Actress Lara Dutta

Lara Dutta is an Indian actress, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador and former Miss Universe.Dutta was born in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh to a Punjabi father and an Anglo-Indian mother. Her father is Wing Commander L.K. Dutta (retired) and her mother is Jennifer Dutta. She also has two older sisters, one of whom serves in the Indian Air Force and a well known younger sister. Famed composer and DJ Nitin Sawhney is Dutta`s cousin. The Dutta family moved to Bangalore in 1981 where she completed high school from St.Francis Xavier Girls` High School and the Frank Anthony Public School. Lara graduated in economics with a minor in communications from the University of Mumbai. She was crowned Miss Universe in 2000 which led to her appointment as a UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador in 2001.

Dutta won the annual Gladsrags modeling competition in her native India, thus winning the right to be the first Indian representative at the 1997 Miss Intercontinental, in which she took first place. Later, she was crowned Femina Miss India Universe and Miss Universe in 2000.

At Miss Universe 2000 in Cyprus, Dutta was the clear favourite ahead of fierce competition from Venezuela, Spain, USA and Canada. She achieved the highest score in the swimsuit competition and her finalist interview score was the highest individual score in any category in the history of the Miss Universe contest, as her perfect interview saw a majority of the judges giving her the maximum 9.99 mark. After her final question, in which Dutta delivered a passionate defense of the Miss Universe contest (and other beauty pageants), she became the second Indian Miss Universe.

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.

Lara Dutta primarily signed up to do the Tamil film, Arasatchi in 2002, but due to financial problems, it 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 Best Female Debut Award. She then appeared in a number of films, some of which failed at the box office and some of which were mildly successful. Her box office "hits" include Masti (2004), No Entry (2005), Partner (2007) and Housefull (2010).

In 2006, she starred in the comedy, Bhagam Bhag which did well at the box office.

In 2005, Sania Mirza and Dutta both participated in Kaun Banega Crorepati (season 2) on 13 November 2005. Dutta`s first release of 2007 was Shaad Ali`s Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. The film was a box office failure in India but did better overseas, especially in the U.K. She received mixed reviews for her performance in the film. Her later release, Partner opened to a good response and became a hit.

Her 2009 release, Blue was one of the most expensive movies of Indian cinema. Dutta had initially walked out of the project because the movie was entirely shot in the ocean and she did not know how to swim. However the male protagonist Akshay Kumar encouraged her in learning how to swim and she immediately started training with a special coach. Blue was released on 16 October 2009. She stated that "The moment I got to know of it, I called Akshay and told him that I wouldn`t be able to accept the assignment. He knew the reason behind my decision. Not many people are aware that I had almost drowned while shooting for Andaaz, Akshay had rescued me. When I reminded him I couldn`t swim, he told me to forget my phobia and learn swimming pronto," said Dutta. "Today, I feel Blue has not merely made me overcome my phobias, but has also taught me something that will stay with me for the rest of my life".

Her 2010 release Housefull was a hit across India. The movie starred Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone and Riteish Deshmukh.

Dutta dated New York Yankees star Derek Jeter when she lived in New York City. There she was spotted at a baseball game in Yankees Stadium and a news items was carried on ESPN.

In September 2010, she got engaged to Indian tennis player, Mahesh Bhupathi. They got married on February 16, 2011 in a civil ceremony in Bandra, and later followed it by a Christian ceremony on 20 February 2011 in Goa.