Celeb In The Spotlight: Lara Dutta

This week BC puts former Miss Universe, the stunning Lara Dutta Bhupathi in the spotlight.

Lara was born on April 16, 1978, in NCR satellite town, Ghaziabad, Utter Pradesh. Her father, L.K. Dutta, was a Punjabi Wing Commander and her mother, Jennifer Dutta, an Anglo-Indian.

Lara is the middle born among her siblings. One of her two older sisters serves in the Indian Force while her youngest sister is the well known designer, Cheryl Dutta.

Her family moved to Bangalore in 1981 where she went to St. Francis Xavier Girls' High School and Frank Anthony Public School. She went on to complete her education at the University of Mumbai, graduating with a major in economics and a minor in communications.

The gorgeous diva then took to the ramp and won the annual Gladrags modeling competition in India, earning herself the right to be the first Indian representative at the '97 Miss Intercontinental pageant, where she went on to win first place.

She was then crowned Femina Miss India Universe and consequently, Miss Universe in 2000.

Lara started her acting career with the Tamil film Arastachi, a venture which was originally set to be released in 2002, but due to financial issues, was postponed to 2004.

Her first Bollywood film was the 2003 commercial success Andaaz. That debut won Lara her very first Filmfare award.

Her next few films were not as successful. However, the gorgeous model-turned-actress does have a slew of fair films to her credit, among them 2004's Masti, 2005's No Entry, 2006's Bhagam Bhag, Partner in 2007 and Housefull in 2010.

Her 2009 release, Blue is said to have been the most expensive film of Indian Cinema up to its time.

Her love life has also been of some interest. The actress at one point dated New York Yankees' star Derek Jeter whilst living in NYC. It was an affair for some time, before the two called a split.

In September 2010, she got engaged to Indian tennis player Bhupathi. The couple very recently formalized a wedlock this February 2011, on the 16th, in Bandra. This was followed by a fairytale Christian ceremony on the 20th of the same month at Sunset Point in Goa.

Did you know...

• Lara walked out from the set of Blue because it was filmed in the ocean. Having nearly drowned during the shooting of Andaaz, she was scared to shoot for the film. Akshay, her co-star in Andaaz as well as her saviour, once again came to her rescue and convinced her to take swimming lessons.  
• Being crowned Miss Universe led to her being appointed as an UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador.
• She is cousin to the famous composer DJ Nitin Sawhney.
  

Her next film Chalo Dilli should be in theatres around you currently. Be sure to catch it!