Amisha Patel

Date of Birth
9 June 1975, Bombay, Maharashtra, India

Nickname
Princess
Angel
Amypoo

Height
5' 2½" (1.59 m)

Mini Biography
Grand-daughter of Indian freedom fighter, lawyer, and former Justice Rajni Patel, Amisha, a Gemini, was born in Bombay's Breach Candy Hospital. She is nicknamed Angel and Princess. Her younger brother Ashmit Patel is also a Bollywood film actor and her name is a blend of the first three letters of her father's name Amit and the last three letters of her mother's name Asha.

She studied at the Cathedral and John Connon High School in Bombay, and went on to obtain a degree in Economics from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, U.S.A. After graduation she worked for a Finance company and also modeled on the side.

She has studied Bharat Natyam dance form since the age of five, and had acted in several plays in Satyadev Dubey's Theatre including a play titled 'Neelam'.

She did not have any plans of being an actress, but when Amit's friend, film-maker and actor, Rakesh Roshan, met her during a family lunch, he offered her the lead role in 'Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai'. Amisha accepted the offer, the movie went on to become a blockbuster, and made her a star overnight.

She went on to star in movies like 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha', 'Kranti', 'Kya Yehi Pyar Hai', 'Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar', 'Aap Mujhe Aache Lagne Lage', 'Yeh Hai Jalwa', 'Humraaz', 'Parwana', 'Suno Sasurjee', 'Vaada', 'Elaan', 'Zameer', 'Mere Jeevan Saathi', 'Mangal Pandey', 'Humko Tumse Pyar Hai', 'Teesri Aankh', 'Tathastu', 'Ankahee', Aap Ki Khatir', 'Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd', 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa' & 'Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic'.

She has also acted in three Telugu films and a Tamil film.

Amisha has been the recipient of four awards for her performances in 'Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai', and 'Gadar: Ek Prem Katha'.

She has co-starred with Akshaye Khanna, Sunny Deol, Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Sanjay Dutt, Aftab Shivdasani, Hrithik Roshan, Arjun Rampal amongst others.

Her personal life has been marred with misunderstandings with her parents and brother, so much so that she has sought the intervention of the courts. 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. Patel started dating London and Delhi-based businessman Kanav Puri after her break-up, but they eventually broke up two years later in 2010.

She has many critics, who have described her as inconsistent, but have since then bitten their lips when they were proved wrong by this petite, and beautiful actress - who has, and continues to enthrall her fans with a variety of performances on the silver screen.


Trivia
Won gold medal for an Economics paper at her university.

Obtained Biogenetic Engineering degree in the United States.

Granddaughter of barrister politican, Rajni Patel.

Economic graduate from Tufts University, Boston

Daughter of Asha Patel and sister of Ashmit Patel

Attended Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. Studied Economics and graduated as part of the class of 1997.

Ex-girlfriend of Vikram Bhatt.

Turned down Bipasha Basu's role in Jism (2003).

Dropped out of the role of Bhoomika Chawla in Tere Naam (2003) due to scheduling conflicts.

Her favorite movies are Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988), Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995), Umrao Jaan (1981), Chandni (1989) and Pretty Woman (1990).


Personal Quotes
[on item numbers] I don't mind an item number like "Kajra Re" from Bunty Aur Babli (2005), it's done well and the song seems like a whole lot of fun. But if I did a "Khallas," my career would also be Khallas with it!

[on Hrithik Roshan's and Sussanne Khan's new born child, Hrehaan] We were children together... now the child I knew, has a child. Such a long journey... in such a short time, now they embark on another journey. A journey of parenthood. I wish them all the best. Sussanne and Hrithik are beautiful people and now the most beautiful thing has happened to them.

I would never deny the importance of the media, but I wouldn't go out of the way to splash my pictures all over town. I'd rather let my work do the talking.

Films were never on my agenda, may be it was written in my destiny. And since I am here, I would like to give it my best try.

No one wants to touch you, if you don't have a film background. Which is why outsiders like me have to work doubly hard to get noticed.

People bring you up so fast... But they bring you down even faster.

I love human beings. I believe that there is so much to learn from every person you meet including a child.

I feel French is very close to Urdu. Both languages are beautiful. Sadly, their beauty is lost in translation.

To join or not to join films was the biggest choice I had to make. I'd done two years of biogenetic engineering, was an economics graduate and a gold medalist. I had also been a Bharatanatyam dancer from age five, always won the best actress award in school. Finally I decided to do things for my soul, chose to act.

You have to take life with a pinch of salt and enjoy what you have. There's no point whining.

Believe in yourself and follow the path of honesty because there are no shortcuts in life.

[on her relationship with Vikram Bhatt] People often felt that I was mismatched with Vikram. But for me it was all about the intellect and not about the outer facade.. ours was a dignified and amicable breakup. We were the best of friends and we remain so. We knew we had to move on. So, it was beautifully done. We talk to each other even now and help each other.

I'd never get into a relationship because it would benefit me career wise or monetarily. I'm not one of those who'd say, 'He's not successful, dump him' and move on to the next one.

I don't think two actresses from the same generation can be friends. When you are vying for the same role and competing with one another you cannot be friends. I'd never give up a role for anyone. But two actresses from different generations can be friends. Madhuri Dixit and I got along really well.

I have never done films where the spotlight is only on me. I say yes when I feel the audience can relate to my character in some way. When I played a mother in my second film, "Gadar", and was covered from head to toe, people thought I was damaging my career. When I wore saris in "Humraaz", many thought it would work against me. The same was repeated to me when I played a love-struck wife in "Honeymoon..." Even Adi (Aditya Chopra) was scared and told me to think twice before saying yes to "Thoda Pyaar..." as it was essentially the role of a dimwit. She was lovable but there could have been negative responses.

I am happy I have competition. It keeps me on my toes all the while and stops me from becoming complacent. So, it works to my advantage.