Lara Dutta

Lara Dutta Bhupathi (born 16 April 1978) is an Indian actress and beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss Universe 2000, and primarily works in Hindi films. Dutta is a recipient of a Filmfare Award and established herself as a prominent leading lady in the 2000s.

Dutta made her acting debut with Andaaz (2003), which won her the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

She went on to star in several commercially successful films, including the comedies Masti (2004), No Entry (2005), Bhagam Bhag (2006), Partner (2007), Housefull (2010), and Chalo Dilli (2011), and the action film Don 2 (2011). Following a hiatus, Dutta appeared in the British drama miniseries Beecham House in 2019 and portrayed Indira Gandhi in the film Bell Bottom (2021). She has since taken on roles in streaming series such as Hundred (2020), Kaun Banegi Shikharwati (2022) and Charlie Chopra & The Mystery Of Solang Valley (2023).

In addition to her acting career, Dutta has hosted several award shows and has her own line of beauty care products. She is married to tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi, with whom she has a daughter.

Early life and education
Dutta was born 16 April 1978 to a Hindu Punjabi father and an Anglo-Indian mother in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Her father is Wing Commander L. K. Dutta (retired) and her mother is Jennifer Maureen Dutta (née Storey). Nitin Sawhney, who is a music composer and DJ is Dutta's cousin.

Dutta moved to Bangalore in 1981 where she completed high school at the St. Francis Xavier Girls' High School and Frank Anthony Public School. She graduated with a degree in economics and a minor in communications from the University of Mumbai. She is fluent in English and Hindi and can also speak Punjabi and Kannada.

Personal life
Dutta had a nine-year relationship with actor and model Kelly Dorji. In 2008, she briefly dated Dino Morea, but they broke up in 2009. She then briefly dated American professional baseball player Derek Jeter.

In September 2010, became engaged to Indian tennis player, Mahesh Bhupathi. They married on 16 February 2011 in a civil ceremony in Mumbai and followed it with a Christian ceremony on 20 February 2011 at Sunset Point in Goa. On 1 August 2011, Dutta confirmed that she was pregnant with their first child.

Pageantry
Dutta won the annual Gladrags Manhunt and Megamodel Contest in 1995, thus winning the right to enter the 1997 Miss Intercontinental Pageant. She was later crowned Miss Intercontinental 1997.

In 2000, she entered and won the Femina Miss India contest receiving the title of Femina Miss India Universe. In the final, the top five delegates were asked the same question – "If you were a police officer in the Garden of Eden, who would you punish for the original sin: Adam, Eve, or the serpent?” Dutta said: "If I was a policeman in the garden of Eden, I would take all three of them to court. Every person in life is faced with temptation, but you must be able to decide for yourself, make your own choices, and live by your own rules. Above all, fear God, because he is everywhere."

In this round, some contestants had tied. All the delegates were subsequently asked a tiebreaker question: "If ignorance is bliss, why do we seek knowledge?”, Dutta said: "Knowledge is something every man is endowed with and it is up to him to make use of it. Thirst for knowledge drives every man. They say every man dies but very few men really lived. And what is life without knowledge. Would you go through life without passing something on to your children?"

This allowed her to represent India at the Miss Universe 2000.

Miss Universe 2000
Dutta won Miss Universe 2000 in Cyprus.

During the final question and answer round, the top three contestants were each asked by the host, Sinbad: "Right now, there is a protest that has been staged outside the stadium posing pageants as an affront to women. Convince them that they are wrong". Dutta answered: "Pageants like Miss Universe gives us young women a platform to foray into the fields that we want to and forge ahead, be it entrepreneurship, be it the armed forces, be it politics. It gives us a platform to voice our choices and opinions, and makes us strong and independent that we are today."

Dutta was crowned by the outgoing titleholder Mpule Kwelagobe of Botswana. Her win led to her appointment as a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador in 2001. In the same year, Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza won their respective Miss World and Miss Asia Pacific titles which gave India a rare triple victory in the world of beauty pageants. During her reign as Miss Universe, she visited 42 countries.

She is the second woman from India to be crowned Miss Universe. She received the highest score in the swimsuit competition and her finale interview score is the highest individual score in any category in the history of the Miss Universe contest.

Dutta has been a United Nations Population Fund Goodwill Ambassador since 2001. Dutta has stated, "Celebrities with the power to affect their impressionable minds therefore have a moral responsibility to impart positive messages. I am committed to using any influence I may have to do just that as a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)".

Debut and early work (2001–2004)
Dutta appeared in the Tamil film, Arasatchi in 2002, but due to financial problems, it was only released in mid-2004. She made her Hindi debut in 2003 with the film Andaaz which was a box office success and won her a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. However, In the film, Dutta's voice was dubbed by Mona Ghosh Shetty as the filmmakers wanted two distinct characters for the female leads and they needed Kajal, Dutta's character, to have a high-pitched voice. At the beginning of 2004, Dutta made a cameo appearance in Khakee in the song "Aisa Jadoo", which went on to become a chartbuster upon release. She then went on to appear in Bardaasht, which failed to do well at the box office. Her next release Aan: Men at Work was unsuccessful in India. Insan, Elaan and Jurm were also unsuccessful. She later appeared in Masti which did well at the box office.

Lara Dutta revealed in an interview that she was offered a role in The Matrix franchise but turned down the offer due to her mother's illness at the time.

Breakthrough and success (2005–2010)
In 2005, Dutta appeared in Kaal, which was a moderate success at the box office. Dutta then appeared in No Entry opposite actors Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Fardeen Khan, Bipasha Basu, Esha Deol and Celina Jaitley, which went on to become the biggest hit of the year. She next appeared in Dosti: Friends Forever which was only an average grosser in India but became the biggest hit of the year in overseas markets. Dutta along with Sania Mirza participated in Kaun Banega Crorepati (season 2) as celebrity guests, on 13 November 2005.



In 2006, Dutta had a cameo appearance in Yash Raj Films's Fanaa. In December 2006, Dutta played Munni, a lady with suicidal tendencies alongside Akshay Kumar in Bhagam Bhag.

In 2007 she appeared in Shaad Ali's Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, playing the double-role, of Anaida and Laila, the love interests of Rikki Thukral.

Her next release, Partner where she played opposite Salman Khan, and was the third biggest grosser of the year. Dutta made a special appearance in Om Shanti Om. Dutta also presented a documentary film titled Sold: An MTV EXIT Special by Charmaine Choo which followed the tragedy of trafficking in South Asia where thousand of young girls and boys are sold into modern-day slavery.

In 2008, Dutta voiced the animated film, Jumbo. She made a special appearance in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi in the song "Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte" where she paid tribute to Helen, colorfully dressed, with jewels and feathers in a high hair bun. The underlying tune is "O Haseena Zulfon Wale Jaan-e-Jahaan" from the 1966 film Teesri Manzil.

In 2009, she appeared with Shah Rukh Khan and Irrfan Khan in Priyadarshan's Billu Barber. Her next release Blue was released on 16 October 2009.

She also appeared in Do Knot Disturb. Her 2010 release Housefull was a major commercial success across India. She starred opposite Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Rampal, Jiah Khan and Riteish Deshmukh. It was the fifth biggest hit in the country at that time as it collected inr 1140000000 at the box office.

Hiatus and streaming series (2011–present)
In 2011, Dutta appeared in and produced her first film, Chalo Dilli. The film was a moderate success, as it was made on a modest budget of inr 50000000. She sang "Zara Dil Ko Thaam Lo" alongside Shah Rukh Khan in Don 2.

Following her post-pregnancy break from acting, Dutta appeared in David.

In 2015, she starred in Singh Is Bliing. The film was a financial success, grossing over ₹ 1.16 billion worldwide. Her comic timing in the film was praised by critics. She played the role of Leena Becker in the film Fitoor, released in 2016. She played a crucial supporting role in the sports drama film Azhar. In 2018, she appeared in the film Welcome to New York.

In June 2019, Dutta appeared in the ITV 6-part drama, Beecham House where she played the role of Begum Samru.

In 2021, Dutta played the role of the former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi in the spy film Bell Bottom along with Akshay Kumar, Vaani Kapoor and Huma Qureshi. The film opened to mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, but Dutta's performance and transformation for the role received high critical acclaim.

Dutta made her web debut in 2020 with the Hotstar's series Hundred playing ACP Saumya Shukla. In 2021, she appeared in the offbeat Hiccups and Hookups as Vasudha, a divorcee and single mother on a fun ride.

Dutta appeared inKaun Banegi Shikhrawati in 2022 on ZEE5, playing Rajkumari Devyani, in a dyfunctional royal family.

In 2023, she appeared in an anthology film Ishq-E-Nadaan as Ramona.

Other work
Dutta has hosted the International Indian Film Academy Awards five times. She first hosted the 3rd IIFA Awards in 2002 and subsequently the 7th IIFA Awards with Fardeen Khan in 2006, 8th IIFA Awards with Boman Irani in 2007 and the 10th IIFA Awards and 11th IIFA Awards in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The last two times she co-hosted with both Boman Irani and Riteish Deshmukh.

She was a talent judge on the reality show High Fever. Dutta was also appointed as a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador in 2001.

Dutta is active in pre-natal yoga on YouTube,. During her pregnancy in 2012, she launched a DVD, consisting of prenatal routines and meditation techniques.

In 2017 Dutta began mentoring contestants at the Miss Diva contest. She stated "It's exciting to be a part of this journey in finding the perfect representative who is the Indian face of beauty, who possesses elegance, confidence, poise and intelligence. This journey has always been close to my heart and I hope this season is the one that brings us that exceptional girl who will bring the Miss Universe crown back to India".

In 2019, Dutta launched her own vegetarian beauty care product brand called Arias.

Public image
Dutta is known for her eloquent speaking skills. Commenting on Dutta's career and her roles, Subhash K. Jha noted, "Lara is subtle yet upfront, strong but fragile, she encompasses the best of both worlds - feminine and aggressive, within her personality." Sweta Kaushal of Forbes India stated, "Dutta has always been very clear about her choices. She always knew what were her priorities." Rajiv Vijayakar of Bollywood Hungama finds her to be "versatile".

Dutta has been a vocal supporter of the Me Too movement in India. Dutta stated that "I think it is about time. It is fantastic as I feel the difference today is that women are standing up for women. I think that comes from a generation shift. The older generation was largely taught that women should be quiet and don't speak up; that they don't come to the forefront because they should be homemakers. Women today still do all of that. We always manage the home, take care of family, we are still the troubleshooters, we wear multiple hats in a day, we juggle a million works, and we don't let any of them drop. But now this generation of women have become more vocal, and they are empowering each other, which is a much better situation. I cannot stress enough about how essential it is to have a sisterhood, to support other women that are speaking up. Be unafraid and be unapologetic about the stand that you take, especially against male entitlement."

Filmography

 * All films are in Hindi unless otherwise noted.

Other recognition

 * 2008: Dutta won the Rajiv Gandhi Award for her contribution to Indian cinema.