Biography
Early life
Lara was born in
Ghaziabad,
Uttar Pradesh to a
Punjabi father and an
Anglo-Indian mother.
[1] Her father is Wing Commander L.K. Dutta (retired) and her mother is Jennifer Dutta. She also has two older sisters, one of whom serves in the
Indian Air Force and a well known younger sister. Famed composer and DJ
Nitin Sawhney is Lara's cousin.
[2] The Dutta family moved to
Bangalore in 1981 where she completed high school from St.Francis Xavier Girls' High School and the Frank Anthony Public School. Lara graduated in
economics with a minor in communications from the
University of Mumbai. She was crowned
Miss Universe in 2000 which led to her appointment as a
UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador in 2001.
[3] Modeling career
Dutta Bhupathi won the annual Gladsrags modeling competition in her native India, thus winning the right to be the first Indian representative at the 1997 Miss Intercontinental, in which she took first place. Later, she was crowned
Femina Miss India Universe and
Miss Universe in 2000.
[4]At Miss Universe 2000 in
Cyprus, Lara was the clear favourite ahead of fierce competition from Venezuela, Spain, USA and Canada. She achieved the highest score in the swimsuit competition and her finalist interview score was the highest individual score in any category in the history of the Miss Universe contest, as her perfect interview saw a majority of the judges giving her the maximum 9.99 mark. After her final question, in which she delivered a passionate defense of the Miss Universe contest (and other beauty pageants), she became the second Indian Miss Universe.
In the same year,
Priyanka Chopra and
Dia Mirza won their respective
Miss World and
Miss Asia Pacific titles which gave India a rare triple victory in the world of beauty pageants.
Acting career
Lara primarily signed up to do the
Tamil film,
Arasatchi in 2002, but due to financial problems, it only released in mid-2004. She made her Hindi debut in 2003 with the film
Andaaz which was a box office success and won her a
Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. She then appeared in a number of films, some of which failed at the box office and some of which were mildly successful. Her box office "hits" include
Masti (2004),
No Entry (2005),
Partner (2007) and
Housefull (2010).
In 2006, she starred in the comedy,
Bhagam Bhag which did well at the box office.
[5]In 2005, Sania Mirza and Lara Dutta Bhupathi both participated in Kaun Banega Crorepati (season 2) on 13 November 2005.
[6] Dutta's first release of 2007 was
Shaad Ali's
Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. The film was a box office failure in India but did better overseas, especially in the U.K.
[7] She received mixed reviews for her performance in the film. Her later release,
Partner opened to a good response and became a hit.
[8]Her 2009 release,
Blue was one of the most expensive movies of Indian cinema. Lara had initially walked out of the project because the movie was entirely shot in the ocean and she did not know how to swim. However the male protagonist
Akshay Kumar encouraged her in learning how to swim and she immediately started training with a special coach.
Blue was released on 16 October 2009.
[9] She stated that "The moment I got to know of it, I called Akshay and told him that I wouldn't be able to accept the assignment. He knew the reason behind my decision. Not many people are aware that I had almost drowned while shooting for Andaaz, Akshay had rescued me. When I reminded him I couldn't swim, he told me to forget my phobia and learn swimming pronto," said Dutta. "Today, I feel Blue has not merely made me overcome my phobias, but has also taught me something that will stay with me for the rest of my life".
[9]Her 2010 release
Housefull was a hit across
India. The movie starred
Akshay Kumar,
Deepika Padukone and
Riteish Deshmukh.
Personal life
Lara dated
New York Yankees star
Derek Jeter when she lived in
New York City. There she was spotted at a
baseball game in
Yankees Stadium and a news items was carried on
ESPN.
[10]In September 2010, she got engaged to Indian tennis player,
Mahesh Bhupathi.
[11][12] They got married on February 16, 2011 in a civil ceremony in Bandra,
[13] and later followed it by a Christian ceremony on 20 February 2011 at Sunset Point in Goa.
[14] Filmography
Awards
- Wins
- Nominations
