Pooja Bedi hails from a talented family, with actor Kabir Bedi for father and the late dancer Protima Bedi for mother. Born on 11 May 1970, Pooja did her schooling at Lawrence School, Sanawar, Himachal Pradesh. She grabbed the spotlight with her bold appearances, be it as a model or an actress. In the early 1990s, she became the face of the Kama Sutra condom campaign. She used her status as a sex symbol to raise awareness about AIDS. She also modelled for Frooti and Tips & Toes. Pooja Bedi made her Hindi film debut with Jagmohan Mundhra's film Vish Kanya (1991). The following year, she was seen in the Aamir Khan-starrer Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander, for which she was nominated for the Filmfare award for Best Supporting Actress. She also featured in Lootere (1993), Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee (1993), and Aatank Hi Aatank (1995), but her Hindi film career did not quite take off. She also acted in a few Telugu films.

Bedi is a known face to Indian television audiences, having hosted TV shows (Not Just Page 3, which was later renamed Just Pooja on Zoom TV) and participated in several reality shows featuring celebrities. She has worked in plays like Wow What A Girl, Carry On Papa and Bengali Jatra.

In 2000, she came out with Timepass, the memoirs of her free-spirited mother who disappeared in a landslide in the Himalayas two years earlier while on a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar and was presumed dead. She has donned a columnist's hat for The Times of India, Hindustan Times, and Mid-day newspapers and been brand ambassador for several beauty, health and tourism products. The Grassroots Foundation, an organisation aimed at tackling problems that plague society, is chaired by Bedi.