Sushmita was raised in the suburbs of Delhi in a conventional middle class family. To any stranger she was a average girl with decent looks and no one would have imagined that she would go on to become the first ever Miss Universe of India, which she did in 1994. She was the youngest amongst the 77 contestants at just 18 years of age.
Sushmita was born on November 19, 1975. Her father is a retired Indian Air Force officer and her mother is a Fashion Artist and a Jewelary Designer. She has one brother, Rajeev Sen, and a sister, Neelam Sen. She attended school at Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute in Delhi. She was not planning to become an actress, instead she was preparing for a career in journalism.
Soon after winning the Miss Universe crown, Sushmita decided to storm Bollywood. She had a very bumpy start with her debut film Dastak failing miserably at the box office and Sushmita inspite of all the euphoria behind her failed to make an impact. Her next film Zor co-starring Sunny Deol also failed to impress the audience. During those days she had a torrid yet very brief affair with Vikram Bhatt, who was married and had children, though they always denied the rumors.
She was first noticed by the Indian movie buffs in the light comedy Biwi No. 1, where she played the role of an aspiring model opposite co-stars Salman Khan and Karishma Kapoor. The movie was the biggest hit that year. She also won the award for Best Actress in supporting role. But then the lull returned again in her career graph.
Sushmita kept on appearing in fairly successful films like Kyo Ki Main Jhooth Nahi Bolta, Nayak, Filhaal etc. Her second innings in Bollywood began with the famous hit Main Hoon Na, where she sizzled the screens with her hot and sensupus looks in a plain saree. That looked was really loved by the audience and suited Sushmita’s personality. She again impressed the audience in Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya with her similar look and was actually rated better than Katrina Kaif by the audience.
She would soon be seen in the much awaited and talked about Ramgopal Vermas Sholay which would also be starring Bollywood biggies like Amitabh Bachchan.
