The ever beautiful, charming and graceful Lara Dutta celebrates her birthday today. A former supermodel-turned-actress, Lara Dutta is a cut above the rest, mainly because of her tenacity and extraordinary charm.
Born on 16 April, 1978, to a Punjabi father and an Anglo-Indian mother, Lara is the middle child of three sisters. Her father was a retired Wing Commander, L.K. Dutta. Lara is a Bangalore girl, who moved to the garden city with her family in 1981, from her hometown in Ghaziabad, U.P.
In Bangalore, Lara completed her schooling from St. Francis Xavier’s and Frank Anthony Public School. She then moved to Mumbai for college, gathering a degree in Economics and Communications from the University of Mumbai.
Then, in the early 1990’s, the glamour bug bit Lara. Having lived in Mumbai for many years, Lara was seduced by the lure of fashion and films. In 1995, Lara Dutta won the Gladrags Megamodel competition, and then went on to win the Miss Intercontinental Pageant. Her early successes in the modelling world groomed her to win the Miss Universe title in 2000. Incidentally, Lara was crowned Miss Universe in the same year that another Bollywood beauty stole the show at Miss World- Priyanka Chopra.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LARA:
Priyanka and Lara’s association then continued when the two were signed on to debut in the Akshay Kumar starrer Andaaz. The film was a huge hit, and gave the impetus to both their careers. Sadly, however, Lara’s career witnessed a mild downswing, with her subsequent films, Bardaasht, Aan: Men At Work, Insan, Elaan and Jurm failing to make a mark at the Box Office.
Lara’s fortunes changed once again in 2005, when she starred in Masti. Later that year, she saw a big hit in the form of No Entry, which was a box office winner. Since then, she starred in hits like Bhagam Bhag, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Partner and others, which cemented her status in the Hindi film industry.
Not only was Lara considered a gorgeous heroine, but was given credit for being a good actress too. Lara has gone on to make a name for herself in somewhat experimental cinema. She produced a film in 2011, titled Chalo Dilli which was a moderate success. She has even planned a sequel to it – Chalo China.
In her personal life, Lara is a shy and reserved person, who rarely speaks of private details. She was in a long-term relationship with fellow model and actor Kelly Dorjee, and then dated Dino Morea for a while. She settled down with tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi in 2011, and is mother to a two year old daughter, Saira Bhupathi.
We wish the pretty lady the happiest of birthdays, and looks forward to seeing much more of her in films, in the years to come.
