Amisha Patel Biography

Amisha Patel
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Amisha Patel

Patel at the Ankahee special screening (2006).
Born June 9, 1976 (1976-06-09) (age 32)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Other name(s) Ameesha Patel
Occupation Film actress
Years active 2000 – present
Spouse(s) None

Amisha Patel (Hindi: अमीषा पटेल) (born June 9, 1976, also known as Ameesha Patel) is an Indian Bollywood actress. Making her acting debut in the blockbuster Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000), Patel won critical praise for her performance in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), which became one of the biggest hits in the history of Hindi cinema.1 She would subsequently star in a number of films, most of which proved unsuccessful at the box office. However, her performance in the 2006 film Ankahee, received critical recognition, and she followed it with a supporting role in the hit Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007).

Contents

Early life

Amisha Patel is the daughter of Amit Patel and Asha Patel, sister of Ashmit Patel and the granddaughter of the famous lawyer-politician Barrister Rajni Patel who was the Congress Pradesh Committee President of Bombay. She was born in the Breach Candy Hospital in Bombay and is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer since the age of five.2 Her name is a blend of the first three letters of her father’s name Amit and the last three letters of her mother’s name Asha.

She studied at the Cathedral and John Connon High School in Bombay and was head girl for the academic year 1992-1993 before heading overseas to study economics at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.

After she graduated, she modeled for several products and then worked in a financial company for Morgan Stanley. After returning to India she joined Satyadev Dubey's theatre group and acted in plays, upon receiving permission from her conservative parents.

Film career

Patel made her acting debut with Rakesh Roshan's Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000). The film was the biggest hit of the year, and made her a star overnight, earning her awards for Best Debut at several award ceremonies.3 Her second release, Badri, marked her entry to the Telugu cinema. She starred opposite Pawan Kalyan and the film was a major success grossing more than RS 120 million in India.4 2001 saw her appearing in the cross-border romance, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, alongside Sunny Deol. The film went on to become the top-grossing film of the year, as well as the biggest hit of the 21st century, earning RS 973 million in India.5 Set during the 1947 Indo-Pakistani conflicts, it featured Patel as Sakeena, a Muslim girl who finds refuge in Deol's house during the riots, and subsequently falls for him. Her performance was praised, and won her the Filmfare Special Performance Award. IndiaFM's Taran Adarsh concluded "Despite being one-film-old, Amisha Patel deserves full marks for handling the complex role with elegance. She looks the character she is portraying and impresses with a natural performance."6

Patel as the muslim girl "Sakeena" in Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), her biggest commercial success.

These successes were followed by a series of films that flopped at the box-office. In Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar (2001), she played a successful singer who was abandoned by her mother at the time of her birth.

In 2002, she had four continuous flops but her last release, Humraaz, became one of the highest grossing films of the year at the box office, and her performance earned her a nomination for Filmfare Best Actress Award. The Abbas-Mustan romantic thriller saw her play a negative character for the first time.7 She played the girlfriend of Akshaye Khanna, who marries Bobby Deol to grab his wealth – but, seeing Bobby's honesty, her character surrenders to him. She also starred in Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai, in which she played a career-oriented young woman who rejects the advances of the film's hero. In Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage, she plays the role of Sapna who is caged in protective custody of her own father. She co-starred opposite Hrithik Roshan for the second time in this film. Unlike their successful debuts in Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai, the film proved to be a disappointment and resulted in a critical and commercial failure.

In 2005 she starred in Vaada playing the role of Arjun Rampal's wife who is tracked by her former crazed lover. Her next release was Elaan. The film saw her play a reporter. She later appeared in Ketan Mehta's historical epic film Mangal Pandey: The Rising where she played the role of a Bengali widow who gets rescued from committing Sati by a British man. The film did an average business.

Patel as the airhead bimbo "Malaika" in Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (2008).

Patel featured in six films in 2006, all which failed commercially. She first starred in Mere Jeevan Saathi, a production that had been delayed since 2004. She was then seen as a blind girl in Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai, another delayed production since 2003. The film had a very small release and flopped badly. It received mixed reviews while some critics have described it as outdated.8 In Teesri Aankh, she played the role of a mute girl who witnesses a murder. She learned the sign language in order to fit the role.9 Ankahee, which saw her playing the role of a wife and a mother who tries to save her marriage life after her husband's extramarital affair, followed. Despite the film's box office failure, her performance received critical praise.10 Diganta Guha from Hindustan Times noted "...it's Amisha's performance that remains in your mind. She is dignity personified in the film, playing a woman betrayed in marriage, going all out to save it and in the end choosing her own path."11

After appearing in a series of box office flops during 2002-2006, Amisha finally saw success in 2007 with the super hit movie Bhool Bhulaiyaa where she played the role of a rejected adopted girl opposite Akshay Kumar. She also featured in the romantic comedy Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. playing the role of Karan Khanna's bubbly, vivacious wife and her comic timing in the film was well received.12

In 2008, she had only one release where she appeared in an item number in Kunal Kohli's Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, co-starring alongside Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji. She essayed the cameo role of Khan's ditzy girlfriend and her dumb bimbo act had won her accolades as well as her bikini in the song Lazy Lamhe,13 of which she learned scuba diving for.14 The film flopped at the box office despite receiving positive reviews from critics.15

As of October 2008, Patel has completed working on two comic films, Run Bhola Run and Chatur Singh Two Star that are scheduled to release early 2009.

Awards and nominations

Filmfare Awards

Winner

Nominated

Star Screen Awards

Nominated

Zee Cine Awards

Winner

Nominated

IIFA Awards

Nominated

Other Awards

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
2000 Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai Sonia Saxena Nominated, Filmfare Best Female Debut Award
Badri Sarayu Telugu film
Enna Vilai Azhagae Divya Tamil film
2001 Gadar: Ek Prem Katha Sakeena Winner, Filmfare Special Performance Award
Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar Sarena Devan
2002 Kranti Sanjana Roy
Kya Yehi Pyaar Hai Sandhya Patil
Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage Sapna
Yeh Hai Jalwa Sonia Singh
Humraaz Priya Nominated, Filmfare Best Actress Award
2003 Pudhiya Geethai Jo Tamil film
Parwana Pooja
2004 Suno Sasurjee Kiran Saxena
Shart: The Challenge Herself Special appearance
Naani Priya Telugu film
2005 Vaada Puja
Elaan Priya
Shabnam Mausi Shabnam's mother Special appearance
Zameer - The Fire Within Pooja
Narasimhudu Subba Lakshmi Telugu film
Mangal Pandey: The Rising Jwala
2006 Mere Jeevan Saathi Anjali
Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai Durga
Teesri Aankh Ammu
Tathastu Sarita
Ankahee Nandita Saxena
Aap Ki Khatir Shirani
2007 Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. Pinky
Heyy Babyy Special appearance in song Heyy Babyy
Bhool Bhulaiyaa Radha
Om Shanti Om Herself Special appearance
2008 Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic Malaika Cameo
2009 Run Bhola Run
Chatur Singh Two Star

References

  1. ^ "All Time Earners Inflation Adjusted (Figures in Ind Rs)". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. Retrieved on 2007-02-03.
  2. ^ "Amisha Patel enters Bollywood", rediff.com
  3. ^ "Box Office 2000". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. Retrieved on 2007-02-03.
  4. ^ Welcome To Sify.com
  5. ^ "Top Earners 2000-2009 (Figures in Ind Rs)". BoxOfficeIndia.Com. Retrieved on 2007-02-03.
  6. ^ http://www.bollywoodhungama.com/movies/review/6748/index.html
  7. ^ "Amisha Patel - Shades of Grey". DesiClub.com. Retrieved on 2002-06.
  8. ^ "STALE, OUTDATED AND UNBEARABLE". Smash Hits!. Retrieved on 2006-02-24.
  9. ^ "Amisha learns the sign language". IndiaFM. Retrieved on 2006-03-02.
  10. ^ "Amisha Patel - When dear Vikram forgot to call CUT!". IndiaGlitz. Retrieved on 2006-05-30.
  11. ^ http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=afc70bef-3199-44c7-b323-b27b64374b3b
  12. ^ http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1083249
  13. ^ "Ameesha is hot!". Times of India. Retrieved on 2008-06-17.
  14. ^ "Ameesha trains in scuba diving". Mid-Day. Retrieved on 2008-02-11.
  15. ^ "Thoda Pyaar... fails to create magic". NDTVMOVIES.COM. Retrieved on 2008-07-03.
  16. ^ "Sansui Viewer's Choice Movie Awards 2002". The Hindu (March 8, 2002). Retrieved on 2008-02-03.

External links