Ameesha Patel (Amisha Patel)

Name: Ameesha Patel (Amisha Patel)

Birthday: 9^th June 1975

Zodiac: Gemini

Marital Status: Single. She was in a relationship with filmmaker Vikram Bhatt for five years, and later with London-based businessman Kanav Puri. After a relationship of more than two years, she broke up with him to focus on her career.

Awards: Ameesha received much recognition for her first film ‘Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai’ and even won the Best Debut Female awards at many award ceremonies. She was also awarded the Sansui Best Actress Award and Filmfare Special Performance Award and Annual Filmgoers Award for Best Actress for her amazing performance in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha. She was nominated for the Best Actress Award at popular award functions like Filmfare, IIFA, Star Screen and Zee Cine Award.

Trivia: Regarded as one of the sexiest actresses in Bollywood, Ameesha has appeared in around 30 films till date, and more on the way! She has also been a part of several stage shows, concerts and world tours like ‘The Roshans: Hrithik Live In Concert’, ‘Craze 2004’, ‘Kuch Dil Se…’ etc. The actress is associated with organizations like PETA, PlanetRead and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Biography: Born in Breach Candy Hospital, Bombay to parents Amit and Asha Patel, Ameesha studied at the Cathedral and John Connon School, where she was the head girl for one academic year. She is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer ever since she was five years old. After studying Economics at Tufts University, Medford, USA, she worked as an economic analyst in a company. Ameesha’s decision to return to India was a turning point in her life. Despite coming from a conservative family she plunged into theatre and modeling. She featured in ads of Fair & Lovely, Lux, Cadbury, Fem, and so on.

Her first break was when Rakesh Roshan offered her a film opposite his son, whom he was going to launch. After initially refusing it, she later decided to go ahead. The result is known to all- the box-office smasher hit Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai! The film was a huge success and she became a star overnight. Her performance garnered her much appreciation and awards for Best Debut Female at important award functions. Her second film was a Telugu one named Badri, which grossed more than 120 million, making it a major success.

The actress witnessed another high of her career with her next Hindi film, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, in which she starred opposite Sunny Deol. The film was a cross- border love story and went on to become the highest grossing films of all times. It won seven awards at various functions, and was nominated for plenty of categories at the Filmfare, IIFA, Star Screen and Zee Cine Awards. Ameesha received the Filmfare Special Performance Award for her outstanding portrayal of the character.

After a few flops, Ameesha tasted success again with Abbas- Mustan directed ‘Humraaz’ in which she was paired with Akshaye Khanna and Bobby Deol. The film did average business and Ameesha Patel was nominated for Best Actress awards at award functions.

Thereafter, her career slumped and her films failed to create any magic at the box office. A series of flops included ‘Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai’, ‘Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage’, ‘Kranti’, ‘Yeh Hai Jalwa’, ‘Parwana’, ‘Suno Sasurjee’, ‘Vaada’ and ‘Elan’. Ameesha was also seen in Aamir Khan- starrer ‘Mangal Pandey: The Rising’ where she played the role of a Bengali widow. Although the film did average earnings, it did nothing to salvage her failing career. Some of these films include ‘Tathastu’, ‘Ankahee’, and ‘Aap Ki Khatir’ and so on.

The sexy star’s career-graph took a positive turning with films like ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ and ‘Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic’, in which she was noted for her role and her performance appreciated. She was last seen in ‘Chatur Singh Two Star’, which was a commercial failure. Besides these films, she has appeared in many Tamil and Telugu films. Her upcoming projects include ‘Race 2’, ‘Shortcut Romeo’ and ‘Bhaiyyaji Superhitt’.

Ameesha has also been in news for reasons more than one. She had a legal battle with her parents, whom she accused of wasting all her money for their personal satisfaction. She had also patched up with her brother Ashmit Patel in August 2009 on the auspicious day of Raksha Bandhan. Her relationship with filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and later with businessman Kanav Puri was the talk of the town. The actress has also appeared in a number of television shows like Rendezvous with Simi Garewal, Indian Idol 2, etc.