Actress, entrepreneur and owner of one of Bollywood's most envied figures, Lara Dutta has played many roles since the time she was crowned Miss Universe in 2000. As she turns 37 today, here is a look at Lara's journey so far.
Actress, entrepreneur and owner of one of Bollywood's most envied figures, Lara Dutta has played many roles since the time she was crowned Miss Universe in 2000. The actress took a sabbatical after the birth of her daughter Saira, but returned to Bollywood in 2013 with Bejoy Nambiar's bilingual film David. She will next be seen on the silver screen in Singh Is Bliing and No Entry Mein Entry, the sequel to 2005 hit No Entry.
As she turns 37 today, here is a look at Lara's journey so far.
Lara Dutta was born to a Punjabi family in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Her father is a retired Air Force officer and one of her two sisters also serves in the Air Force. Musician Nitin Sawhney is Lara's cousin. Lara grew up in Bangalore and went to St Francis Xavier Girls' High School. She graduated in economics from the University of Mumbai.
Lara won the annual Gladrags modelling competition which sent her to the 1997 Miss Intercontinental pageant. Lara won the title and was then crowned Femina Miss India Universe in 2000.
She was the highest scorer in the swimsuit round, and her final interview answer - in which she delivered a passionate defence of beauty pageants - fetched her a near-perfect score of 9.99 from all the judges, the highest ever in the history of the pageant. Lara became the second Indian Miss Universe making it a clean sweep for India that year with her fellow Miss Indias Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza also winning Miss World and Miss Asia Pacific.
At Miss Universe 2000 in Cyprus, Lara was the clear favourite ahead of fierce competition from Venezuela, Spain, USA and Canada.
In 2002, Lara signed up for her first film, the Tamil language Arasatchi, opposite Tamil superstar Arjun but it only released in mid-2004 because of financial problems.
Lara made her Bollywood debut in 2003 with the hit film Andaaz opposite Akshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra. Her performance won her the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award.
Lara's films have been a mixed bag of hits and flops. Her hit parade includes Masti (2004), No Entry (2005), Bhaagam Bhaag (2006) and Partner (2007).
Lara appeared as Irrfan Khan's wife in Billu (2009), a role far less glamorous than her usual film appearances.
Next came Blue, in the same year, opposite Sanjay Dutt. The movie tanked but Lara's bikini body was a superhit.
In the same year, Lara appeared with her Partner co-star Govinda, and actors Riteish Deshmukh and Ranvir Shorey in Do Knot Disturb but the movie was a dud at the box office.
In 2010, Lara appeared in hit comedy Housefull opposite Riteish Deshmukh.
In 2011, Lara produced her first film - Challo Dilli, featuring Vinay Pathak. The film got mixed reviews.
Don 2 (2011) was the last film Lara Dutta appeared in before she took extended maternity leave from the Hindi film industry.
Post pregnancy, she made a comeback in 2013 with Bejoy Nambiar's Tamil-Hindi bilingual film David, which received critical acclaim.
Lara famously dated fellow model Kelly Dorjee for eight years. They were in a serious relationship when she won the Miss Universe title, and lived together for the next few years as she forged a film career, only to break up in 2007.
Lara Dutta then dated model-turned-actor Dino Morea for a year.
In 2010, the actress announced she was engaged to tennis ace Mahesh Bhupathi and they married in February 16, 2011.
Lara Dutta gave birth to her daughter Saira on January 20, 2012.
After trying her hand at producing movies and launching her own fitness DVD, Lara launched her own fashion line, an ethnic wear collection in October 2012.
Lara will next be seen on the silver screen in Singh Is Bliing and No Entry Mein Entry. She also features in 2016's Fitoor in which she co-stars with Rekha, Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapur.
Here's wishing Lara a very happy birthday and a great year ahead.
