Lara Dutta, the former Miss Universe was born on 16th April 1978 in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. She was born to L.K. Dutta, a Wing Commander and mother Jennifer Dutta, a singer for Doordarshan Radio; Jalandhar District. Her mother is Half Scottish and half Indian. Lara has two sisters, one of whom is in the Indian Air Force. Lara`s family moved to Bangalore where she completed her schooling from St.Francis Xavier Girls` High School and Frank Anthony Public School and then graduated from Bombay University in Economics. Nitin Sawhney the famous composer and DJ is their cousin.

In 1997 Lara won the Miss Gladrags competition thus becoming the first Indian to represent India at the Miss Intercontinental. She even acquired the first place there. Later, she was crowned Femina Miss India Universe and Miss Universe in 2000. It made her the second Indian to win this prestigious award.

Lara Dutta`s Film Career
After completing her Miss Universe commitments, she received several offers from Bollywood moviemakers. She made her debut in the film Andaaz in 2003 with Akshay Kumar and Priyanka Chopra which won her considerable recognition. Thereafter, most of her movies failed to make a mark at the box office. However, she did become popular and a household name. Some of the movies she is remembered for are the multi starrer Masti, No Entry, and Kaal with prominent actors like Vivek Oberoi, Anil Kapoor, Salman Khan, Esha Deol, Bipasha Basu, John Abraham and others.

The year 2007 experienced the release of Partner with Salman Khan, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom with Abhishek Bachchan, Preity Zinta, and Bobby Deol. She also worked in other movies like Blue and Housefull which faired well at the box office. One of her best performances was noticed in the movie Billu Barber with actors like Irfan Khan and Shahrukh Khan. The movie was a major box office hit.

Awards and Honours of Lara Dutta
Lara for commendable performances won the Star Screen Award Most Promising Newcomer - Female and the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award in the year 2004 for the movie Andaaz. In 2008 she received the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Awards for her contribution to cinema.

Filmography of Lara Dutta

Year Film
2003 Andaaz, Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost
2004 Khakee, Masti, Bardaasht, Arasatchi Tamil film, Aan: Men at Work
2005 Insan, Elaan, Jurm, Kaal, No Entry, Ek Ajnabee, Dosti: Friends Forever
2006 Zinda, Jenny Singh, Fanaa (cameo), Alag (cameo), Bhagam Bhag
2007 Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Partner
2008 Jumbo (voice)
2009 Billu Barber, Do Knot Disturb, Blue
2010 Housefull