Sushmita Sen is an Indian actress who appears in Bollywood films. A former model, Sen was crowned Miss Universe in 1994. She was the first Indian woman to win the contest.
Background
Sushmita was born in the Bengali-speaking Sen family on November 19, 1975 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her family consists of her father, Shubeer, a former Indian Air Force Wing Commander, her mother, Subhra, Jewelry Designer and owner of a Dubai-based store. She has two siblings: a sister named Neelam, and a brother named Rajeev.
Education
Sushmita attended different schools, but spent the majority of her schooling days in the Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute and St. Ann's High School. She was regarded as a tomboy and spent most of her times with boys. Since the schools were Hindi medium, she could not speak English until she was 16 years of age.
Career
In 1994, as a teenager, Sen won the title of Femina Miss India. Sen represented India at the 1994 Miss Universe Pageant, held in Manila,Philippines and won there.
At Miss Universe, Sen 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. Sen 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 Carolina Gomez 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 Sen, 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.
After her reign as Miss Universe, Sushmita became an actress. Her first film, “Dastak” was in 1996, in which she played the victim of a stalker. She then starred in the 1997 Tamil blockbuster “Ratchagan”. Two years later her appearance as Rupali in “Biwi No.1” won her the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award in 1999. “Biwi No.1” was the second 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 was the second bestselling movie of that year. Later, Sushmita played a lawyer in “Main Aisa Hi Hoon”. Her most recent movies include “Karma”, “Confessions and Holi” (2006), “Do Knot Disturb”, “Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag” (2007) and “Dulha Mil Gaya” (2010).
Sushmita has signed three big projects, one of which has been reported that she 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.
Religion
She is unconventional, even iconoclastic, in her attitude toward religion. Sushmita Sen tends to see traditional religion as a restrictive, meaningless ritual with little to offer, and she is eager to experiment with other, alternative paths. Sushmita has lots of creative, innovative ideas and she often feels that others are unwilling to take risks and venture out of their deeply ingrained perspectives and views.