SUSHMITA SEN - PROFILE
Name: Sushmita Sen
Nickname: Titu, Little Titan and Sush
Date of Birth: November 19, 1975
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio
Height: 5' 9.5”
Mother: Subhra Sen (Jewelery designer & store owner)
Father: Shubeer Sen (Ex-Wing Commander Air Force)
Brother: Rajeev Sen
Daughter: Renee Sen
Endorsements: Kiah ,Tag Heuer , Thumbs Up
Relationships: Rajat Tara, Ricky Martin, Sanjay Narang, Vikram Bhatt and Randeep Hooda, and Maanav Menon
School: Pre-dominantly in the Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute and Air Force Silver school for a decade in Dehli. She also attended schools in Nagpur and Jorhat.
First Film: Dastak
Favorite Film: My Feudal Lord (by Tehmina Durrani)
Favorite Actors: Robert De Niro and Woody Allen
Favorite Actress: Julia Roberts
Favorite Books: My Feudal Lord (by Tehmina Durrani)
Favorite Food: Chinese and Sushi
Favorite Restaurant: The Great Wall
Favorite Music: Soft and sentimental songs, like the Buddha Bar collection, Ghazals, Country and Soul.
Favorite Color: Black
Favorite vacation spot: USA and Goa
Favorite Perfume: Red Door by Elizabeth Arden
Achievements: First Indian Miss Universe, First Indian Ambassador of Tag Heuer and Kiah, countless acts of philanthropy and above all a mother.
Movie Roles: Sushmita chooses roles because she likes them and how much performance they require rather than the guarantee they hold at the box office.
Most Important: Sushmita’s daughter is the most important person followed by her parents.
Trivia:
1. Sushmita’ maternal grandfather was a poet.
2. She was in English Honors student who wanted to do a degree in journalism but was more allured by the glamorous world of modeling and media.
3. Sushmita’s mother was offered a Bombay Dyeing job in her heyday but turned it down to get married.
4. She used to write her lessons and what she understood in class in the form of a poem.
5. After her win as Miss India, her grandfather wrote her this note
”My dear Titu Sona,
One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name. You've become a national celebrity overnight as the most beautiful girl in the country. The glory you have attained as Miss India has taken us all your parents, and all dear and near ones, by storm. We are still feeling submerged in a flood side of ecstasy and excitement. You have justifiably deserved God's Grace in this unique endeavor and achievement. Your title Miss India 1994 will be a golden passport for universal applause, admiration and recognition.’”
6. She isn’t considered a classic beauty by the fashion industry.
7. The prize for Miss Universe in 1994 is as follows millions of dollars in her vanity bag as there were super-prestigious promotional contracts, a total of $250,000 worth of cash, gifts and prizes including a dazzling diamond brooch studded with one hundred diamonds on 18 kt gold and platinum, a Hammerman original, valued at US $20,000, a luxury apartment in Los Angeles, California, USA, A swanky sports car of the latest international model. A 32-carat diamond jewelery collection consisting of matching earrings, bracelet, and ring made especially for Miss Universe.
8. Sushmita had already decided that she would adopt a baby girl and name her Rene so when Subhra Sen moved to Dubai to open her jewelery story she named it Renee. Funny enough ‘Renee’ was inaugurated on the April 13th 1999 (formalities weren’t complete until 30th of June in the year) and Renee was brought into the Sen household on April 13th 2000.
9. The final outfit in Miss India was made by a small tailor and her mother in Meena Bazaar, Dubai.
10. Sushmita wants to start her own clothing line.
Motto: "I made up my mind to walk up the stairs rather than take the lift."
"Just being a woman is God's gift. The origin of a child is a mother, a woman. Woman is sharing she shows a man what sharing, caring, and loving is all about. That is the essence of a woman." These were the words that stunned the judges and audiences of Miss Universe 1994. So stunned and impressed were these judges that they eventually gave the highly coveted crown to Sushmita Sen, Miss India and the first Miss India, in the history of the pageant to receive the crown. And so was born the Sushmita Sen, a diva and an actress; the Sushmita Sen that people around the globe have come to admire.
Sushmita was actually born in Hyderabad, AP to Bengali parents and grew up in Dehli. A self-proclaimed tom boy, Sushmita went through her adolescence being a ‘dada’. She attended a Hindi-medium school until 9th Standard and didn’t know a word of English until she was 16. By the time Sushmita had become 18, she had established herself as a model but perhaps not amongst the finest.
It was then that fate decided to take its place in her life. When Sushmita was 15, she was watching the Miss Universe contest with her father and her father recalls, ‘I remember, once we were all watching a Miss Universe contest, when she was 15. Her comment was, 'You know papa, I don't think many of these girls come across as really beautiful, except maybe one or two.' I remember teasing her that if she was interested in beauty contests, she should participate in the Air Force Club Contest, and she turned around and told me, I'll aim right for the ultimate!’. And so she did…
However it wasn’t the easy ride, us mortals would expect. The year that Sushmita entered the Miss India contest was also the year Aishwarya Rai, the nations’ darling, entered the contest. Aishwarya was the one who everyone believed would walk away with the title of Miss India. But Sushmita proved to be the proverbial dark horse and was to walk away with the title of Miss India with Aishwarya coming 1st Runner-Up. 1994 was Indian’s year – Sushmita and Aishwarya brought awareness of an undervalued country by taking the Miss Universe and Miss World pageants (respectively) by storm.
Sushmita entered Bollywood (an age old tradition of Indian beauty queens) and in her first film played herself ‘Dastak’. Her first film met disastrous box-office results followed by a film called Zor which suffered the same fate. What followed after this was a long time in the spotlight but for all the wrong reasons.
From breast enhancement surgery, to a wayward attitude, to claims of unpunctuality, to being branded a home-wrecker and diva-like behavior but Sushmita still managed to come out trumps and how. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for the film Biwi No. 1 where she played the evil ‘other’ woman.
Soon after Sushmita established herself ‘Sensuous’ Sush with special appearance songs like Mehboob Mere (Fiza) and Dilbar Dilbar (Sirf Tum) and her personal life though tumultuous was emitting happiness – in 2000 Sushmita became the proud mother of her adopted daughter Renee, ‘On June 30th, 2000 the courts handed me my daughter, Renee. I was ecstatic that day. I loved Renee from the first time I laid eyes on her. In court the fight was a tough one as I was a single parent and a celebrity, so those were marks against me. But I still won and got my daughter.’
Sushmita’s relationships and boyfriends have also made headlines having dated men like Ricky Martin (after he was a judge at the Miss Universe pageant), Sanjay Narang (the industrialist) and Vikram Bhatt (the film director/producer). She also made headlines for her lawsuit with coca-cola and supposed diva-like behavior.
Yet despite all the negative publicity and through her hard work, phenomenal resilience, approach, maturity and strength of character and personality Sushmita maintained her position in Bollywood, when many others have failed. While her peers have produced over 30 films, worked with the biggest banners, Sushmita prioritized her life and her career: her daughter and family came first and she did films that she felt were good for her as an actress rather than her position in Bollywood.
2003 saw the beginning of a new chapter in Sushmita’s life: her, then, on and off relationship with Randeep Hooda (protégé of Naseeruddin Shah and Ram Gopal Varma and 9 months her junior) which stabilized by the beginning of 2005 (self-professed through various interviews); then in 2004 she also came into the running for the title of Queen of Bollywood with Main Hoon Na (her sexy sarees and avatar along with her sizzling chemistry with Shahrukh Khan set the screen and box office alight). She also become the first Indian brand Ambassador for Tag Heuer and Kiah (a Sheetal Group company) and with a 22 karat diamond ring and critically acclaimed performances.
From long-legged dark-horse beauty queen to the ultimate ‘item’ girl to the suited booted police officer to the sexy-sari clad chemistry teach. Sushmita has come a long way but this is not where the journey ends; there is an even more beautiful road that lies ahead and this is to hoping that whatever route Sushmita takes it is a successful one.
Chingari was amazing, Gulel and Zindaggi Rocks are upcoming, along with all of her business ventures through Tantra her production company. We will all be amazed at what she has in store!
There is no-one quite like Sushmita. No-one..
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