Bipasha Basu

Bipasha Basu (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has received a Filmfare Award. In the 2000s and 2010s, she was known for her work in the thriller and horror genres and for several item numbers, and was frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol and a scream queen.

Born in Delhi and raised in Kolkata, Basu pursued a successful career as a fashion model. She then began receiving offers for film roles, and made her acting debut with the thriller Ajnabee (2001), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Basu's first leading role was in the horror film Raaz (2002), for which she earned a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Her career progressed with a leading role in the erotic thriller Jism (2003) and in two consecutive annual top-grossing films, No Entry (2005) and Dhoom 2 (2006).

Basu's other commercially successful films include the drama Corporate (2006), the comedies Phir Hera Pheri (2006) and All the Best: Fun Begins (2009), the thriller Race (2008), and the romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno (2008). In the 2010s, she starred in the horror films Raaz 3D (2012), Aatma (2013), Creature 3D (2014) and Alone (2015). This was followed by a hiatus during which her sole appearance was in the thriller series Dangerous (2020).

In addition to acting in films, Basu is a fitness enthusiast who has featured in several fitness videos. She hosted the horror series Darr Sabko Lagta Hai in 2015. Following a high-profile relationship with actor John Abraham, Basu married actor Karan Singh Grover in 2016, with whom she has one child.

Early life and modelling career
Bipasha Basu was born on 7 January 1979 to a Bengali family. Her father, Hirak, is a civil engineer, and her mother, Mamta, is a homemaker. She has one elder sister, Bidisha, and one younger sister, Vijayeta. According to Basu, her name means "deep, dark, desire".

In Delhi, Basu lived at Pamposh Enclave, Nehru Place until age eight and studied at Apeejay High School. Her family then moved to Kolkata, where she attended Bhavan's Gangabux Kanoria Vidyamandir in Bidhannagar. In her school, Basu was appointed as the head girl and was fondly called 'Lady Goonda' due to her short and commanding personality.

In 1996, Basu was spotted at a hotel in Kolkata by the model Mehr Jesia Rampal, who suggested she take up modelling. That year, she participated in and eventually won the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest (organised by Ford), thereby representing India at Ford Models Supermodel of the World contest in Miami. She later appeared in a Calida commercial with her then-boyfriend Dino Morea, which was controversial for picturing them in a sultry context; she had protesters outside her house as a result. With appearances on several magazine covers, Basu continued to pursue a career in fashion modeling during her late teens, until she became an actress.

Debut and breakthrough (2001–02)
One of the judges of the Godrej Cinthol Supermodel Contest in which Basu participated, Vinod Khanna, wanted to cast her alongside his son Akshaye Khanna in the romance Himalay Putra (1997). Basu felt she was too young and declined the role, which eventually went to Anjala Zaveri. After returning home, she was convinced by Jaya Bachchan to star opposite her son Abhishek Bachchan in J. P. Dutta's Aakhari Mughal. However, the film was cancelled, and Dutta instead changed the script and made the romantic drama Refugee with Kareena Kapoor. Basu was also offered a role in Refugee opposite Sunil Shetty, which she declined.

She finally made her acting debut in a negative role opposite Akshay Kumar in Abbas–Mustan's action thriller Ajnabee (2001) which also starred Kapoor and Bobby Deol. The film was inspired by the American film Consenting Adults (1992). Ajnabee received mixed reviews from critics upon release, with particular praise for Basu's performance, and it emerged as a moderate commercial success at the box-office. Her performance in the film also earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

Basu achieved her breakthrough with Vikram Bhatt's supernatural horror thriller Raaz (2002), which was the first instalment of the Raaz film series. Based on the Hollywood film What Lies Beneath (2000), it also starred Dino Morea and debutante Malini Sharma. Portraying a woman in a failing marriage who discovers that her husband is part of a ghostly conspiracy haunting their new home, the film earned Basu widespread critical acclaim and established her in the Hindi film industry. One review in The Tribune noted, "...it is Basu who steals the show with her impactful performance." The film also emerged as a major commercial success at the box office, ranking as the third highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. Raaz earned Basu her first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

She next starred in Sanjay Gadhvi's romantic comedy Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai (2002) alongside Uday Chopra, Jimmy Sheirgill and debutante Tulip Joshi. It opened to mixed reviews from critics upon release, with praise for Basu's performance, and emerged as a moderate commercial success at the box office. Her next film that year, David Dhawan's action comedy Chor Machaaye Shor alongside Deol, emerged as her first critical and commercial failure. The same year, she made her Telugu film debut with a supporting role in the revisionist western film Takkari Donga opposite Mahesh Babu and Lisa Ray. Her next film, the thriller Gunaah, again opposite Morea, also emerged as a critical and commercial failure. Her portrayal of a cop who loves a convict and tries to reform him earned her scathing reviews from critics, with Derek Elley of Variety stating that Basu was miscast as the "idealistic cop".

Commercial setbacks (2003–05)
In 2003, Basu starred in Pooja Bhatt's erotic thriller Jism alongside debutant John Abraham, in which she portrayed the seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire, who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. She and Abraham began a nine year long relationship while shooting for the film. It received mixed reviews upon release, but Basu earned praise for her portrayal of a femme fatale, with Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama commenting, "...the real show stealer is Basu; her sexy look and seductive deep voice, in contrast with her cold and calculating personality, makes her the most impressive femme fatale since Zeenat Aman and Parveen Babi." The film emerged as a sleeper hit at the box-office, with several trade analysts attributing its commercial success to Basu's popularity. Jism ranked at 92 in a poll conducted by Channel 4 the top 100 sexiest movie scenes. Basu's performance in the film earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Villain. However her next release, Rohit Shetty's directorial debut Zameen alongside Ajay Devgn and Abhishek Bachchan, emerged as a critical and commercial failure.

Basu had five releases in 2004, all of which received scathing critical reviews and emerged as commercial disasters at the box office. She began the year with the musical romance Ishq Hai Tumse in her third collaboration with Morea. She then collaborated for the second time with Vikram Bhatt in her next release, the psychological romantic thriller Aetbaar. She played the role of a young woman who falls in love with a psychopath. Rediff.com noted that "... The characters are not convincing, the plot is not fast-paced or interesting." Her next film was Mani Shankar's fantasy science fiction film Rudraksh, based on the Indian epic Ramayana. She then starred in the supernatural horror film Rakht as a tarot card reader trying to solve a murder mystery. Shruti Bhasin of PlanetBollywood wrote, "Basu impresses in a different look and role." Her final release that year was Anil Sharma's psychological thriller Madhoshi opposite Abraham. Her performance of a mentally unstable woman was generally well received.

In 2005, she appeared in the thriller Chehraa alongside Morea, which was a critical and commercial failure. This was followed by the musical love triangle Barsaat alongside Deol and Priyanka Chopra, which also received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. Taran Adarsh commented, "As an actor, she [Basu] does show sparks only towards the end." It also emerged as a commercial failure at the box office. She next starred in the Tamil romantic comedy Sachein, alongside Vijay and Genelia D'Souza, which proved to be a box office hit. She then appeared in Prakash Jha's crime action film Apaharan, alongside Devgn and Nana Patekar, which was a critical and commercial success. During this period, she refused to act in art films due to salary problems.

Besides acting, Basu did the video "Tu" for Sonu Nigam's album, Kismat. She made a guest appearance in Jay Sean's music video "Stolen".

Success and stardom (2005–09)
Basu established herself as a leading actress of Hindi cinema in 2005 and 2006 with the progressive success of the comedy No Entry, the drama Corporate and the action thriller Dhoom 2. No Entry grossed inr 750000000 at the box office, ranking as the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. Basu portrayed a bargirl who acts as the wife of two men. The film received positive reviews, and she earned her first nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film. 2006 saw her star in four major releases — Phir Hera Pheri, Corporate, Omkara, and Dhoom 2 — all of which performed well critically and commercially. Phir Hera Pheri saw her star alongside Akshay Kumar to portray a con woman who steals ₹10 million from the protagonists. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews and emerged as a commercial success, ranking as the eighth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. In Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate, she gave up her glamorous look to portray a businesswoman who has no qualms in taking advantage of her sexuality to con the CEO of a rival company. Her performance in the film earned her critical acclaim, as well as her second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress. However, it was only an average grosser at the box-office. In Vishal Bhardwaj's adaptation of Othello, Omkara, Basu played the role of Billo Chamanbahar (Bianca), alongside an ensemble cast of Devgn, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma and Vivek Oberoi. She caught the attention of the public with her dance number "Beedi", which was highly popular in India and overseas. Moreover, her performance also earned positive reviews, with critic Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN writing, "...Basu is brought in to lend oomph and she highly succeeds in doing that." She followed this with Dhoom 2, where she again starred alongside an ensemble cast of Hrithik Roshan, Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Uday Chopra. She played the dual role of a cop and an NRI. She became the talk of the town for donning a bikini in the film; to prepare for this scene she reportedly ate only oranges for three days and trained hard. The film, and Basu's performance, received positive reviews from critics upon release, with Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commenting, "Aah Bipasha! Looks great, brings back the bikini to Bollywood, and acts well, thus doing more than just slipping into the shadows like a pretty accessory." Dhoom 2 emerged as a major blockbuster at the box office, grossing inr 1513890000 worldwide, ranking as the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year and the highest-grossing Hindi film of all time at the time. As of 2024, it ranks as the highest grosser of Basu's career.

In 2007, her only appearance was in Vivek Agnihotri's sports drama Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal. The film saw her perform alongside frequent co-star John Abraham as the physiotherapist of a football team. Despite hype prior to release, it opened to mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, and was a commercial failure at the box office. Her dance number "Billo Rani" became quite popular and earned her the nickname "Billo Rani", though equal credit is due to Omkara in which her name was Billo Chamanbahar.

In 2008, she teamed up again with Abbas–Mustan for the crime thriller Race. She played the role of Sonia, who is stuck in a love triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) and who ends up murdering one of them. The film was a commercial success at the box office, grossing inr 680000000 worldwide, ranking as the fifth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. Her performance, like the film, was appreciated by critics with Taran Adarsh citing it as "her best work so far. She's superb!"

Basu next starred alongside Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Minissha Lamba in Siddharth Anand's romantic comedy Bachna Ae Haseeno as a successful supermodel who finds it hard to forgive her ex-lover for betraying her. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics upon release, with widespread praise for Basu's performance. It emerged as a commercial success at the box office, ranking as the eighth highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. Her performance in the film earned her a second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. She completed 2008 with a special appearance in the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Aditya Chopra's romantic comedy Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

Her first release in 2009, the science fiction thriller Aa Dekhen Zara opposite Neil Nitin Mukesh, received mixed reviews from critics upon release, and emerged as a commercial failure at the box office. However, her next film, Rohit Shetty's comedy All the Best: Fun Begins performed moderately well, with her comic role being appreciated by fans. Later that year, Basu took up an unglamorous and challenging role in Rituparno Ghosh's Bengali film, Shob Charitro Kalponik. "I love saris and I'm wearing a lot of them in Ritu's film," she said. The film, and her performance, received high praise from critics upon release. Critic Subhash K. Jha spoke high of her, and said, "Basu pulls out all stops to deliver her career best performance. Her moments of anguish before and after her screen-husband's death are expressed in tones of cathartic conviction that we never knew existed within Basu." He also compared her with the multiple-award-winning actress, Shabana Azmi, commenting that Basu's anguished portrayal of bereavement could only be equalled by Azmi.

Later career and hiatus (2010–2020)
With Sudipto Chattopadhyaya's Pankh, Basu returned as an imaginary character who exists in the protagonist's mind. She was then featured as a Kashmiri girl alongside Sanjay Dutt, Anupam Kher and Kunal Kapoor in Rahul Dholakia's drama thriller Lamhaa, which explored socio-political problems in Kashmir. Principal photography of Lamhaa was disrupted many times by the locals due to its controversial theme. During the shooting of Lamhaa, she left the sets at Anantnag and headed back to Mumbai, citing she was afraid of the crowd there. Producer Bunty Walia considered replacing her with Vidya Balan, but she returned for the shoot later with necessary security arrangements. Lamhaa opened to mixed reviews from critics upon release, but Basu's performance received praise. NDTV Movies wrote, "Basu sinks herself into her character imparting a dramatic resonance into the role without resorting to stock expressions. The sequence where she gets mauled by militant women is as traumatic to watch as it must have been for Basu to shoot."

Basu's next appearance that year was in Priyadarshan's action thriller Aakrosh as the wife of a ruthless cop who helps the police investigating honor killings in their village. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India commented, "Basu actually doesn't have much to do and does seem to be miscast as the much-abused, bruised and battered wife of Paresh Rawal". Both Lamhaa and Aakrosh were commercial failures at the box office.

Basu's only release in 2011 was the action thriller Dum Maaro Dum, alongside Abhishek Bachchan and Rana Daggubati, which performed reasonably well at the box office and met with mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. Talking of the film, she said, "My next release is Dum Maaro Dum, in which I play a lively, colourful, happy-go-lucky girl called Zoey, who is the representation of Goa as we see it."

In 2012, Basu collaborated with Abbas–Mustan for the third time in the heist action thriller Players, which became the first Hindi film release of 2012. The film was an official remake of The Italian Job. Majorly hyped prior to release, Players was a commercial disaster at the box office, and was negatively compared to The Italian Job and highly criticised for its execution and performances, including that of Basu. Her next release was the supernatural horror thriller Raaz 3: The Third Dimension directed by Vikram Bhatt. Co-starring Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta, the film proved a major commercial success at the box office, grossing inr 730000000 worldwide. It emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi horror film of all time, in addition to becoming Basu's first commercial success after a period of relatively poor reception. The film opened to mixed-to-positive reviews upon release, with high praise for Basu's performance. Subhash K. Jha of IANS said, "It's Basu who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."

After a guest appearance in Race 2 (2013) where she reprised her role from the prequel, Basu starred alongside Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the horror film Aatma directed by Suparn Verma. The film, and Basu's performance, received mixed reviews from critics upon release, and it was a commercial disaster at the box office. Basu next performed live alongside Atif Aslam, Shaan and Malaika Arora for the first time in a series of concerts in Birmingham and London in the summer of 2013.

In 2014, Basu appeared in two films of diametrically opposite genres – the first was Sajid Khan's comedy Humshakals opposite Saif Ali Khan. The film was a critical and commercial disaster, and is considered one of the worst Bollywood films ever made. Basu didn't even participate in the film's promotions because she was "extremely disturbed by the end result" and stated, "Humshakals was the worst experience of my life". The second was Vikram Bhatt's monster horror film Creature 3D alongside debutant Imran Abbas. This film was another critical and commercial failure. The same year, Basu finished shooting for her first English film project, Roland Joffé's Belgian romance time travel adventure The Lovers, in which she portrayed a Maratha warrior. The film, and Basu's performance, received mixed reviews from critics upon release.

In 2015, Basu featured in Bhushan Patel's romance horror film Alone opposite her future husband Karan Singh Grover. The film performed moderately well at the box office, and received mixed reviews from critics upon release, with praise for Basu's dual role. India TV reviewed the film and wrote that, "With some genuine scary moments and Basu-Grover's scorching chemistry, Alone stands apart from numerous horrible horror flicks made in the past," and also stated, "Basu just takes her act to another level." The same year, she made her TV debut by hosting &TV's anthology horror fiction series Darr Sabko Lagta Hai.

Her next role was a cameo appearance as herself in the 2018 comedy Welcome to New York.

In 2020, she made her OTT debut with MX Player's crime thriller series Dangerous opposite her husband Grover. It received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics upon release.

In the media


Basu is frequently cited in the media as a sex symbol. On the Times 50 Most Desirable Women list, she ranked 8th in 2011, 13th in 2012, and 7th in 2013. Eastern Eye named her the "Sexiest Woman in Asia" in 2005 and 2007. In 2009, she topped the Maxim "Hot 100" list. Basu placed 6th in Rediff.com 2006 "Top Bollywood Actresses" list. She appeared in Forbes India 2012 Celebrity 100 list, where she placed 25th with an estimated annual income of inr 268500000. Basu is a celebrity endorser for brands including Dabur, Pantene, Emami and Alkermes. In the media, she is known by a variety of nicknames which play on her given name, including Bonnie, Bips, Bip, B, BB, and Bona.

Fitness DVD launch


Aside from films, Basu is an advocate of physical fitness. In 2005 she released her first fitness DVD jointly with John Abraham, titled Bollywood Bodies. In 2010 she released her first solo fitness DVD called Love Yourself: Fit & Fabulous You, which emphasised being strong, healthy, and loving oneself. The DVD consisted of a 60-day routine for weight loss, including a beginner's workout, an advanced workout and an "easy tone" workout. She was also the brand ambassador of Sugar Free, which helped her in promoting the DVD. Hiren Gada, director of Shemaroo Entertainment, said, "A celebrity like Basu, genuinely believes in staying healthy. She is also passionate about fitness."

In September 2011, Basu launched her second fitness DVD titled Break Free, a 30-minute dance routine, and the follow-up to Basu's first workout video, continuing the Love Yourself series. In January 2014, Basu launched the third instalment of her Love Yourself DVD fitness series, Unleash, an advanced training routine including plyometrics and focusing more on power and speed, while strengthening the bones and improving muscle coordination. Later in 2014, many of her fitness workout videos were released for free on distributor Shemaroo Entertainment's health-focussed YouTube channel, Shemaroo Good Health 24/7.

She is the face of Delhi Marathon, which has been inspired by her interest in fitness.

Lifestyle brand
In 2015, Basu, Malaika Arora, and Sussanne Khan launched their own shopping portal "The Label Life". Basu's section of the portal included makeup, statement jewels, shoes and bags.

Personal life


Basu was in a relationship with actor Dino Morea from 1996 to 2002. During the filming of Jism in 2002, Basu began dating her co-star John Abraham, and they maintained a very high-profile relationship from 2002 to 2011. She briefly dated Harman Baweja, but they broke up in 2014.

Basu met co-star Karan Singh Grover on the set of Alone in 2014 and they fell in love. The couple were married on 30 April 2016. In August 2022, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child. Their daughter, Devi Basu Singh Grover, was born on 12 November 2022.