I moved to Mumbai from my hometown Bangalore in 1995 to pursue a career in modeling. For me studies and modeling always went hand-in-hand, so with my graduation degree in Economics I managed to bag in campaigns for Bombay Dyeing, Siyaram’s and Synergie for L’Oreal.

My career took a glamorous turn when I walked the ramp for leading designers in India like Shahab Durazi, Rohit Bal, Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri,etc. My talent and confidence won me Miss India title in 2000 and I proceeded to Nicosia in Cyprus in May the same year and came home with the Miss Universe crown. Not just that, I was the first Miss Universe to win with the unanimous vote of the entire panel of judges.

Along with the crown came the responsibilities. I spent the rest of the year visiting more than 68 countries spreading messages of awareness of AIDS and aiding the girl child. I managed to make time to walk the ramp for designers Randolph Duke, Sean Combs, and Roberto Cavali.

While living in New York between 2000 & 2001, I hosted a radio talk show for ABC, profiling women achievers from across the globe. On returning home, I joined the Indian film industry and since then there haven’t been any stopping for me, right from my first release “Andaaz” to the latest “DON 2”. Besides acting I love to dance. I am a trained Bharatnatyam and Kathak dancer. I also write and read extensively. Having done all my stunts for my films and television commercials, I have become quite an adventure sports enthusiast.

A Journey from Actor to Producer

On the professional front, I think I have come a long way now & I am quite excited about my new role as a producer. My production house Bheegi Basanti (the name originating from my love for Bollywood & Basanti of Sholay) has been my brainchild from its inception. I am extremely happy that our maiden venture Chalo Dilli was very well received by the critics and the audiences across India and globally . My experience with the film has been exciting, exhausting, entertaining, enlightening and thoroughly satisfying and makes me feel today that I took the right decision. Continuing on the success of Chalo Dilli, my vision for Bheegi Basanti Productions is to continue its journey of bringing enjoyable, unconventional cinema which will be appreciated by the masses and the classes.