15.Bipasha Basu
Bipasha Basu, the dusky dazzler started out as a supermodel before scorching the big screen with her sultry sensuality.
Bipasha was born in New Delhi to a Bengali Hindu family. She is the second of three daughters to her parents, the elder being Bidisha, and the younger, Vijayeta. Although she was born in New Delhi, her family later moved to Kolkata. Bipasha studied science. Her repulsion towards dissecting animals, prompted her to move away from medicine to commerce. In her spare time, she took up some modelling assignments. After winning the Ford Godrej Cinthol contest, Basu also was flown to New York by the Ford, where she had a successful modelling career at the age of 17.
Bipasha made her film debut in Abbas Mustan’s Ajnabee (2001), with Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol and Kareena Kapoor. It was followed next year by the success of Raaz, a thriller directed by Vikram Bhatt. The following year she again made waves in Jism, in which she played a scheming seductress, opposite her boyfriend, John Abraham.
The year 2004 could be easily called Bipasha’s worst year as she had string of films that sunk at the box-office. Next year though her films No Entry and Phir Hera Pheri did well at the box-office. 2006 was Bipasha’s year all the way with good films like Corporate, Omkara, and Dhoom 2 to her credit. Her brilliant portrayal of Nishigandha Dasgupta in Madhur Bhandarkar’s Corporate won her a nomination for the Filmfare Best Actress Award. She sizzled in the item number ‘Beedi’ in Omkara. In 2008, Bipasha had another hit in her kitty with Race while her performance in Bachna Ae Haseeno was appreciated.
In 2009, her first release of the year was, Aa Dekhen Zara, with Neil Nitin Mukesh. The film was a flop. She was next seen in All The Best along with Ajay Devgan. 2010 saw Bipasha in the experimental film, Pankh, the Bengali film Shob Charitro Kalponik, and Lamhaa with Sanjay Dutt.
