Sushmita Sen

Sushmita Sen (born 19 November 1975) is an Indian actress who appears in mainly Bollywood films. A former beauty queen, Sen was crowned Miss Universe 1994. She was the first Indian woman to win the competition.

Life history

Biography
Sen was born in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh to a Bengali Hindu family. Her father, Shubeer Sen, is a former Indian Air Force Wing Commander and her mother, Subhra Sen, is a fashion artist and jewelry designer. She has a brother, Rajeev Sen. She was born in St. Theresa's hospital, Hyderabad, and grew up in New Delhi. She attended school at the Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute.

In 2000, she adopted a daughter, named Renee. On 13 Jan, 2010 she adopted a three-month-old girl and named her Alisah.

Miss Universe
In 1994, at the age of eighteen, Sushmita won the title of Femina Miss India beating Aishwarya Rai, who was the runner up. Sen represented India at the 1994 Miss Universe Pageant, held in Manila, Philippines and won there.

At Miss Universe, Sushmita ranked third overall in the preliminaries, right behind preliminary winner Miss Colombia Carolina Gómez, and Miss Greece Rea Totounzi, who ranked second but won the preliminary swimsuit and evening gown competitions. Sushmita went on to place second, fifth and third in the swimsuit, interview, and evening gown semi-final competitions respectively, placing third place behind Miss Colombia and Miss Venezuela Minorka Mercado. All three women went on to be the final three contestants. In the end, the judges placed their votes on Sushmita, making her the first woman from India to become Miss Universe. She owns the rights to send delegates from India to the Miss Universe pageant from 2010 onwards through her project I Am She – Miss Universe India.

Film career
After her reign as Miss Universe was over, Sushmita became an actress. Her first movie, Dastak was in 1996, in which she played the victim of a stalker. The movie did not do well at the box office. However, two years later her appearance as Rupali in David Dhawan's movie Biwi No.1 won her the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award in 1999. Biwi No.1 was the highest grossing movie of 1999. The same year, she was also nominated for her role in Sirf Tum in the same category, making her an obvious choice for winner. She received critical acclaim and box office success for film Aankhen.

So far, her biggest hit has been the 2004 movie Main Hoon Na, in which she starred as Shahrukh Khan's love interest. The film grossed a total of Rs 340,000,000 and was the second best selling movie of that year. Later, Sushmita played a lawyer in Main Aisa Hi Hoon opposite Ajay Devgan. In 2005, she also starred in a remake of Cactus Flower, called Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya: Sen played the lead opposite Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. Her most recent movies include Karma, Confessions and Holi (2006) opposite Naomi Campbell, Do Knot Disturb, Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007) and Dulha Mil Gaya (2010) opposite Fardeen Khan.

It has been reported that Sushmita will portray the slain Pakistan Peoples Party leader Benazir Bhutto in a film co-produced by Zaid Aziz and Henna Rai of the Karachi production company Vox Vision, and Leicester-based Sum Films. Tentatively titled Benazir Bhutto: The Movie, the film will be shot in locations in Pakistan, the US, Britain and Dubai, where Bhutto spent years as a student and later as a political leader in exile. When Sushmita was asked about this big opportunity, she excitedly said, “Yes, I am keen to play the role.”

Recently she starred in Do Knot Disturb with long-time screen partner Govinda. The film failed to do well. Sushmita plays the role of a successful supermodel called Shimmer in Dulha Mil Gaya.

Awards and nominations

Filmfare Awards

2000: Best Supporting Actress winner for Biwi No.1 (1999)

2000: Best Supporting Actress nomination for Sirf tum (1999)

2003: Best Supporting Actress nomination for Filhaal (2002)

Star Screen Awards

2001 Best Supporting Actress winner for Biwi No.1

2004 Best Actress nomination for Samay: When Time Strikes

IIFA Awards

2000 IIFA Best Supporting Actress Award winner for Biwi No.1

Zee Cine Awards

2000: Best Supporting Actress winner for Biwi No.1 (1999)

2003: Best Supporting Actress winner for Filhaal (2002)

2005: Best Supporting Actress nomination for Main Hoon Na (2004)

National honours

2006: Rajiv Gandhi Award for her achievement in Bollywood.