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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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Former Miss India and actress Pooja Batra, who is settled in Los Angeles, has launched a new Bollywood radio station, Mera Sangeet in the US. The effort is to cater to the Indian diaspora in the US and Canada.

"I wanted to provide the Indian diaspora insthe US and Canada with something that takes them closer to home. We have an iPhone app and an Android phone app and now people living here can listen to their favourite music for free," said Pooja in a statement. Pooja is the CEO of Glow Bell which facilitates collaborative productions between Hollywood and Bollywood.

Apart from taking care of the station's operations, Pooja will also play radio jockey to engage the listeners.

Indian actors such as Deepti Bhatnagar, international photographer Ash Gupta and writer-director Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla have also been roped in by Pooja to be celebrity radio jockeys for the station.

Pooja says her friends have "graciously agreed" and that she's thankful to them. "It is going to be a wonderful journey that I'm most excited about," said the actress, who has collaborated with Anshuvijay Rode of Anjaney Entertainment and Opie Singh, for the venture.

Pooja featured in films like Virasat, Haseena Maan Jayegi, Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye, among others.

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NEW YORK: Former Indian beauty queen and actress Pooja Batra, who is settled here, has launched a new Bollywood radio station, Mera Sangeet. The effort is to cater to the Indian diaspora in the US and Canada.

“I wanted to provide the Indian diaspora in US and Canada with something that takes them closer to home. We have an iPhone app and an Android phone app and now people living here can listen to their favourite music for free,” Pooja, CEO of Glow Bell Inc., which facilitates collaborative productions between Hollywood and Bollywood, said in a statement.

Apart from taking care of the station’s operations, Pooja will also play radio jockey to engage with listeners.

Indian actors such as Deepti Bhatnagar, international photographer Ash Gupta and writer-director Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla have also been roped in by Pooja to be celebrity radio jockeys for the station.

Pooja says her friends “graciously agreed” and that she’s thankful to them.

“It is going to be a wonderful journey that I’m most excited about,” said the actress, who has collaborated with Anshuvijay Rode of Anjaney Entertainment and Opie Singh, for the venture.

While in Bollywood, Pooja featured in films like “Virasat”, “Haseena Maan Jayegi”, “Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye”.

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Former Indian beauty queen and actress Pooja Batra, who is settled here, has launched a new Bollywood radio station, Mera Sangeet. The effort is to cater to the Indian diaspora in the US and Canada.

"I wanted to provide the Indian diaspora in US and Canada with something that takes them closer to home. We have an iPhone app and an Android phone app and now people living here can listen to their favourite music for free," Pooja, CEO of Glow Bell Inc., which facilitates collaborative productions between Hollywood and Bollywood, said in a statement.

Apart from taking care of the station's operations, Pooja will also play radio jockey to engage with listeners.

Indian actors such as Deepti Bhatnagar, international photographer Ash Gupta and writer-director Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla have also been roped in by Pooja to be celebrity radio jockeys for the station.

Pooja says her friends "graciously agreed" and that she's thankful to them.

"It is going to be a wonderful journey that I'm most excited about," said the actress, who has collaborated with Anshuvijay Rode of Anjaney Entertainment and Opie Singh, for the venture.

While in Bollywood, Pooja featured in films like "Virasat", "Haseena Maan Jayegi", "Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye".

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Los Angeles: Known for her stellar performances in films such as Virasat, Haseena Maan Jayegi, Kahin Pyaar Na Ho Jaaye and Chandralekha (Malyalam) and Kandukondain Kandukondain among others, former Miss India and acclaimed Bollywood actress Pooja Batra has donned the entrepreneurial cap yet again.

Currently settled in Los Angeles for the past few years, the actor has founded and launched USA’s new Bollywood favorite radio station called Mera Sangeet. Albeit, being launched recently, the stream station already boasts of massive listeners.

“I wanted to provide the Indian diaspora in US and Canada with something that takes them closer to home. We have an iPhone app and an android phone app and now people living here can listen to their favorite music for free.” Says Batra, CEO Glowbellinc.

In addition to running the operations of the radio station, Batra will also play RJ, engaging with listeners. Additionally Indian actors such as Deepti Bhatnagar, international photographer Ash Gupta and acclaimed writer, director Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla have also been roped in by Batra to be celebrity Radio Jockeys for the fast growing radio station. We have some amazing RJ's Sahil and Karan who have a fan following you can't imagine

“I picked up the phone on my friends Deepti and Ash and they graciously agreed. I am thankful to them. It is going to be a wonderful journey that I am most excited about” adds Batra.

Anshuvijay Rode of Anjaney Entertainment and Opie Singh, with whom Batra has collaborated on this venture, also will look into the operations of the venture.

In the recent past Batra introduced numerous Indian filmmakers to Hollywood A- listers for their upcoming projects, in addition to heading an LA based casting agency.

With the various hats donned by the supermodel-actress, Batra certainly seems to flying the Indian flag high internationally.

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