Sceptics kept whining – ‘models can’t act’ but this model went ahead & did Priyadarshan’s Virasat. The film was not only a huge hit, it also gave leggy Pooja Batra a strong foothold in Mumbai’s dream factory. But Friday is the name of the game and after a bright start, things turned sour. But now she is ready to knock you with a stellar role as Noorjahan in Akbar Khan’s magnum opus, Taj Mahal. “I have slogged for this character,” says Pooja. Loads of research has gone into the creation of Noorjahan,” she says. “I read up a lot on characters set in the MUghal era & tried to get a grasp of historical literature to get a better understanding of the characters,” she added.