| Patel at the Ankahee special screening (2006). | |
| Born | Amisha Amit Patel June 9, 1976 Mumbai, Maharashtra, India |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | Ameesha Patel |
| Occupation | Film actress |
| Years active | 2000 - present |
Early life and background
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.
Patel's career began as an economic analyst at Khandwala Securities Limited after graduation. Later on, she received an offer from Morgan Stanley but turned it down. After returning to India she joined Satyadev Dubey's theatre group and acted in plays, upon receiving permission from her conservative parents.
Acting career
Early work and breakthrough (2000-2001)
Her father's schoolmate, Rakesh Roshan, offered her a position in the film Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) and Amisha grabbed the opportunity.[3] The role of an exuberant college girl in love, undergoing a tortuous time at losing her lover and rediscovering a more mature relationship gave Patel scope to perform. The film was a smashing success and established Patel as a rising star, earning her awards for Best Debut at a number of award ceremonies.[4] In her second film, the Telugu language drama Badri, she starred opposite Pawan Kalyan. The film was a major success, grossing more than Rs 120 million in India.[5]
2001 saw her appearing in Anil Sharma's controversial cross-border romance, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha, alongside Sunny Deol. Patel signed on much before she shot into the limelight with Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai and was selected among 500 newcomers who auditioned for the film.[6] It 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.[7] 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."[8] The film was perceived as being excessively anti-Pakistani.[9]
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.
Downslide (2002-2006)
In 2002, Patel had four continuous failures though 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 marital thriller, inspired by the 1998 Hollywood film A Perfect Murder, saw her playing a negative role for the first time. 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.
Despite the relative success of Humraaz, Patel's string of unsuccessful films followed and would continue until 2006. She 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 played 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 pairing 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 the murder mystery Vaada, playing the role of Arjun Rampal's wife who is tracked by her former crazed lover. In her next release, Elaan, she played a reporter. She later appeared in Ketan Mehta's historical drama Mangal Pandey: The Rising where she played the role of a Bengali widow who gets rescued from committing Sati by a British Commanding Officer. The film, which saw her appearing sans make-up for the first time,[10] did an average business despite becoming a major grosser.[11]
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. The film, directed by Suneel Darshan, was inspired from the 1987 Hollywood thriller Fatal Attraction. She was then seen as a blind girl in Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai, another delayed production since 2002. The film had a very small release and flopped badly with some critics describing it as outdated. 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.[12] Patel was next cast in Tathastu, based on Denzel Washington's thriller John Q. Her performance as the helpless mother was not well-received.
Renewed success (2006-present)
Patel's fifth release in 2006, Ankahee, earned her critical praise despite its failure at the box office.[13] The film saw her play the role of a wronged wife and a mother who tries to save her marriage life after her husband's extramarital affair. 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."[14]
Later that year, she starred along with Akshaye Khanna and Priyanka Chopra in Dharmesh Darshan's Aap Ki Khatir. Patel played a supporting role for the first time and the film received mixed reviews.
After appearing in a series of box office flops during 2002-2006, Amisha finally saw success in 2007 with the moderately successful romantic comedy Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. playing the role of Karan Khanna's blabbermouth wife who is able to hold her husband's gay leanings mainly because she is sweet and vulnerable. She later starred in super hit movie Bhool Bhulaiyaa as the rejected adopted girl opposite Akshay Kumar who is accused of trying to disrupt the marriage of her childhood crush.
Patel's only release of 2008 was Kunal Kohli's Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, co-starring alongside Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji. She appeared in an item number essaying the cameo role of Khan's girlfriend. Her dumb bimbo act won her accolades as well as her bikini in the song Lazy Lamhe,[15] for which she learned scuba diving.[16] The film flopped at the box office despite receiving positive reviews from critics.[17]
As of 2009, Patel will be seen in two comic films, Run Bhola Run and Chatur Singh Two Star, that are scheduled to release on summer 2009. Patel has also signed a three-film deal with Yash Raj Films. One of the films will be directed by Shaad Ali.[18]
Personal life
In 1999, Patel met Bollywood director Vikram Bhatt on the set of their first movie together, Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (2002),[19] and they started dating since the film's release. Later, it caused a rift between the Patel and Bhatt families[20] with Amisha running through a financial crisis after her parents used all her hard-earned money for their personal satisfaction causing misunderstandings between Patel and her parents.[21]
In July 2004, Amisha sent a legal notice to her father for mismanaging her accounts and assets amounting to Rs 120 million and demanding the money back.[22] She then appeared in two of Bhatt's films that include Elaan (2005) and his semi-biographic Ankahee (2006) and rumors were spread on March 2006 that the couple were ready to wed.[23]
In January 2008, rumors were spread that the couple broke their five-year relationship. Bhatt confirmed the break-up in a conversation with Mid-Day saying, "Yes I am not denying the fact that the affair is over, but what's the point of going into the past and talking about why and when it happened?"[24] On March 12, 2008, Patel was spotted with London-based businessman Kanav Puri at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.[25] In June 2008, she confirmed their relationship as she said in an interview with Mid-Day, "I did not admit to Kanav sooner because he's very special and I did not want to jinx it. It was too precious for me to talk about it to people. It's almost six months now and now I am feeling secure and now I know our relationship is too strong for anything or anyone to come between us."[26] Later, gossip columnists linked Patel to director Kunal Kohli before the release of their film, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic (2008),[27] and the media also reported that she got married to Puri but she denied these rumors.[28]
In the media
Rediff featured Patel as one of Bollywood's sexiest actresses [29] and top Bollywood Actressess of 2001.[30] Between 2002 and 2005, Patel has made an appearance in a number of talk shows such as Rendezvous with Simi Garewal and The Manish Malhotra Show. In 2006, Patel appeared as the guest judge on the special Valentine's day episode of the singing talent contest, Indian Idol 2.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai | Sonia Saxena | Nominated, Filmfare Best Female Debut Award |
| Badri | Sarayu | Telugu 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 | ||
| 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 | Chatur Singh Two Star | Filming | |
| Run Bhola Run | Filming | ||
| Shaad Ali's Next | Pre-Production | ||
| 2010 | Untitled Yash Raj Film |
