Born in Breach Candy Hospital, Bombay to parents Amit and Asha Patel, Ameesha studied at the Cathedral and John Connon School, where she was the head girl for one academic year. She is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer ever since she was five years old. After studying Economics at Tufts University, Medford, USA, she worked as an economic analyst in a company. Ameesha’s decision to return to India was a turning point in her life. Despite coming from a conservative family she plunged into theatre and modeling. She featured in ads of Fair & Lovely, Lux, Cadbury, Fem, and so on.
Her first break was when Rakesh Roshan offered her a film opposite his son, whom he was going to launch. After initially refusing it, she later decided to go ahead. The result is known to all- the box-office smasher hit Kaho Naa…Pyaar Hai! The film was a huge success and she became a star overnight. Her performance garnered her much appreciation and awards for Best Debut Female at important award functions. Her second film was a Telugu one named Badri, which grossed more than 120 million, making it a major success.The actress witnessed another high of her career with her next Hindi film, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, in which she starred opposite Sunny Deol. The film was a cross- border love story and went on to become the highest grossing films of all times. It won seven awards at various functions, and was nominated for plenty of categories at the Filmfare, IIFA, Star Screen and Zee Cine Awards. Ameesha received the Filmfare Special Performance Award for her outstanding portrayal of the character.
Thereafter, her career slumped and her films failed to create any magic at the box office. A series of flops included ‘Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai’, ‘Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage’, ‘Kranti’, ‘Yeh Hai Jalwa’, ‘Parwana’, ‘Suno Sasurjee’, ‘Vaada’ and ‘Elan’. Ameesha was also seen in Aamir Khan- starrer ‘Mangal Pandey: The Rising’ where she played the role of a Bengali widow. Although the film did average earnings, it did nothing to salvage her failing career. Some of these films include ‘Tathastu’, ‘Ankahee’, and ‘Aap Ki Khatir’ and so on.
The sexy star’s career-graph took a positive turning with films like ‘Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ and ‘Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic’, in which she was noted for her role and her performance appreciated. She was last seen in ‘Chatur Singh Two Star’, which was a commercial failure. Besides these films, she has appeared in many Tamil and Telugu films. Her upcoming projects include ‘Race 2’, ‘Shortcut Romeo’ and ‘Bhaiyyaji Superhitt’.
Ameesha has also been in news for reasons more than one. She had a legal battle with her parents, whom she accused of wasting all her money for their personal satisfaction. She had also patched up with her brother Ashmit Patel in August 2009 on the auspicious day of Raksha Bandhan. Her relationship with filmmaker Vikram Bhatt and later with businessman Kanav Puri was the talk of the town. The actress has also appeared in a number of television shows like Rendezvous with Simi Garewal, Indian Idol 2, etc.
| IN HER OWN WORDS : |
| "I was born in Mumbai in the illustrious Patel family. My Grandfather was the renowned lawyer-politician Barrister Rajni Patel who was the Congress Pradesh Committee President of Bombay. My grandmother is the most innocent human being I’ve known in my life. Ours is a true Indian multi-racial family. My dad is of Gujarati-Maharashtrian parentage and my mom’s a Sindhi, so we have the best of all the Indian culture and traditions. Right from childhood, we were brought up in a traditional yet modern way. My brother and me have never indulged in firecrackers during Diwali, because of concern for the little children who work in the factories to produce them. Similarly, we were encouraged to take part in extra-curricular activities. I was heavily into art, drawing, elocution, and debates. I won several awards in school and college. I was the Head Girl of my school and I’m very proud of the fact. I got to go to the U.S. to study Economics at the Tuft’s University in Boston. It was a great experience studying there and then I used to model during my Holidays in Mumbai. I’ve modeled for Fair and Lovely and Lakme and many other products.  When I got back from the States, I was working in a financial company but the nine to five job was too much for me to handle. I’ve always had leaning towards the creative fields and soon got bored of life in the cubicle. I’m not street smart, so I couldn’t cope with the pressures of being a number cruncher. I’m a trained in Indian classical dance and I gave my first performance at the age of six! So when I couldn’t satisfy my creative urges, I joined a theatre group and started acting in plays. It’s strange how Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai happened to me. My father has known Rakesh Roshan from a long time. Once, when I was very young, he’d seen me dancing at a wedding and he’d told my father that one day, he’d launch me in films. My father had vehemently argued with him. So it was destiny that when he invited my mom and me to his house for lunch and offered the film to me opposite Hrithik. It was a dream come true. When I told my mom and dad about my decision to do the film, there was World War III in the house. They made me see all the disadvantages of being an actress and I told them of all the advantages of being in films. Finally, they came and saw my play and agreed that I would die if I didn’t get an opportunity to be an actress. So they relented. I will never be grateful enough to my parents for letting me become an actress. Also, I’ll never let their trust and faith in me go in vain. I will prove myself with my hard work and I’m confident that I’d be able to do a lot of good work in the film industry." |
PERSONAL LIFE :
She dated Bollywood director, Vikram Bhatt, for five years since the release of their first film together, 'Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage', but they had broken-up in 2007. Ameesha started dating London and Delhi-based businessman Kanav Puri after her break-up, but they eventually broke up two years later in 2010.
CONTROVERSY :
In August 2006, an Air India employee had filed a police complaint, alleging Patel had misbehaved with her after her companion was not upgraded to first class on the Mumbai-New York flight on 18 August. Patel was on her way to attend India's Independence Day parade in New York.Officers at the police station said Patel could be called in and warned about her behaviour, if charges against her are proved, and would be questioned once she returns from abroad. Later, CISF personnel have corroborated the Air India employees' version of the incident. Once Patel returned to India, she stated that the employees "are only trying to safeguard themselves by filing a false complaint against us. Incidentally, there was also a drunken passenger, who joined in this verbal fight. Afterward, the organizers of the annual parade sent a written apology and a clarification to Patel and said it had booked two first class seats for Patel and her companion for the Mumbai-New York flight but the booking was automatically transferred from one flight to another, creating confusion.
AWARDS :
TRIVIA :
Regarded as one of the sexiest actresses in Bollywood, Ameesha has appeared in around 30 films till date, and more on the way! She has also been a part of several stage shows, concerts and world tours like ‘The Roshans: Hrithik Live In Concert’, ‘Craze 2004’, ‘Kuch Dil Se…’ etc. The actress is associated with organizations like PETA, PlanetRead and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
