Sushmita Sen

Biography

Sushmita Sen (born 19 November 1975) is an Indian actress, model, and the winner of the Miss Universe 1994 pageant. She is the first Indian to win the Miss Universe pageant. 

She was previously crowned Femina Miss India in 1994 at the age of 18. After winning the Miss Universe pageant, she worked as a film actress.

Sen won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the comedy film Biwi No.1 (1999), and was also nominated in the category for her roles in the dramas Sirf Tum (1999) and Filhaal... (2002). 

Her commercially successful films include Aankhen (2002), Main Hoon Na (2004), and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya. (2005). Sen has starred in the drama series Aarya since 2020, for which she won Best Actress in a Drama Series at the 2020 Filmfare OTT Awards.

Sen was born on born 19 November 1975, into a Bengali Baidya family in Hyderabad to Shubeer Sen, a former Indian Air Force Wing Commander, and Subhra Sen, a jewelry designer and owner of a Dubai-based store.

She has a younger brother named Rajeev Sen, who was married to television actress Charu Asopa. Sen attended Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute in New Delhi and St. Ann's High School in Secunderabad, but did not pursue any further higher education.

In 1994, as a teenager, Sen won the title 'Femina Miss India Universe', earning the right to compete in the Miss Universe 1994 contest.

At the Miss Universe contest, Sen ranked third overall in the preliminaries, behind Miss Colombia Carolina Gómez and Miss Venezuela Minorka Mercado. Sen went on to place second, fifth, and third in the subsequent rounds and finally won the title and crown of Miss Universe 1994.

After the Times Group relinquished the rights to choose the Indian representative for Miss Universe, Sen's project, I Am She – Miss Universe India, took over, running it for three years (2010 to 2012). This was followed by Femina taking over.

After her reign as Miss Universe, Sen became an actress. Her first film was in 1996, the thriller Dastak, in which she played the victim of a stalker, played by Sharad Kapoor. 

She then starred in the 1997 Tamil action film Ratchagan, opposite Nagarjuna.  It was the most expensive Indian film at the time of its release. In 1998, she played a low-profile reporter opposite Sunny Deol in Zor, a box office failure.

In 1999, Sen earned wider recognition with her portrayal of the model Rupali in David Dhawan's comedy film Biwi No.1, opposite Salman Khan. It was the second highest-grossing movie of 1999. 

Syed Firdaus Ashraf of Rediff.com noted, "Sushmita has tried hard to make a mark in a different role, but her role itself isn't worth remembering." She won the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.

 The same year, she was also nominated for her role of Aarti in the romantic drama Sirf Tum in the same category. For this performance, Sharmila Taliculam of Rediff.com termed her the "star of the film".

Her last film of the year was Hindustan Ki Kasam opposite Ajay Devgn. The film was an average grosser, despite taking a bumper opening.

Sen is the mother of two adopted daughters. She adopted her first daughter, Renee in 2000 while her second daughter, Alisah joined the family in 2010. Sen has Addison's disease and requires lifelong steroid drugs to manage the illness.

Sen was in a relationship with actor Randeep Hooda from 2004 to 2006. Sen then dated model Rohman Shawl from 2018 to 2021. In July 2022, it was reported that she is dating businessman and cricket administrator Lalit Modi.