Tamil film Anandha Thollai. She also has a Telugu film titled Panipuri coming up.

She also appeared in a video album Hoo Manase. She and her cousin Bhuvaan Ponannaa own a company called Glamgod Fashion and Events and conduct fashion shows and fashion weeks.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Language	Notes
2008	PUC	Gowri	Kannada
2009	Ponnamma		Kodava
2009	Kazar		Konkani
2009	Edukondalavada Venkataramana Andaru Bagundali		Telugu
2010	Sugreeva		Kannada
2010	Thamassu	Amreen Sabha	Kannada	Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actress
2010	Jackie	Yashodha	Kannada	Winner Suvarna Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated, Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress – Kannada
2010	Jugaari		Kannada
2010	Naariya Seere Kadda	Ramya	Kannada
2011	Murali Meets Meera	Shwetha	Kannada
2011	5 Idiots	Sheetal	Kannada
2012	Ko Ko	Ganga	Kannada
2012	Parie	Sumedha	Kannada
2012	Crazy Loka	Chandini	Kannada
2013	Cycle		Kannada
2013	Ale	Geetha	Kannada
2013	Mangana Kaili Maanikya		Kannada
2013	Case No 18/9		Kannada	Special appearance
2013	Advaitha	Ambika	Kannada
2013	B3	Anu	Kannada
2014	Maryade		Kannada
2014	Meetru		Kannada	Filming
2014	Beet		Kannada	Filming
2014	Crazy Krishna		Kannada	Filming
2014	Anandha Thollai		Tamil	Filming
2014	Panipuri		Telugu	Filming