Katrina Kaif

Date/ Place of birth:
16 July 1984, London, Great Britain

Relationship Status:
Dating

Spouse/ Partner:
Salman Khan

Debut Film:
Boom (2003)

Katrina Kaif is one of eight siblings - all girls, from a mother who is a Caucasian of British Nationality, and a father who was formerly from Kashmir, India, but who has since acquired British citizenship. Katrina grew up in Hawaii, but was brought up in London, UK. Katrina started modeling accidentally when she was in Hawaii at the tender age of 14. She came to Mumbai and started her career with modeling. She signed ‘Boom’, but it was not successful.

Katrina is a private person and doesn't go to too many parties. She is also very particular about her clothes. She wears bold outfits on screen or for ads but she feels more comfortable in not-so-revealing clothes otherwise. She finished her Kathak classes in 40 days in which she had to dance for seven hours non-stop everyday.

Her films like Namastey London, Partner and Apne have garnered positive reviews. Katrina has now made Bombay her base, and doesn't mind singing and dancing around trees. While she's at it, she is determined to make it big in Bollywood.

Kareena Kapoor

Date/ Place of birth:
21 September 1981, Bombay, Maharashtra, India

Relationship Status:
Dating

Spouse/ Partner:
Saif Ali Khan

Debut Film:
Refugee (2000)

The kid sibling of Karisma Kapoor, second daughter of Randhir Kapoor & Babita- Kareena Kapoor, made a splash in Bollywood much sooner than her sister and predecessors. Her grand entry in tinsel-ville with J.P Dutta’s ‘Refugee’ didn’t come as a sprinting surprise, instead, followers of the legendary Kapoor clan were waiting for Kareena to take charge of the baton, and take the family’s filmi legacy ahead. Though her much hyped debut vehicle with Abhishek Bachchan didn’t take a flying start, and won nothing but the carp and condemn of critics, Kareena soon become the hottest thing to have happened to Bollywood. Offers started spilling from cracks and corners of the movie world and the young Ms.Kapoor was the toast of the day. Of course, her line-up of films that followed faced the same fate at the box office as the first, and the trend continued.

‘Mujhe Kuch Kehna Hai’, ‘Yaadein’, ‘Ajnabee’, ‘Asoka’ and ‘Ajnabee’ all presented by sought-after banners received damp responses from the audiences. In 2001, Karan Johar’s larger than life, family drama ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham’ turned out to be Kareena’s first hit, of course, she demanded very little of the credit for the success, it was the Shah Rukh-Kajol magic all the way, along with Hrithik Roshan’s magnetic charm and Amitabh Bachchan’s undisputable poise . ‘K3G’ fetched Kareena another title, that of ‘Poo’, the character of a funky college girl she played in the film. In spite of her rumoured off-screen attraction with Hrithik, their on-screen pairing, though appealing to the audiences, overall, the films faced thumbs down. Again in 2003, we witnessed ‘Main Prem Ki Diwani’ with Kareena, Hrithik and Abhishek; touted as the next biggest family entertainer from the Sooraj Barjatya kitty after ‘Hum Aapke Hai Kaun’ of course, met the expectations of the industry and moviegoers with utter dismay. Each time her films faces brickbats, Kareena retorts, that her scripts have failed her, she has never failed her scripts. That’s the kind of conviction she has in herself.

Nonetheless, Kareena’s demand in the film industry remained invincible through the last few years. And finally, a small-budget film like ‘Chameli’ did the screen image-makeover over for Bollywood’s glamorous ‘Poo’. Kareena received critical acclaim for a role of a commercial sex-worker, a character that any other actress of her age at the prime time of her career would shudder to take on. But it’s this daring role that changed her image from Poo to ‘Chameli’, a positive turn in her career, one that Kareena is exceedingly proud of.

‘36 China Town’ was Kareena's first release in 2006 followed by ‘Chup Chup Ke’. Both films managed to do moderately well at the box office. Her performance as Desdemona in the Indian adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, ‘Omkara’ was praised from audiences as well as the critics earning her a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance and a Star Screen Award for Best Actress. Her performance in the film also landed her various nominations in the best actress category including the Filmfare Awards. Her latest release, ‘Don - The Chase Begins Again’ has done extremely well at the box office. She won favorable reviews both for her acting and her dancing in her item number. Kapoor has joined several touring stage shows throughout the years. Her latest tour, the Rockstars Concert of May 2006, in which she performed alongside Salman Khan, Zayed Khan, John Abraham, Shahid Kapoor, Esha Deol and Mallika Sherawat turned out to be a huge success overseas.

She’s been dating Shahid Kapur, son of actor Pankaj Kapur. They also acted together in quiet a few films. However, post working for thier first lovestory, Jab We Met, the two broke up. Currently she is dating Saif Ali Khan. The two will be seen together in the yet to be released film Tashan and a couple of more untitled ones.

For Kareena, her family means the world to her, and Bebo as she is lovingly called, draws her strength from her mother – Babita and sister – Karisma. Her sister having moved to Delhi with her husband, Kareena misses her immensely, but at the back of her mind she knows her sister is watching her all the time, all the way. After all, it’s all about loving your family...

Imran Khan

Date/Place of Birth:

3 January 1983, USA

Relationship Status:
Dating

Spouse/Partner:
Avantika

Debut Film:
Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008)

Imran Khan is an American-born Bollywood film star. He is also the nephew of superstar Aamir Khan.

Khan is the son of Anil Pal and Nuzhat Khan. Anil, who works as a senior manager at Yahoo in Silicon Valley, was a classmate of director Mansoor Khan, Nuzhat's brother, at IIT Bombay. Anil and Nuzhat married but divorced when Imran was one and half years old. He grew up with the surname Khan as his mother brought him up in India. However, he moved to live with his father in California, to finish high school. He then trained in film making in New York. He is also the nephew of actor Aamir Khan, director Mansoor Khan and the grandson of Nasir Hussain who was a noted director and producer. While living in India, he studied at Bombay Scottish School, Mahim in Mumbai, and for a brief period in Bangalore.

Khan made appearances as a child artist in his uncle Aamir's films Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) and Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander (1992). Both times he played the role of a young Aamir Khan. He aspired to be a director, as that was his original plan before he entered Bollywood as an actor. Khan joined Kishore Namit Kapoor's Acting Institute in Mumbai.

He made his debut as a lead actor in the 2008 film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, which was produced by his uncle Aamir Khan and co-starred Genelia D'Souza as the heroine. The film received excellent reviews from the critics and was successful at the box office. His next movie was Kidnap with Sanjay Dutt and Minissha Lamba where he play's his first villain role. The teen sensation will make his next appearance in Luck with Shruti Haasan and Sanjay Dutt.His forthcoming movie Delhi Belly is about a NRI coming back to India and getting involved in all sorts situations, it is a comedy.

Karan Johar

Date/ Place of birth:
25 May 1972, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Relationship Status:
Single

Spouse/ Partner:
None

Debut Film:
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998)

Karan Johar is the son of film producers Yash Johar and Hiroo Johar. He studied at the Greenlawns High School and attended H.R. College in Mumbai, India. Dharma Productions, founded by his father, is his production company. As a child, Johar was mainly influenced by commercial Indian cinema, and he cites Raj Kapoor, Yash Chopra and Sooraj R. Barjatya as his inspirations.

Johar formally entered the film industry as an actor. He was seen as Raj's (played by Shahrukh Khan) close friend in the blockbuster movie Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). He was also assistant director on this film and helped director Aditya Chopra in writing the screenplay for this film. In addition, he selected Shahrukh Khan's costumes, something he continued to do for Shahrukh Khan's other movies like Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Duplicate (1998), Mohabbatein (2000), Main Hoon Na and Veer-Zaara (2004) and Om Shanti Om (2007).

He made his directorial debut with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai starring Shah Rukh, Kajol and Rani Mukherjee in 1998. The film was a major box office hit and won eight Filmfare Awards in 1998.

His second directorial effort, the multi-starrer family drama Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham was released in 2001. The film starring Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan, SRK and Kajol, and Kareena Kapoor and Hrithik Roshan was also highly successful. K3G, as the film is commonly abbreviated, went on to win five Filmfare Awards.

In 2003, he produced and wrote the script for another extremely successful film Kal Ho Naa Ho, Jaya Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Preity Zinta in the lead which was directed by Nikhil Advani, his assistant director from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

In early 2005, he co-produced another movie with Shahrukh Khan- Kaal. This film was directed by Soham Shah, Johar's assistant director from Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. Johar did not write the script for Kaal. In May 2005, after taking a four-year break from directing, he began working on his third film as a director and fourth film as writer; Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna with Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan, Rani Mukerji, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachchan and Kirron Kher.

‘KJo’ is also the host of a television chat show called Koffee with Karan in which he interviews Bollywood’s most happening celebs and India's glamour world. The first season of the show began in 2004 and ended in 2006. The 2nd season began to air in February 2007 and ended in August. On September 30, 2006, Johar became the first Indian filmmaker to be a jury member in the Miss World competition, in Warsaw, Poland. Karan Johar was chosen as one of 250 Global Young Leaders by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum 2006.

Karan’s latest blockbuster- Dostana (2008) starring Priyanka Chopra, Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham centres around true friendship. The film has Abhishek and John famously ‘pretending to be gay’.

John Abraham

Date/Place of Birth:
17 December,1972,Mumbai, India

Relationship Status:
Dating

Spouse/Partner:
Bipasha Basu

Debut Film:
Jism (2003 )

<sup>John Abraham is one of the most successful male models in India. Abraham's father is a Malayali Syrian Christian architect, from Alwaye, Kerala in India. His mother, Phiroza Irani, is part of Bombay's Parsi community. Abraham's Parsi name is Farhan but his father gave him the name John. He has one younger brother, Alan.

Abraham first went to the Bombay Scottish School and later to Jai Hind College, where he completed his BA (Hons) in economics.[1] He was an avid sportsman, captaining the college football team. He earned his MMS degree from Mumbai Educational Trust.</sup>

Abraham started his career with the media firm Time & Space Media Entertainment Promotions Ltd., which however closed down due to financial problems. Later, he worked for Enterprises-Nexus as a media planner.

In 1999, he won the Gladrags Manhunt Contest and went to Singapore for Manhunt International, where he won second place. Following this, he appeared in a number of commercial advertisements. To further hone his acting skills, John Abraham joined Kishore Namit Kapoor acting lab and successfully completed a course on acting while juggling modelling assignments.

John during his early days

Abraham made his film debut in 2003 with the controversial film Jism. The film did well, and his work was noticed widely.

Later the same year, came the paranormal Saaya (2003) and the romantic Paap (2004); neither of them did well at box-office. John's first blockbuster hit came with the movie Dhoom in 2004 where he played the role of the villain 'Kabir'.

In 2005 he starred in the supernatural thriller Kaal and the comedy Garam Masala both of which did well at the box office. [4] Later that year he had a major role in the critically acclaimed film Water, which portrayed the tragic fate of Hindu widows in colonial India (See British India). The film was written and directed by independent Canadian film-maker Deepa Mehta. The film was popular overseas, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 79th Academy Awards, which exposed John to a more international audience.

In the summer of 2006, he performed at the "Rockstars Concert" along with fellow bollywood stars, Salman Khan, Zayed Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Esha Deol, Shahid Kapoor and Mallika Sherawat.In the same year, he starred in the films Zinda, Taxi No 9211, Baabul and Kabul Express (2006).Among these Taxi No 9211 , Kabul Express were substantially successful.

Nikhil Advani's multi-starrer, Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love was Abraham's first release in 2007. The movie failed to do well at the Indian box office,[7] but was successful in the overseas market.[8] His last two 2007 releases were the offbeat thriller No Smoking and the sports film Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal.

John is playing an environmentalist activist in Deepa Mehta's new film Luna (currently under production) starring Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz and Chris Cooper.
Abraham with girlfriend Bipasha Basu at the launch of the Filmfare magazine (2007)

Apart from his movie commitments, John is also the brand ambassador for Castrol Power 1 , Yamaha Marque, Wrangler, Fastrack, Clinic All clear, and Pepsi.

Lara Dutta

Date/ Place of birth:
16 April 1978, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India

Relationship Status:
Dating

Spouse/ Partner:
Dino Morea

Debut Film:
Andaaz (2003)

Lara Dutta, the first Miss Universe of the new millennium, was born to Wing Commander L.K. Dutta and Jennifer Dutta, in Ghaziabad. Lara is a model by profession. At the age of 16 she moved from Bangalore to come to Mumbai and realize her dreams.

Before Miss Universe happened, she was a successful print and ramp model. She was first discovered by Gladrags' annual modeling competition. After winning Miss Intercontinental in Germany, she started to build up a very successful modeling career on a national scale. She appeared in ads for Synergy, Ceat, Coke and Sprite which made her popular. She participated in the Miss Femina India contest and won the title which paved her way to the Miss Universe Crown. A mix between Punjabi and Scottish parents, this stunning beauty always emerged a winner.

Lara has embarked on another path the road to stardom in Bollywood. As the reigning Miss Universe, she traveled across the world on behalf of the Miss Universe Organisation to promote their official cause of building AIDS/HIV awareness.

Till recently she was dating model-actor Kelly Dorji. However, they recently broke-up, owing to her alleged affair with her Jhoom Barabar Jhoom co-star, Bobby Deol

Amitabh Bachchan

Date/ Place of birth:
11 October 1942, Allahabad, UP, India

Relationship Status:
Married

Spouse/ Partner:
Jaya Bachchan

Debut Film:
Saat Hindustani

Born on the 11th of October 1942 in Allahabad unto Harivanshrai Bachchan and Teji Bachchan and having an academic parentage, Amitabh was the last person one would think of as being the star he is now.

However today every kid knows the name of the one and only Amitabh Bachchan and fondly refers to him the Big B. Prior to his entry into Bollywood he was a freight broker with Shaw and Wallace. Amitabh did his schooling in Sherwood College followed by an Arts degree from the Delhi University.

Amitabh decided to persue fame by entering into the film industry. However this was no easy task for him and was rejected because of his dark skin . Not loosing hope he approached various radio companies for the post of radio commentator, but was turned down again. Finally after a long wait he got a role in his first Hindi movie Saat Hindustani, but the film was a flop and was put on hold for further films.

Being a close friend of Rajeev Gandhi he got a letter recommending him for a film, this was how he entered the big screen. The first movie Zanjeer, he was in had him co-star with his wife-to-be Jaya Badhuri, ever since then it was no looking back for this actor with a deep baritone voice and films just kept coming in one after another. From a modest struggling start to this superstar status was quite a jump for him.

Amitabh married Jaya and had two kids Shweta and Abhishek; he continued to star in films and turned out a record number of hits and super hits. At this time all his movies went on to make it big in the Box Office. Films like Deewar and Sholay gave him the appearance of being the angry young man of Bollywood. Besides these films he also did comic roles in films like Amar Akbar Antony, etc. This was the peak of his performance and he regaled in the glory of his fans. But in 1983 while shooting for the film Coolie, Amitabh was seriously injured and was admitted to a hospital in Breach Candy, this was the time his entire fan base reached out with prayers being offered for his recovery.

In no time Amitabh was back on the movie circuit and was shooting films. Seeing his popularity and with friends in high political positions he decided to enter it himself, he contested the elections from his home town in Allahabad for a Congress seat and was elected to the parliament, but unfortunately his entrance was short lived and he opted out with the rise in controversies about the Bofors scandal.

Now out of politics he decided to return to the movie industry again but with time so had the genre of acting moved on. The Big B found it rather difficult to play the roles he was offered as the entire scene of ‘angry young man’ was being carried out by younger actors in a totally new fashion. After a series of hits before he left now almost all of his were flops, movies like Ganga Jamuna Saraswati. Khuda Gawah, Agneepath, Hum and Shahenshah, were major flops and the Big B decided to float his own business venture of film production through Amitabh Bachchan Corporation Limited (ABCL).

However it was not to be and the company soon went into debt of over Rs.90 crores, but luck took a turn for the better and he was chosen to host the show Kaun Banega Corerpati? A remake of the hit US series of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. This helped him make good what he owed and got himself out of debt.

He was later chosen as the star of the millennium by BBC and was given this title over others like Charlie Chaplin and Laurence Olivier. Besides this he was the first Indian actor to be honoured with a wax model in Madam Tussad’s in London.

Now at 60 plus the megastar is still churning out hit after hit and has made a niche for himself in the Indian film industry. In addition to acting he has built his name as a brand which is used to sell just about anything, he also lends his deep voice for narrations and voiceovers in various films and advertisements. He is one of the busiest ageing Bollywood stars in India.

Anushka Sharma

Date/Place of birth:
1987, Bengaluru, India

Relationship Status:
Single

Debut:
Rab Ne Banadi Jodi (2008)

Anushka Sharma, the 5’9 ft tall girl gifted with a pretty face, is the girl who got a golden chance to make her debut in a Yashraj Film. She was born to an army family based in Bangalore. Her father is a high ranked army officer and her mother is a housewife.
Since beginning, Anushka wanted to make it big in the glamor world. She studied in Army School and graduated in arts from Mount Carmel College, Bangalore. She was picked to be Wendell Rodricks's finale model at the Spring Summer '07 Collection. Since then the demure looking model has done campaigns for Silk & Shine, Whisper and Fiat Palio. With a set of expressive eyes, this Bangalore girl always wanted to be a model. In 2008, she played the female lead role in the Bollywood film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, directed by Aditya Chopra, who earlier directed hits like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) and Mohabbatein (2000).

She's quite a favorite among the youth.

Bipasha Basu

Date/ Place of birth:
7 January 1979, Delhi, India

Relationship Status:
Dating

Spouse/ Partner:
John Abraham

Debut Film:
Ajnabee (2001)

Bipasha Basu is the second of three daughters. She moved from New Delhi and spent her formative years in Calcutta where she studied for a business degree. Bips describes her transformation into a model and actress as something that happened “quite by accident,” and her original desire was to be a doctor.

Bipasha became the Ford Supermodel of the World in 1996. Bips was involved in several successful modeling campaigns before she was offered a film role. Bips’ focus in the following few years was in moving her film career forward and with well over 30 films under her belt, it would appear she’s succeeded as a Bollywood actress. To further exemplify her star quality, she ranked at No. 7 on the list of Top Bollywood Actresses of 2006.

Bipasha's debut film ‘Ajnabee’ was fairly successful and she was soon signed for other movies. She attracted attention with her roles in ‘Raaz’ and ‘Jism’. Jism featured more mature content than had previously been customary in Bollywood; it was a success and Bipasha was afterwards marketed as a sex symbol. As the female lead in ‘Corporate’, she received much acclaim for her performance. She has also appeared in music videos, such as Tu Kab Ye Janegi... for Sonu Nigam’s album, Kismat and in Jay Sean's Stolen.

As for her love life, she was seeing hottie John Abraham till rumours of their break-up came by. Apparently, the picture of football soccer star, Christiano Ronaldo, kissing her, flashed all over the newspapers and TV channels and it led to the break-up. However, the latest reports are that John and Bipasha are soon to get engaged.

Dia Mirza

Date/ Place of birth:
9 December 1981, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India

Relationship Status:
Single

Spouse/ Partner:
Not Known

Debut Film:
Rehna Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001)

Born to a German father and a Bengali mother, this light-eyed damsel first started working at the age of 16 as a marketing executive at Sriven Mult-tech in Hyderabad. She earned a monthly salary of Rs 5000, with a 15 per cent commision. She has done an advertising campaign which appeared in Femina. After the pictures came out she was encouraged to participate in the Miss India competition thats when Miss India happened.

At 18, this quiet, introverted girl entered the Femina Miss India Contest to have some fun. She walked away with 3 titles – Miss Beautiful Smile, The Sony Viewers’ Choice Award and Femina Miss India-Asia Pacific.
As a career move, the Hyderabad girl shifted to Mumbai, away from home and family.

She opted to do her First Year Bachelor of Arts via correspondence, but as the Miss Asia Pacific competition drew closer, juggling work and studies became close to impossible, especially with her modeling assignments, traveling and training.

Her first film, opposite Madhavan – ‘Rehaana Hai Tere Dil Mein’ did not make a big splash. But it spelt one thing - Diya Mirza had arrived. Diya Mirza also worked in a film with Arjun Rampal titled ‘Deewanapan’ and ‘Tumsa Nahin Dekha’ which did not do well either.

In 2005, Mirza appeared in ‘Parineeta’, a Vidhu Vinod Chopra production. In 2006 she teamed up once again with Chopra and Sanjay Dutt for the successful film ‘Lage Raho Munna Bhai’. She also played in the music video Kajara Mohabbat Wala from Sonu Nigam album Kajara Nite. She has also appeared in ‘Dus’, ‘Fight Club’, ‘Shootout in Lokhandwala’ and also in the latets, 'Dus Kahaaniyan'.

Abhishek Bachchan

Date/ Place of birth:
5 February 1976

Relationship Status:
Married

Spouse/ Partner:
Aishwarya Rai

Debut Film:
Refugee (2000)

Abhishek started his career in the year 2000 with Refugee a... The 5th of February 1976 was a special day for the Bachchan family with its latest addition of Abhishek Bachchan as its youngest member. Abhishek started his film career in the year 2000 with Refugee and has had many hits since then, initially though his movies did a moderate job at the box office.

Abhishek until recently had not acquired the status of a star in Bollywood and is still working on his image, but with the release of Dhoom he has carved out a place for himself in tinsel town.

Abhishek did his schooling in Jamnabai Narsee School and Bombay Scottish School, in Bombay; as well as Modern School in Vasant Vihar in Delhi. Following which he enrolled and finished in Aiglon College, after which he went on to Harvard in the States to do a course in business management but unfortunately he quit mid-term and decided to concentrate on his career in acting. This move of his was seconded and supported by his father.

In his debut film Refugee he was paired with another actress Kareena Kapoor, for whom the movie was her first. The movie however did not do too well at the BO but Abhishek was recognized for his acting skills. After this movie he went on to do other movies like LoC, but only got critical acclaim for his performance. But the movie Yuva turned out to be a hit and did really well at the BO. After this movie it was a hit after hit for the budding actor and he did not look back but gave his all in every performance. For the movies Yuva, Bunty Aur Babli and Sarkar he received a total of 6 awards for them, besides these he also received 2 non-film awards.

The movie Jhoom Barabar Jhoom in which he plays one of the lead roles did averagely well at the box office and failed to draw the audience like the other movies, while on the other hand it was a major hit overseas especially in the UK. Following his father Abhishek has started lending his voice for narrations and voiceovers, he also has tried his hand at singing in a few of his newer movies.

On a more personal note the actor was engaged to Karishma Kapoor in October 2002 but it was not meant to last and was abruptly broken up in January 2003. After which he got engaged to former Miss World Aishwarya Rai on the 14th of January 2007. After performing the traditional matching of their Kundli’s. The two were married on the 20th of April 2007. the marriage was celebrated as the biggest one in Bollywood and went on from the 17th till the 21st.

Deepika Padukone

Date/ Place of birth:
5 January 1986, Copenhagen, Denmark

Relationship Status:
Dating

Spouse/ Partner:
Ranbir Kapoor

Debut Film:
Om Shanti Om (2007)

She is the daughter of former badminton champion Prakash Padukone...

Deepika Padukone, was born on the 5th of January, 1986 in Copenhagen. She is the daughter of former badminton champion Prakash Padukone. Her mother is a travel agent and she has a younger sister, Anisha. She attended high school in Bangalore and has been modeling for print and television advertising campaigns since then. Deepika's schooling was done in Sophia's High School, Bangalore and she did her under-graduate studies from one of the most prestigious colleges in Bangalore, Mount Carmel College.

She has to her credit brands like for Liril soap, Dabur, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca. After receiving many prestigious modeling offers, including the brand ambassadorship of the Jewels of India, an annual jewellery exhibition, she hit the international scene when Maybelline made her their new international cover girl face.

She took a break from modeling by starring in the music video for Naam Hai Tera a song from the pop album Aap Ka Suroor, an independent album by Himesh Reshammiya.

More recently Padukone made her cinematic debut in a Kannada film, Aishwarya, directed by Indrajit Lankesh. The film has already been successful at the box-office, and Padukone has received rave reviews for her screen presence. Padukone will be making her Bollywood debut in Farah Khan’s second directorial venture, Om Shanti Om, opposite Shahrukh Khan . In the movie, she has been depicted as a 70s superstar Shantipriya and later as Sandy. Padukone has already signed Priyadarshan's next, Pirate and Made In China opposite Akshay Kumar. Om Shanti Om is due to be released on November 9, 2007.

Asin

Date/ Place of birth:
26 October 1985, Cochin, Kerala, India

Relationship Status: Single

Spouse/ Partner:
None

Debut Film:

Ghajini (2008)

Asin was born into a Syrian Christian family from Ernakulam in Kochi district, Kerala. Her father, Joseph Thotumkal, managed several businesses and was considered a prominent entrepreneur before he stopped managing his businesses and decided to manage his daughter's acting career instead. Furthermore Asin's father accompanies her to all her foreign shoots. Her mother, Seline Thottumkal, remains a surgeon despite moving settlements from Cochin to Chennai to Mumbai to live with her daughter. Asin has quoted that her name "means without blemish and pure". She claims that "the 'A' in her name is from Sanskrit and word ‘Sin’ from English". She also mentions that she "has not come across anyone with same name."

Asin Thottumkal debuted in a supporting role in Sathyan Anthikkad's unsuccessful Malayalam film Narendran Makan Jayakanthan Vaka in 2001, at the age of 15. After taking a year out to pursue her education, Asin returned with her breakthrough film as an actress, Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi opposite Ravi Teja, portraying a Tamil girl in her first Telugu language film, which subsequently fetched her the Telugu Filmfare Award for Best Actress. In the same year she won the Santosham Best Actress Award for her performance alongside Nagarjuna in her second Telugu film, Shivamani. Her following two Telugu films, Lakshmi Narasimha and Gharshana, both portrayed Asin as the love interest for police officers, giving her two more solid hit films, cementing her place as a leading actress in the Telugu film industry.

After the release of Ullam Ketkumae, Asin became publicized as a leading heroine after signing films with the four leading actors of the Tamil industry: Surya, Vikram, Vijay and Ajith in Ghajini, Majaa, Sivakasi and Varalaru respectively. The venture which provided the breakthrough for Asin to become the leading South Indian actress was her Tamil film, Ghajini. The film, co-starring Surya and Nayantara and directed by A. R. Murugadoss, helped Asin secure the Tamil Filmfare Award for Best Actress. Her role, that of a vivacious young model called Kalpana who dies, became a trendsetter and was parodied in several other films after the release of Ghajini.

Asin appeared in her first dual role in K. S. Ravikumar's magnum opus Dasavathaaram opposite Kamal Haasan, who portrayed ten roles. The film, which was under production since September 2006, became Asin's largest film till date. Despite being overshadowed by Haasan's ten roles, Asin's portrayal's in the film were praised as her "best-to-date" with one of her roles being that of a Vaishnavite in the 12th century; whilst the other character was a Brahmin girl from Chidambaram. Dasavathaaram subsequently went on to become one of the biggest blockbusters in South Indian film history. Since establishing herself as the leading actress in South India, Asin opted to move into Bollywood, to get nationwide fame. Her first film, Ghajini opposite Aamir Khan was the remake of her breakthrough film of the same name. Upon release, the film garnered positive reactions from critics and masses alike, with Asin being singled out for her "fabulous" portrayal. The only other project Asin is commiitted to, as of 2009, is Vipul Shah's London Dreams alongside Salman Khan and Ajay Devgan, in which she plays a member of a five-troupe band.

Ajay Devgan

Date/ Place of birth:
2 April 1967, Bombay, Maharashtra, India

Relationship Status:
Married

Spouse/ Partner:
Kajol

Debut Film:
Phool aur Kaante (1991)

A National Film Award-winning actor, Ajay Devgan is the son of Veeru Devgan, a stunt choreographer in Bollywood.

A National Film Award-winning actor, Ajay Devgan is the son of Veeru Devgan, a stunt choreographer in Bollywood. Ajay began his career as an action hero with Phool Aur Kaante and it won him a Filmfare Best Debut Award. Now, he is seen upon as one of the finest and the most serious actors in the Indian industry.

Ajay has also worked in hits like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Zakhm, which earned him a National Award. His association with Ram Gopal Varma resulted in box office successes, notably Company and Bhoot.

He is a graduate of Silver Beach High School in Juhu & Mithibai College, won critical acclaim for the adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello titled Omkara. Ajay will soon be out with his debut directorial venture.

Married to the gorgeous actress, Kajol, on February 24, 1999, the couple have a daughter, Nysa Mukherjee- Devgan.

Akshay Kumar

Date/ Place of birth:
11 September 1967, Amritsar, Punjab, India

Relationship Status:
Married

Spouse/ Partner:
Twinkle Khanna

Debut Film:
Suagandh (1991)

Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, better known as Akshay Kumar, has seen it all. From being a waiter to a martial arts expert, his foray into films happened with Suagandh. He went absolutely unnoticed with his debut flick, however, he was noticed enough to get Khiladi, a film that changed his life.

Known as an icon hero since the early 90s, he has established himself as one of the leading actors of the industry.
In 1997, he made an extended guest appearance in Yash Chopra’s hit film Dil To Pagal Hai, for which he received a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award nomination. In 1999, he received critical acclaim for his roles in the films Sangharsh and in the box office hit Jaanwar.

In 2000 he starred in the comedy Hera Pheii (2000) which was a success and showcased his talent at doing comedy just as well as action or romantic roles. Apart from his action, comedy and romantic roles he also displays a flair for dramatic roles.

A brand ambassador for products like XBOX 360, Thumps Up etc., he is an active stage performer. He led the Heat 2006 world tour which also starred Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Sushmita Sen and Celina Jaitley. He is also planning on having a solo world tour after backing out from the Unforgettable 2008 world tour with the Bachchans.

After being engaged to actress Twinkle Khanna, the daughter of veteran actors Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, they finally tied the knot on January 14, 2001 and have a son named Araav.

Aishwarya Rai

Date/ Place of birth:
1 November 1973, Mangalore, Karnataka, India

Relationship Status:
Married

Spouse/ Partner:
Abhishek Bachchan

Debut Film:
Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya

One of the biggest names in Bollywood is that of Aishwarya Rai, the lady won the title of Miss World in the year 1994, after which there was no looking back and she took to acting in films. Aishwarya fondly referred to as Ash is known to one and all.

Ash was born in Manglore in Karnataka on the 1st of November 1973, the younger of the two siblings by 3 years. When she was 4 her family decided to move to Bombay and settled here for good. Her farther was an officer in the Merchant Navy.

Ash did her schooling in Arya Vidya Mandir, Santacruz. She was a bright student and excelled in her studies because of which she was elected as the head girl of the school. After school she went in for science at the D G Ruparel College. Ash wanted to pursue medicine but it was not to be and so she took Architecture instead. Even when in college she had been approached by ad firms to be a model in their advertisements. It was this attention that got her to try modeling and she was soon the hot favorite for ad makers. . Besides ads she also appeared on the covers of some of the most prestigious magazines like Vogue, TIME and others. Ash was an instant star with her good looks and her Miss World title.

Her stunning beauty and quick witted intelligence helped her win the much coveted crown of Miss World ’94, on returning she was immediately approached by top producers and directors to star in their upcoming movies. This was her entry ticket into the film industry. Her first film was with Mani Rathnam's 'Iruvar' (1997), for this movie she received critical acclaim from distinguished film personalities and also the critics. The movie Aur Paar Ho Gaya' (1997) directed by Rahul Rawail helped her win the award for the best female debutant award. Later on in 2000 she won the award from Film Fare and Zee Cine for the best actress in the movie Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, followed by the best supporting actress award in Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein (2000), and again in 2001 she was nominated for the best actress award for Satish Kaushik's "Hamara Dil Aapke Paas Hai".

Not looking back Ash continued to forge forward and make a place for herself in the Indian film industry and on the international front. In 2002 Ash did Devdas which was honoured with a special screening at the Cannes film festival. The next year was more exciting as she was chosen to be on the jury for the Cannes Film festival. Besides this she was also chosen as a member of the elite L’Oreal Dream Team.

In 2004 Ash was selected for the lead role in Gurinder Chadha’s "Bride & Prejudice", her first English language film. Ash was also the first Indian woman to have a wax replica of her installed in Madam Tussad’s Museum in London. The actress has a big fan following in well known with over 17,000 sited dedicated to her she then finally decided to launch her own site named www.Aishwaryaworld.com.

A bit more on her personal life is that she was once dating Salman khan but unfortunately the two decided to part ways, but it was not smooth sailing with constant rows erupting between them. On the 14th of January ‘07 it was announced that Ash was engaged to Abhishek and on the 20th of April ’07 ash married Abhishek Bachchan. Now we just have to wait and see where she goes from this milestone in her life.

Genelia D`souza

Date/Place of Birth:
5 August, 1987, England, UK

Relationship Status:
Single

Debut Film:
Tujhe Meri Kasam (2003)

Genelia made her debut in Bollywood in 2003 with Tujhe Meri Kasam opposite Ritesh Deshmukh. She left Bollywood for a while to concentrate on the Tollywood industry.

The Tamil director, Shankar casted her in a leading role in his Tamil version of "Boys" in 2003. The film was a box-office hit and launched her career in south India. She acted in some successful Telugu films including Satyam, Happy, Samba and Sye. She followed it up with a pairing with actor Venkatesh in Subhash Chandra Bose.

Her second Hindi movie was Masti and was also opposite Ritesh. This film was a moderate success.This movie was a major commercial and critical success and she won the Filmfare Award as the Best Actress for her performance, besides other awards. She was also a part of Mani Ratnam's stage show, Netru, Indru, Naalai. She came back into Kollywood with Santhosh Subramaniam, which is the remake of Bommarillu. The film also turned out to be a rather successful as its predecessor. Her debut film in Kannada Satya In Love grossed 4 crores in its opening week thus setting a new record in the Kannada film industry.

She once again appeared in Bollywood in Mere Baap Pehle Aap alongside Akshaye Khanna, which was moderately successful. Her final breakthrough in Bollywood was through the blockbuster, Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, where she is the heroine in the role of Aditi Mahant aka "Meow". Her role has been widely admired for her sweetness and freshness, and new style of acting. The movie has debutant Imran Khan, Aamir Khan's nephew, as the hero. The movie released in July 4, 2008 and was a success across India and overseas.[6] Her career in South India also continues with her latest Telugu Film Ready becoming a major box office hit. Her next film It's My Life, which is again a remake of Bomarillu with Harman Baweja is to be released in 2009.

Amisha Patel

Date/ Place of birth:
9 June 1976, Bombay, Maharashtra, India

Relationship Status:
Dating

Spouse/ Partner:
Kanav Puri

Debut Film:
Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai (2000)

Amisha Patel belongs to a true multi racial family as her father Amit Patel is a Gujrati Maharashtrian and her mother Asha Patel is a Sindhi. Amisha’s grandfather was a well known lawyer and politician Barrister Rajni Patel who was the Congress Committee President of Bombay.

Amisha is not just a famous Bollywood actress but also a Biogenetic Engineer from a university in United States. Amisha is also a gold medalist in economics. Before getting into films, she worked for a financial company, but she did not continue for long.

She soon joined Satyadev Dubey’s theatre group and started doing plays. Although her parents did not like her theatre as she was academically a brilliant student and was not using her degrees. With her excellent foreign degree and superb family background, Amisha was supposed to be the CEO of her family business. But Amisha could not leave her acting passion aside.

Amisha’s parents had good relations with the Roshan family of the Indian film industry. It was at a dinner at the Roshan’s house that Rakesh Roshan offered Amisha a role in ‘Kaho Na Pyaar Hai’. This role was initially offered to Kareena Kapoor but she did not do it. So Amisha got lucky in getting ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hai’ which became a superhit and Amisha became a star overnight.

After ‘Kaho Na Pyar Hao’, life was not a bed of roses for Amisha. She had number of flop films to her credit like ‘Suno Sasurji’ with Aftab Shivdasani, ‘Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage’ with Hrithik, ‘Yeh hai Jalwa’ with Salman, ‘Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar’ with Jimmy Shergil. But then ‘Gadar’ opposite Sunny Deol became one of the biggest hit of Indian cinema. Amisha’s stunning performance in the film made her to stand in the front row of actresses in Bollywood.

In real life, Amisha is a very simple girl. She is a shy girl with a good sense of humour. Amisha loves to read books and listen to Jagjit Singh’s ghazals in her leisure time. She loves food and loves butter chicken and parathas. Amisha Patel has the best collection of bags and belts in Tinsel Ville. Recently she accused her father for not using her money correctly and since then she has quite strained relations with her parents. She is seeing director Vikram Bhatt these days.

Geeta Basra

Date/Place of Birth:
Portsmouth, England

Relationship Status:
Single

Debut Film:
Dil Diya Hai (2006)

Born to Indian parents, Geeta Basra was raised in UK. She came down to India, to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a Bollywood star. An ardent admirer of Madhur Dixit, Geeta has always aspired to become like her.

She used to mostly dance on Madhuri Dixit’s songs and her first stage show was at an early age of two.

When Geeta heard that Ram Gopal Verma was making Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon, she desperately wanted to take up that role, except for a small hitch that she was still based in London.

However, before long, she decided to make her dream a reality. She came to Mumbai and joined the renowned Kishore Namit Kapoor's acting school, where quite a few established stars were trained. Once she finished her training she went back to London and hired a manager for herself.

Her debut film, Dil Diya Hai, made by Aditya Dutt had Emraan Hashmi as the lead actor. In this movie she co-starred with Emraan Hashmi. The film didn’t do well and she went on to do The Train. The film did moderately well.

Nothing seems to dampen her spirits though. She believes that she’ll prove her mettle and will be the next Madhuri Dixit of Bollywood.

Aarti Chabria

Date/Place of Birth:
21st of November, 1982

Relationship Status:
Single

Debut Film:
Tum Se Acha Kaun Hai (2002)

Aarti was born o into a sindhi-speaking family, which did not have any links to the film world of the Bollywood film industry. So it was a total surprise when she entered the filmi dunya.

Aarti completed her education and was catapulted to fame when she won the crown of Miss India in the year 2000. it was then that she got into shooting for ads and she did a total of approximately 200 ads, starting with Krack Cream and moving on to Amul. Later she also did music videos for Sukhwindar Singh and Adnan Sami. This is when she was realized by the film industry for her talent and stunning good looks.

Aarti is fluent in English, Hindi, Marathi, Sindhi and Gujrati, and hence had no language problems where ever she went. Her debut was in the film Tum Se Aach Kaun Hai in ’02 opposite Nakul Kapoor. However the movie failed to make an impression on the Box Office. But prior to this she was also in Akansha and Lajja in 1989 and ’01 respectively.

Later Vikram Bhatt signed her on for the multi starrer Awara Pagal Deewana opposite Akshay Kumar. She has also done Raja Bhaiyya with Govinda and other comedy flicks.

When asked about how she felt about entering Bollywood without a godfather the actress said that she really doesn’t mind. She says that she was born to act and that it was her destiny to be here. She thoroughly enjoys herself while acting by saying that she gets to go places, work with handsome men while being paid to do all this.

Besides the main stream Bollywood movies she has also done a Kannada film Pritisonaba. She says that the people down south are so organized that it is really easy to go ahead as per schedule. Aarti has a bit of a problem at first with her language but eventually she started to understand it.

Her latest venture was that of a bar dancer in the much acclaimed Shootout At Lokhandwala. Her performance in the film, though brief, was quite appreciated. Since then, she has been approached with many film offers as well as brand endorsements.

Aamir Khan

Date/ Place of birth:
14 March 1965, Bombay, Maharashtra, India

Relationship Status:
Married

Spouse/ Partner:
Kiran Rao

Debut Film:
Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1987)

Aamir was born on the 14th of March, 1965. He is a perfectionist, accused of being too earnest, even overbearing on his directors and co-stars. Aamir's obsession with his work probably has something to do with his theatre background and the training he got working as an assistant to uncle Nasir Hussain on films like Manzil Manzil and Zabardast.

He debuted with a minor role in Ketan Mehta’s off beat film Holi. However, it was his mainstream debut in cousin Mansoor Khan's Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak that hailed him as the new 'chocolate boy' face in town.

This talented actor was clearly in danger of getting typecast and burnt out when he indiscriminately signed nearly a dozen not-so-hot films. Most of them bombed at the box-office and Aamir slowly started falling back in the rat race. But with Indra Kumar's Dil in 1990, he notched up his second hit and from thereon, there was no looking back.

Aamir displayed a natural flair for comedy with Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke and Rajkumar Santoshi's slapstick comedy film Andaz Apna Apna. Significantly, by this time he had also cut his workload down to not more than three films in a year.

His transition from teen idol to a mature and sensitive actor came about with the Indianised adaptation of Kramer Vs. Kramer in Akele Hum Akele Tum. His personal experiences with son Junaid went a long way in helping him play the part of a 'single' father.

With Rangeela and Raja Hindustani, Aamir brought about another change to his image; he pulled out another surprise from his hat, essaying the role of a no-nonsense, upright police officer who busts a major arms racket on the Pakistan border in Sarfarosh.

An important aspect of Aamir's success is the fact that he has thrived on carefully chosen characters and films, but has never worked with the likes of Mani Ratnam, Subhash Ghai, or even David Dhawan. Instead, he has backed unknown names such as Ashutosh Gowarikar ('Baazi') and John Matthew Mathan(Sarfarosh) and even a flop filmmaker like Vikram Bhatt (Ghulam).

He then ventured into the business of film production with his first offering, 'Lagaan', which was directed by close friend Gowarikar. The film was shot on location in Rajasthan.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's critically acclaimed Rang De Basanti was Aamir's first release in 2006. His role was well acclaimed, earning him a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance and various nominations for Best Actor including the Filmfare Awards. The film went on to become one of the highest grossing films of the year and was selected as India's official entry to the Oscars. It won a nomination for Best Foreign Film at the BAFTA Awards in England. His performance in his next release, Fanaa was also acclaimed.

His upcoming film, Taare Zameen Par, which releases on December 21, 2007, is produced and directed by him. To promote this film, Aamir has launched a new blog/chat site, wherein he frequently interacts with his fans.

As for his personal life, Aamir married the love of his life, Reena Dutta and they had two children, Junaid and Aira. However, in December 2002, Aamir filed for divorce ending the tumultuous 15-year marriage. Reena took custody of the children.

On December 28, 2005, Aamir married again, to Kiran Rao, who had been an assistant to director Ashutosh Gowariker during the filming of Lagaan.

Akshaye Khanna

Date/ Place of birth:
28 March 1975, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Relationship Status:
Single

Spouse/ Partner:
None

Debut Film:
Himalaya Putra (1997)

At the age of 22 in 1997, Akshaye made his debut in his father's production Himalaya Putra, which didn't do well at the box office. His next release was J. P. Dutta's Border (1997). The film did very well at the box office, becoming the highest grossing film of that year and earning him a Filmfare Best Debut Award. Most of his releases that followed failed to do well until Subhash Ghai's Taal (1999) released. The film fared moderately well and became the fourth highest grossing film of 1999. This was followed by Farhan Akhtar's immensely successful Dil Chahta Hai (2001) which became the fifth highest grossing film of 2001. His performance was well received by critics and won him the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award.

Khanna's next release was Abbas Mustan's Humraaz (2002), in which he played a negative role for the first time. His performance was applauded and earned him a nomination for Filmfare Best Villain Award. He then attempted comedy in Priyadarshan's Hungama (2003) and Hulchul (2004). Both films did well at the box office, with the latter becoming one of the highest grossing films of 2004.

Although his releases, Shaadi Se Pehle (2006) and Aap Ki Khatir (2006) failed to do well at the box office, his other release that year, 36 China Town performed well. Nikhil Advani's multi-starrer, Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute To Love was Khanna's first release in 2007. Although much hyped, the film failed to do well. This was followed by the suspense thriller Naqaab which didn't do that well, although critics praised his acting saying "The movie belongs to Akshaye". Akshaye's recent portrayal of Harilal Gandhi in the critically acclaimed, Gandhi, My Father was praised by critics and was mentioned as his best performance so far.

Akshaye's first release of the year 2008 was Race in which he again played a negative role. He is currently working in Anil Kapoor's Shortcut - The Con is On, and will be seen in Life Partner

Hrithik Roshan

Date/Place of Birth:
10th of January, 1974

Relationship Status:
Married

Spouse/Partner:
Suzanne Roshan

Debut Film:
Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000)

Son of actor-director, Rakesh Roshan, this green eyed hunk, is a perfectionist and a control freak. He believes in extensive rehearsals and preparations while shooting for a film. A Capricornian by birth, Hrithik Roshan, catapulted overnight to instant superstardom with debut hit film Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai.

Then there was a lull. Films like Fiza, Mission Kashmir and Kabhi Khushie Kabhi Gham did little to prove his abilities. The Roshan jadoo was soon back with a bang with another super hit Koi Mil Gaya. Hrithik today is one of the biggest competitions to the 'Khan' clan.

Roshan took a two-year break from acting before resurfacing with the superhero film Krrish, a sequel to his 2003 hit Koi Mil Gaya which released in June 2006. Krrish was a major box office success and one of the highest grossers of 2006. His most recent release is Dhoom 2, a sequel to the 2004 hit Dhoom, in which he played a negative role for the first time. The film released on November 24, 2006 and is declared to be the highest grossing film ever in the Hindi film industry. His newest release will be Ashutosh Gowarikar's Jodhaa AKbar opposite his Dhoom 2 co-star, Aishwarya Bachchan. The film will release in early 2008.
Roshan is married to Suzanne Khan, his high-school sweetheart and daughter of Sanjay Khan. The couple had their first child, a baby boy and named him Hrehaan.