Sushmita Sen turns 31
19th Nov 2006 22.00 IST
By ApunKaChoice
Former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen turned 31 today.
Reports are that Sushmita will be celebrating her birthday with her daughter Renee.
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Even as Sushmita grows a year older, her spirit is intact. "I love my grey strands and the wrinkles on my face. They add a lot of character to my face. I have never been concerned about age, I think one has to take it sportingly," she said.
Born on November 19, 1975, Sushmita, who was born in Hyderabad and grew up in Delhi, came into limelight when she was crowned the Miss Universe in 1994. And no sooner than her contract as Miss Universe was over, Sushmita decided to give a shot to Bollywood.
Sushmita entered Bollywood soon after and film played herself Dastak , which however met disastrous box-office results followed by Zor which suffered the same fate. What followed after this was a long time in the spotlight but for all the wrong reasons.
From breast enhancement surgery, to a wayward attitude, to claims of unpunctuality, to being branded a home-wrecker and diva-like behavior but Sushmita still managed to come out trumps by winning the award for Best Supporting Actress in 1999 for Biwi No.1 where she played the evil 'other' woman.
Soon after Sushmita established herself as 'Sensuous' Sush with special appearance songs like Mehboob Mere ( Fiza ) and Dilbar Dilbar ( Sirf Tum ) and her personal life though tumultuous was emitting happiness as in 2000 Sushmita became the proud mother of her adopted daughter Renee.
Sushmita's relationships and boyfriends have also made headlines having dated men like Ricky Martin (after he was a judge at the Miss Universe pageant), Sanjay Narang (the industrialist) and Vikram Bhatt (the film director/producer). She also made headlines for her lawsuit with coca-cola and supposed diva-like behavior.
Yet despite all the negative publicity and through her hard work, phenomenal resilience, approach, maturity and strength of character and personality Sushmita maintained her position in Bollywood, when many others have failed.
While her peers have produced over 30 films, worked with the biggest banners, Sushmita prioritized her life and her career: her daughter and family came first and she did films that she felt were good for her as an actress rather than her position in Bollywood.
2003 saw the beginning of a new chapter in Sushmita's life: her, then, on and off relationship with Randeep Hooda , in 2004 she also came into the running for the title of Queen of Bollywood with Main Hoon Na (her sexy sarees and avatar along with her sizzling chemistry with Shah Rukh Khan set the screen and box office alight).
Sushmita also become the first Indian brand Ambassador for Tag Heuer and Kiah and with a 22 karat diamond ring and churned out critically acclaimed performances in Chingari and Zindagi Rocks .
From long-legged dark-horse beauty queen to the ultimate 'item' girl to the suited booted police officer in Samay to the sexy-sari clad chemistry teacher and finally to a prostitute and a rockstar, Sushmita has indeed come a long way.
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