Bipasha Basu
Early Life
Bipasha Basu was born January 7th, 1979 in New Delhi, India. She is the second of three daughters to her parents who’s eldest is called Bidisha and youngest Vijayeta. The family subsequently re-located to Calcutta when Basu was still a child. There she was enrolled in the Science faculty at Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir until 12th standard but switched to Commerce thereafter. After acquiring a degree in Commerce from The Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society College she planned to be a Chartered Accountant but in 1996, she met well known model Mehr Jessia who suggested she pursue a career in modelling, something she had been doing part time while studying. She eventually participated in the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest, on advice from Jessia, and won. After spending some time in the United States modelling, most notably for the Ford Motor Company in Ney York City, she returned to India to begin a career in acting. Career Highlights Basu made her film debut in Abbas Mustan's thriller Ajnabee in 2001, alongside Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol and Kareena Kapoor. The film is a remake of the 1992 Hollywood film Consenting Adults starring Kevin Kline. She played a married woman, Sonia, who goes all out to win the affection of her husband’s married friend. The film was a moderate performer at the box office but won two awards at the 2002 Filmfare Awards, Best Villain Award for Kumar and Basu took the Best Female Debut Award. Basu’s first appearance of 2002 was in the Telugu language movie Takkari Donga opposite Tollywood superstar Mahesh Babu. Later that year Basu appeared in the hit supernatural thriller Raaz. She starred with Dino Morea as a married couple who move to Ooty to save their failing marriage only to find their new home is haunted. Raaz, although not expected to be a success, was the third highest grossing film of 2002. Basu was praised for her role in the film, and was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actress Award but lost out to Aishwarya Rai. Other highlights of the year saw her star opposite Morea again in Gunaah and play a supporting role in David Dhawan’s remake of the Hollywood movie Blue Streak, Chor Machaaye Shor. Basu’s first film of 2003 was Amit Saxena’s Jism. The plot of the movie is loosely based on the 1981 Hollywood film Body Heat, itself based on the true story of Ruth Brown Snyder who, with her lover Henry Judd Gray, murdered her husband to claim the insurance money. Jism was considered sexually explicit for Bollywood standards and cemented Basu’s reputation as one of the “sexiest actresses” in the industry. The film was a hit at the box office and earned Basu a Filmfare Best Villain Award nomination. In her next film, Footpath, Basu plays the role of Sanjana the sister of two notorious gang members who falls in love with an undercover policeman who is trying to catch them. Her final movie of the year was the action movie directed by Rohit Shetty, Zameen, in which she stars as a air hostess. The film is based on the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 by Islamic terrorists. The film was one of the most popular action movies of the year performing well at the box office.
In 2004 Basu was cast in five movies. The highlight of these was Mani Shankar’s science fiction film, Rudraksh co-starring with Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty and Isha Koppikar. The film is strongly based on the Ramayana, an ancient Hindu poem, in which Basu plays the role of Dr. Gayatri the love interest of the films hero, Varun, played by Dutt. Despite an average run at the box office the movie was praised for its stunt sequences and special effects. This was followed by the supernatural thriller Rakht: What If You Can See the Future, a remake of the Hollywood film The Gift. Basu plays Drishti, a tarot card reader who is asked to help the local police when a young woman goes missing. Her final film of the year, the mystery drama Madhoshi was also a minor hit. Basu’s first role of 2005 was as Megha in Saurabh Shukla’s mystery thriller Chehraa. She was praised for portrayal of a college student who goes missing but reappears after five years in a psychiatric hospital where her former college boyfriend is working. Her next two releases, Sachein and Barsaat: A Sublime Love Story, were moderate performers. Her fourth release of the year No Entry would however prove to be one of the biggest hits of her career to date. The comedy saw Basu star as Bobby, a call girl hired by Salman Khan to try and tempt his loyal friend to cheat on his wife. The film gained a lot of popularity and was the biggest hit of 2005 in India grossing almost Rs.450 million. She also saw moderate commercial success with her penultimate movie of the year Apaharan, playing Megha the love interest of a violent gang member played by Ajay Devgan. Basu’s first hit of 2006 came in her third movie of the year, Phir Hera Pheri. The movie, a sequel to Hera Pheri, and is heavily influenced by the Guy Ritchie film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Basu plays the role of a con woman who successfully deprives Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty out of their entire wealth. The movie was a big hit and a further sequel is rumoured. Basu received widespread praise for her performance in her next release, Corporate. Set in the world of big business, Basu starred as the vice president of a food products company in a fierce completion with a rival to launch a new soft drink. Her performance earned her GIFA and Bollywood Movie Award Best Actress’s honours as well as nominations at the Star Screen Awards and Filmfare Awards. She then saw commercial success with a supporting role in the second instalment in the Dhoom series. In 2007 Basu was cast in the Bollywood version of the hit comedy Weekend At Bernie’s, Nehlle Pe Dehlla. The first half of the film is a remake of the original film Weekend At Bernie’s, while the second half remakes the sequel Weekend At Bernie's 2. She plays the role of Pooja, a hotel manageress who’s uncle has embezzled money from the business and is the subject of a attempt blackmail plot by Sanjay Dutt and Saif Ali Khan. Her next film was Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, the story of a fictional English soccer team, co-starring her real life boyfriend John Abraham. Basu’s plays the role of Rumana, a physical therapist who is also the love interest of the clubs star player (Abraham). She also made special appearances in No Smoking and Om Shanti Om. Basu’s first film of 2008 was in the hit movie Race, based on 1998 Hollywood movie Goodbye Lover. Co-starring Saif Ali Khan, Akshaye Khanna, Anil Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, she played the role of Sonia, a beautiful and glamorous model with a shady past. The film received numerous positive reviews from the critics, many of which commented of Basu’s performance in particular, and went on to be the fifth highest grossing Bollywood hit of 2008. She was also praised highly for her next role in Siddharth Anand’s Bachna Ae Haseeno. The film tells the story of Raj Sharma (Ranbir Kapoor) relationships with three different women through different stages of his life. Basu was nominated for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award for her perfornace as Radhika a budding model who is stood up at the altar by Raj, who later regrets it when he discovers she has become a world famous supermodel.
In March 2009 Basu starred in the sci-fi action thriller Aa Dekhen Zara. The film is directed by debutante director Jehangir Surti and co-stars Neil Mukesh. The movie tells the story of the discovery of a camera that has the ability to see the future. The movie struggled at the box office, partly due to the feud between multiplexes owners and the producers. Bipasha Basu Filmography 2001 - Ajnabee - Sonia/Neeta 2002 - Takkari Donga - Panasa 2002 - Raaz - Sanjana Dhanraj 2002 - Chor Machaaye Shor - Ranjita 2002 - Gunaah - Prabha Narayan 2003 - Jism - Sonia Khanna 2003 - Footpath - Sanjana Rai Shingla Khan 2003 - Zameen - Nandini 2004 - Ishq Hai Tumse - Kushboo 2004 - Aetbaar - Ria Malhotra 2004 - Rudraksh - Gayetri 2004 - Rakht: What If You Can See the Future - Drishti 2004 - Madhoshi - Anupama Kaul 2005 - Chehraa - Megha 2005 - Sachein - Manju 2005 - Barsaat - Anna 2005 - No Entry - Bobby 2005 - Apaharan - Megha 2005 - Shikhar - Natasha 2006 - Hum Ko Deewana Kar Gaye - Sonia Berry 2006 - Darna Zaroori Hai - Varsha 2006 - Phir Hera Pheri - Anuradha 2006 - Corporate - Nishigandha Dasgupta 2006 - Jaane Hoga Kya - Aditi 2006 - Dhoom 2 - Shonali Bose/Monali Bose 2007 - Nehlle Pe Dehlla - Pooja 2007 - Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal - Rumana 2008 - Race - Sonia 2008 - Bachna Ae Haseeno - Radhika/Shreya Rathod 2009 - Aa Dekhen Zara - Simi Chatterjee Bipasha Basu Trivia Bipasha Basu Links
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