Sushmita Sen

Name: Sushmita Sen
Birthday: Wednesday, November 19, 1975
Star Sign : Scorpio
First Film : Dustak








BIOGRAPHY

Sushmita’s victory as Ms. Universe in 1994 catapulted India onto the beauty map of the world. More crowns and pageant queens followed, but Sushmita became a benchmark for them, the quintessence of all such beautiful and brave women who have that vim and vigour to take on the universe. And Bollywood had to follow.
Strangely, Sushmita’s debut film was Mahesh Bhatt’s ‘Dastak’, where she enacted her real life role (that of Ms. Universe) onscreen. Ms. Sen had everything - dashing looks, ambition, talent, and a fiercely intelligent mind that could intimidate most erudite men from the industry; her only snag was that she was a trifle taller than most Bollywood actors at that point of time. She carried her towering height and lean physique with poise and elegance, though offers didn’t come by, a dime a dozen. In 1999, for the first time Sushmita Sen received applause for her performance in ‘Biwi No. 1’ with Salman and Karisma Kapoor – it was then that she woke to an interesting revelation about her knack for comedy. In 2001 she attempted another David Dhawan so-called laugh-riot, ‘Kyo Ki Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta’, the results of which weren’t funny at all; of course, the critics had the last laugh.
But Sushmita wasn’t here to simply tickle funny bones and make her way into the highest echelons of the glamour biz; her intensity and perceptive sensibilities gradually emanated from the screen. In 2002 she starred in Meghna Gulzar’s debut vehicle, ‘Filhaal’, a strong woman-oriented subject. The film didn’t go down well the masses, but Sushmita received a sack full of accolades for her portrayal as a surrogate mother. In 2003, iDreams’ ‘Samay – When Time Strikes’ followed, a thriller where she played the protagonist – a cop in common-wo(man’s) clothes. Here again she evaded the archetypical role of posing as a heroic cop’s love-interest; she was the officer-in-control. In Manisha Koirala’s ‘Paisa Vasool’, Susmita played the role of a crass woman for the first time. Though the film bombed at the BO, she walked away once again with the bouquets, leaving behind the brickbats for others to bear.
Bollywood has finally woken up to a serious actress in Sushmita Sen, and the films that she is really looking forward to are Farah Khan’s ‘Main Hoon Na’ and Mahesh Manjrekar's 'It Was Raining That Night' (the English version of his earlier production, 'Astitva'), which is in her native languages of Bengali and English.
Sushmita’s professional life might be packed with a houseful of films, bustling with other activities, or blossoming with love (with her string of high-profile liaisons), but her first priority is her adopted daughter, Renee, who Sushmita says is the joy of her life.
Sushmita the Delhi girl took the world by storm in 1994, when she was crowned Miss Universe. This Delhi girl with very ordinary looks was the youngest amongst the seventy-seven participants, at just 18. Absolutely no one had predicted that this dark horse of the contest would emerge as the winner.

She was frank enough to admit after the competition that she was not the most beautiful woman of the world but it was her figure, personality, demeanour and the way she presented her country that brought her the honour.

Born in a middle class family at Hyderabad on November 19, 1975 Sushmita tore apart many a myth and pre- conceived notions of the abilities of middle class girl in the field of glamour. It may come as a surprise to many that she had not studied English till her ninth standard her entire schooling till that time being in Hindi. Standing 5” 10’ she is tall by Indian standards, but she admits that height was her forte in Miss Universe contest. Little could she have imagined what destiny had in store for her after the title? She went abroad to about thirty countries and met world leaders and discussed with them topics as diverse as war and peace, environment, poverty, friendship and goodwill.

When she came back home she was flooded with offers from films. But she took her time to settle and take her pick. Ultimately she made her debut in Mahesh Bhatt production, Dastak. Many called it mimicry of Shah Rukh Khan starrer Darr. The film flopped at the box office and along with it died the euphoria amongst the masses to see Miss Universe perform on the celluloid. During those days she had a torrid yet very brief affair with Vikram Bhatt, who was married and had children. Though they always categorically denied rumours.