Bipasha Basu

r huge turning point came in 1996 when she was advised to pick Modelling as a career by Mehr Jesia Rampal subsequently she went onto participate and win in the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest which led her to be a part of Ford Models Supermodel of the World in Miami where she represented India and gained much attention. After which she appeared in a Calida commercial and continued her modelling career and after declining a chance to make a film entry in Akshaye Khanna’s Himalaya Putra and also pushed off in a supporting role in J.P Dutta’s Refugee, she went on to make her Bollywood debut in 2001 through Ajnabee.

Film debut and rise to prominence (2001-2002) Abbas Mustan’s mystery thriller film Ajnabee was Bipasha’s official debut in Hindi cinema, where she paired with Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol and Kareena Kapoor in the fore front appearing in a negative character. She immediately attracted the spotlight by going on to win the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the movie based on infidelity and criminal plotting, which was an underperformer with strictly contrasting reviews. However the year 2002 turned out to be a blinder for Bipasha when she was cast by Vikram Bhatt in his blockbuster hit supernatural thriller Raaz opposite Dino Morea, the movie saw them playing couples who land up in a haunted house amidst relationship troubles only to realize bizarre truths about the whole setup in hand. She was showered with accolades for her hard-hitting act and she immediately rose to instant fame by going on to win a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her performance and the movie also turned out to be one of the biggest grossers of the year. String of consecutive releases (mid 2002-2004) Bipasha Basu then went on to star in the romcom Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai which was only a mediocre outing after which she went on to be a part of many forgettable flicks like Chor Machaaye Shor , Gunaah and also made a unfruitful detour to Telugu cinema with Mahesh Babu’s action entertainer Takkari Donga, all in the year 2002. She got some respite in the year 2003 when she was cast in Pooja Bhatt’s erotic thriller Jism , where she portrayed a cunning wife of a millionaire who plots her own husband’s death. John Abraham and Bipasha shared a good onscreen chemistry and the movie panned out to be a hit among the critics and movie goers simultaneously, thus ensuring her some quality breathing space with her second character with negative shades and she was touted to be the backbone of the movie. The year 2004 too turned out to be uneventful for her with Aetbaar , Rudraksh and got favourable reactions for films like Rakht, and romantic drama Madhoshi which saw her coming up with stunning performances and career defining antics but only had average run at the box office. Her next release was the 2005 love triangle flick Barsaat co-starring Bobby Deol and Priyanka Chopra and finally tasted success with her Tamil debut Sachein where she paired with actor Vijay which was a profitable venture that fared well among the critics too. Career best phase (2005-2009) Bipasha Basu then went on to be part of the blockbuster comic classic No Entry along with an ensemble cast consisting of Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Fardeen Khan, Lara Dutta and more. The movie saw her return to the winning ways with exciting reviews. She was then seen playing the central character in the 2006 crime drama film Corporate opposite Kay Kay Menon and the movie was a total revelation for the actress in Basu as she got her long overdue critical recognition playing the conspirator in an industrial rivalry between two corporates. She was showered on with accolades for her perfect depiction of the emotional nuances of the character and went on to win most of the Best Actress Awards that year and the movie apparently was a huge grosser and till day considered her career best act. Dhoom 2 which released later the same year completed a blinder hat trick for Bipasha , where she had nothing in particular to do rather than flaunting her looks as a dashing cop and playing second fiddle to the antics of the male counterparts though the movie emerged a huge blockbuster with positive reviews. Phir Hera Pheri was her other release of the year 2006 which was the second instalment of classic Hera Pheri which emerged a super hit . where she appeared in her trademark “villainouslady” role playing a con women and then went on play amongst the lead in Vishal Bhardwaj’s crime drama Omkara , which was an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello where she shared screen with Ajay Devgn , Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Kareena Kapoor. The movie garnered rave reviews and had been premiered at many prestigious film Festivals across the world. The movie had Bipasha reprising the original character “Bianca” from the novel who is a jealous lover and the role too was one of her most noted characters even though with only a limited screen time although she managed to look eloquent in her portrayal. Recent films (2007-2016) After a lacklustre act in John Abraham’s sports drama Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal , she went on to get her next major break in Abbas Mustan’s thriller Race , which dealt with the themes of sibling rivalry and featured Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna as the plotting brothers and Bipasha played a common link kind of lady in the movie connecting the narrative and was once again seen surfacing with a spectacular performance emoting the fluctuating insecurities of the character with utmost conviction and the movie was one of the biggest hits of the year 2008 with tremendous reviews. Ranbir Kapoor was seen to be her next star pairing in the comedy of errors romantic flick Bachna Ae Haseeno along with Deepika Padukone and Minissha Lamba in the lead and the movie fared well. After which her next major releases were the underperforming Aa Dekhen Zara and the successful All The Best which saw her well appreciated transition to a comic role. Bipasha Basu finally landed up in her career best act in Rituparno Ghosh’s directorial Bengali film Shob Charitro Kalponik, where she was seen shedding her star image and getting under the skin of the character of a women who gets caught up between the constant negligence of her writer husband and a possible partner in her husband’s greatest admirer who works with her. The movie was nothing like which she had ever done in her career and saw her transition from larger than life avatars to donning an everyday women’s perspective in to the role and the movie was a critical hit with screening even at Cannes Film Festival and more in the year 2009. She came back with two initial releases in 2010 through Pankh and the political drama Lamhaa opposite Sanjay Dutt which were strictly mediocre outings and followed up with a steady act playing the wife of a cop who helps in the investigative part of the proceedings in Priyadarsan’s thriller based on honour killings Aakrosh along with Ajay Devgn and Akshaye Khanna. She fetched highly warm reviews for her portrayal of a happy go lucky girl in the crime thriller Dum Maaro Dum which was a successful flick. She had her strong comeback in the lead in Vikram Bhatt’s third instalment of Raaz series in Raaz 3 which saw he return to her forte, playing a fading superstar in the horror thriller who resorts to dark practices to win over her counterparts.The movie was a blockbuster and had awesome reviews. Bipasha Basu’s latest outings were Race 2 , the second instalment of Race series where she reprised her original role in the prequel with the movie which performed well and next seen in the moderately performing horror thriller Aatma. Her next releases were Humshakals , Creature 3D and Roland Joffe’s epic drama The Lovers and also won innumerable praises for the horror thriller which was her latest film Alone , saw her pairing with her Husband in 2015.