Amisha Patel
Early Life
Amisha Amit Patel was born on June 9th, 1976 at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. She is the daughter of Amit and Asha Patel and the granddaughter of the lawyer turned politician Barrister Rajni Patel who was the Congress Pradesh Committee President of Bombay. She also has a younger brother, Ashmit, who also works in Bollywood. She studied at the Cathedral and John Connon High School in Mumbai, where she was head girl for the academic year 1992-1993, and went on to obtain a degree in Economics from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.A. After graduation she briefly worked for the global financial services company, Morgan Stanley, while modelling part time. After returning to India she joined Satyadev Dubey's theatre group a decision that her conservative parents were originally opposed too. However a family friend and former schoolmate of her father, Rakesh Roshan, convinced them to allow her to pursue a career in acting so he could cast her in a film he was producing.
Career Highlights Roshan’s film, Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, was released in 2000 and saw Patel make her debut opposite his son, Hrithik Roshan. The film, a remake of the 1996 Tamil film Love Birds, was a huge critical and commercial success. Patel’s portrayal of the character Sonia, a love struck college girl, saw her established as a rising star in Bollywood and earned her a Filmfare award nomination for Best Debut. Later that year she appeared in her second film, the Telugu language drama Badri, opposite Pawan Kalyan. The film was also a major success, grossing more than Rs 120 million in India. In 2001 Patel appeared in her biggest hit to date, Anil Sharma's cross-border romance, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. Set during the 1947 Indo-Pakistani conflicts, it featured Patel as Sakeena, a Muslim girl who finds refuge in a Muslim boys house, played by Sunny Deol, during the riots, and subsequently falls for him. Her performance was praised by the critics and won her the Filmfare Special Performance Award. The film went on to become the highest grossing Indian film of the year and to date is the 8th highest of all time grossing almost Rs. 700 million. Her only other film of the year was Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar where she played pop star, Sarena, who embarks on a journey to find her real parents after learning she was adopted.
Patel’s biggest succsess of 2002 was with the Abbas and Mustan Burmawalla film Humraaz. The suspense thriller, inspired by the 1998 Hollywood film A Perfect Murder, saw her playing a negative role for the first time. She played the girlfriend of Akshaye Khanna, Priya, the role portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow in the Hollywood version. Humraaz, became one of the highest grossing films of the year at the box office, and earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Actress Award. Patel appeared in four other minor hits that year Kranti, Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai, Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage and Yeh Hai Jalwa. In 2003 Patel starred in her first and only Tamil language film to date, Pudhiya Geethai. This was followed by Deepak Bahry’s drama Parwana, opposite Ajay Devgan. Both films however received poor reviews and box office ratings. 2004 would see a further two flops with Suno Sasurjee and Naani as well as a special guest appearance in Puri Jaganath’s Shart: The Challenge. 2005 saw Patel receive more favourable reviews when she starred in Satish Kaushik's thriller Vaada, playing the role of Arjun Rampal's unfaithful wife, Pooja. This was followed by a appearance in Ketan Mehta's historical drama Mangal Pandey: The Rising. Patel played the role of Jwala, a Bengali widow who is rescued from committing Sati by a British Commanding Officer who later falls in love with her. The film was her most successful of the year grossing Rs 330 million at the Indian box office as well as seeing moderate succsess in the United States and the United Kingdom. Patel’s first film of 2006 saw her appear in Mere Jeevan Saathi, a Bollywood take on the 1987 Hollywood thriller Fatal Attraction. Patel starred in the role of Anjali, the betrayed wife played by Anne Archer in the Hollywood version. She starred in a total of six movies during 2006 and it was the fifth, Ankahee, that was to be her biggest hit. The film saw her play the role of a housewife who tries to save her family from breaking up after her husband's extramarital affair. Although the film only saw moderate success at the box office, Patel was widely praised for her emotional performance. Patel saw success in 2007 as part of a ensemble cast in Reema Kagti’s romantic comedy Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. The film tells the story of six oddball couples who take a honeymoon trip to Goa. She later co-starred opposite Akshay Kumar in Priyadarshan's mild comedy horror Bhool Bhulaiyaa as a rejected girl who is accused of trying to disrupt the marriage of her childhood sweetheart. The film was a big hit in India and was well received by fans in the U.S. A quiet year in 2008 meant fans only saw Patel appear as a special guest in Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic. Patel appeared in a skimpy yellow bikini item number, Lazy Lamhe, which was very well received by her fans and saw her nominated for the Stardust Best Supporting Actress Award. Patel is set to star in two films in 2009, the comedy thriller Run Bhola Run alongside Govinda and Tusshar Kapoor, and the action comedy Chatur Singh Two Star opposite Sanjay Dutt.
Amisha Patel Filmography 2000 - Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai - Sonia Saxena 2000 - Badri - Sarayu 2001 - Gadar: Ek Prem Katha - Sakeena 2001 - Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar - Sarena Devan 2002 - Kranti - Sanjana Roy 2002 - Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai - Sandhya Patil 2002 - Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage - Sapna 2002 - Yeh Hai Jalwa - Sonia Singh 2002 - Humraaz - Priya 2003 - Pudhiya Geethai - Jo 2003 - Parwana - Pooja 2004 - Suno Sasurjee - Kiran Saxena 2004 - Naani - Priya 2005 - Vaada - Puja 2005 - Elaan - Priya 2005 - Zameer: The Fire Within - Pooja 2005 - Narasimhudu - Subba Lakshmi 2005 - Mangal Pandey: The Rising - Jwala 2006 - Mere Jeevan Saathi A- njali 2006 - Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai - Durga 2006 - Teesri Aankh - Ammu 2006 - Tathastu - Sarita 2006 - Ankahee - Nandita Saxena 2006 - Aap Ki Khatir - Shirani 2007 - Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. - Pinky 2007 - Bhool Bhulaiyaa - Radha 2008 - Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic - Malaika Amisha Patel Trivia Amisha Patel Links Babe Invasion | Bestzilla | Celebrity Link | Chickipedia | Famous Hookups | Famous Why | Free Ones | IMDB | Perfect People | Star Pages | Utopian Vision |
