Bipasha Basu

Bipasha Basu (born January 7, 1979) is an Indian Bollywood actress and model. She was the winner of the Ford's Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest for 1996 and is currently one of the mainstream actresses in Bollywood. She is often cited by popular magazines and newspapers as one of Asia's sexiest celebrity women.

Basu was born in New Delhi, India, into a Bengali family. She is the second of three daughters to her parents, the elder being Bidisha, and the younger—Vijayeta. Although she was born in New Delhi, her family later moved to Kolkata.

According to her, she had come into modelling and acting quite by accident, because initially she had planned to study medicine. Basu studied science till the 12th standard at Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir and later took up commerce at The Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society College, an undergraduate college affiliated with the University of Calcutta. In Kolkata, she did modelling and rampshows partime. Although, as pointed above, she intended to become a doctor, her aversion for dissections made her opt for chartered accountancy.[3] However, in 1996, she met well-known model Mehr Jessia in Kolkata; the latter suggested that Basu take part in the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel contest. She eventually participated, and won the contest.


Basu is currently dating actor John Abraham. The couple have been dating since late 2002. She previously dated fellow Bollywood actors Milind Soman and Dino Morea.

In 2006, Basu claimed to have been harassed by organizers of the India Day Parade in Edison, New Jersey. Basu was initially scheduled to lead the parade on August 13, 2006. Basu eventually appeared on stage late, according to her, because of the harassment. She said, "I wanted to attend the parade, but I could not." She explained that she was harassed physically and mentally in the car by two people who were taking her to the parade.

In November 2007, UK magazine Eastern Eye named Basu the "Sexiest Woman in Asia".