Bipasha Basu is the second of three sisters, born and brought up in a Hindu Bengali family, she is fluent in Hindi, English, and Bengali. The names of her sisters are Bidisha and Bijoyeta. Unbelievable as it may sound, sexy Bipasha was considered 'ugly' in her younger years due to her dark complexion. Her name means 'Dark Deep Desire', and is also the name of a river.Modeling and acting has come to Bipasa Basu by chance. She had planned to be a Chartered Accountant after her graduation but in the meanwhile she won Ford super model contest and entered the world of modeling. She was also listed as sexiest woman of Asia along with fellow stars Mallika Sherawat and Aishwarya Rai.

After winning over people's heart through modeling and advertisement, Bipasha did the famous video 'Tu Meri Mehbooba' for Sonu Nigam's album, 'Kismat'. Bipasa Basu made her debut in Bollywood with the film "Ajanbi". Thereafter she did a number of movies but her performance in "Raj" opposite Dino Morea was more appreciated. Next was erotic thriller "Jism" opposite john Abrahm, in which she played the role of a sexy wife of a middle-aged industrialist. She portrayed the character splendidly and became recognizable in Bollywood as sexy actress. Bipasha Basu gave sterling performance in a number of films such as "Company", "Rakht", "No Entry", "Barsaat, "Shikhar" and "Apaharan". Her performance in "Corporate" directed by Madhur Bhandarkar won critical acclaim.

Personal life
Basu with boyfriend John Abraham at the launch of the Filmfare magazine (2007).

Basu is currently dating actor John Abraham. The couple have been together since late 2002 and have been referred to as a supercouple in the Indian media. She previously dated fellow Bollywood actor Dino Morea.

In 2006, Basu claimed to have been harassed by certain organizers of the India Day Parade in Edison, New Jersey