Shushmita Shen, Hindi, सुष्मिता सेन, Suśmitā Sen

Sushmita Sen (Shushmita Shen, Hindi, सुष्मिता सेन, Suśmitā Sen) was born on November 19, 1975 in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. She is a well-known Bollywood actress and was India's first Miss Universe in 1994.

Sushmita Sen

Birth name:
Sushmita Sen

Birthdate:
November 19, 1975 (1975-11-19) (age 31)

Birth location:
Andhra Pradesh, India

Height:
5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)

Eye color:
Brown

Hair color:
Black

Ethnicity:
Indian

Title(s):
Miss India 1994
Miss Universe 1994

Personal life
Sushmita's father is a retired Indian Air Force officer; her mother Subhra Sen worked as a fashion artist and jewelery designer. She has one brother, Rajeev Sen, and a sister, Neelam Sen. Her sister married IT consultant Nauman Malik.

Sushmita's mother tongue is Bengali. She was born in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh but grew up in Delhi. She attended school at Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute in Delhi. In Delhi, she studied English and planned a career in journalism.

In 2000, she adopted a girl, Renee, as a single mother.

Miss Universe
n 1994, at the age of eighteen, Sushmita won the title of Miss India narrowly beating out Aishwarya Rai, who was the favorite to win the contest. Twenty-two girls took their application out from the contest once they got to learn that model Aishwarya Rai was participating for Miss India. Sushmita Sen was one of them but her mother gave her the courage to face the challenge. Interestingly, Aishwarya Rai won every title in the preliminary round. Ironically, both Sen and Rai were actually tied for the title. It was with a tie-breaking question that got Sen the chance to represent India at the Miss Universe Pageant, held in Manila, Philippines.

At Miss Universe, Sushmita ranked third overall in the preliminaries, right behind preliminary winner Miss Colombia Carolina Gomez, and Miss Greece Rea Totounzi, who ranked second but won the preliminary swimsuit and evening gown competitions. Sushmita went on to place second, fifth and third respectively in the swimsuit, interview and evening gown competitions, placing her in third place behind Miss Colombia and Miss Venezuela Minorka Mercado. All three women went on to be the final three contestants. In the end, the judges placed their votes on Sushmita, making her the first woman from India to become Miss Universe.

Sushmita's supposed rival at the Miss India pageant, Aishwarya Rai, went on to win the 1994 Miss World contest.

Career
After her reign as Miss Universe, Sushmita became an actress. Her first movie, Dastak in 1996, where she played the victim of a stalker, didn't do well at the box office. Her subsequent movie Ratchagan in Tamil, was a huge hit. However, it was two years later that her appearance as Rupali in David Dhawan's movie Biwi No.1 won her the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award in 1999. The same year, she was also nominated for her role in Sirf Tum in the same category, making her an obvious choice for winner.

So far, her biggest hit has been the 2004 movie Main Hoon Na, in which she starred as Shahrukh Khan's love interest. Later on, she played a lawyer in Main Aisa Hi Hoon opposite Ajay Devgan. In 2005, she also starred in a remake of Cactus Flower, called Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya: Sen played the lead opposite Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif and essayed the role of Ingrid Bergman. Her most recent movies include Karma, Confessions and Holi (2006) opposite Naomi Campbell, Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007) and the recently announced Dulha Mil Gaya (2007) opposite Shahrukh Khan.

Awards & Nominations
Filmfare Awards

2000: Best Supporting Actress win for Biwi No.1 (1999)

2003: Best Supporting Actress nomination for Filhaal (2002)

Star Screen Awards

2001 Best Supporting Actress win for Biwi No.1

Zee Cine Awards

2000: Best Supporting Actress win for Biwi No.1 (1999)

2003: Best Supporting Actress win for Filhaal (2002)

2005: Best Supporting Actress nomination for Main Hoon Na (2004)