In fact, Dutta became the 1st Miss Universe to win with the unanimous vote of the entire panel of judges. She spent the next twelve months in moving across the world and visiting more than 68 countries, spreading messages of AIDS awareness and Aiding the Girl Child.

During this time, she also made appearances for Designer and friend Randolph Duke, Sean Combs, and Roberto Cavali. She became the ‘Brand Ambassador’ of Maurice Lacroix, Longines, Clairol and Mikimoto of Japan. While living in New York, between 2000 and 2001, Dutta hosted a Radio Talk show Lara Duttfor ABC, which profiled women achievers from across the globe. While she was holding the title of Miss Universe, United Nations invited her to become its UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador for life. Since then, she has been contributing towards issues of AIDS awareness in India and Female Reproductive Rights.

Film Career

Lara Dutta entered the world of Bollywood with the movie ‘Andaz’ (2003), in which she was one of the two female leads, other being Priyanka Chopra. The film proved to be a success and won her Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, which she shared with Chopra. Though Dutta had done a Tamil movie ‘Arasatchi’ in 2002, financial problems forced it to be released only in mid-2004. In 2004, she was seen in ‘Masti’, which turned out to be a box office hit, followed by ‘Bardaasht’, ‘Aan: Men at Work’ and a special appearance on ‘Khakee’.

The year 2005 saw Dutta appearing in a number of movies, namely ‘Insan’, ‘Elaan’, ‘Jurm’, ’Kaal’, ‘No Entry’, ‘Ek Ajnabee’ (Special appearance) and ‘Dosti: Friends Forever’. Amongst all these films, ’Kaal’ and ‘No Entry’ became successful at the box office. The next year, she starred in ‘Zinda’ and ‘Bhagam Bhag’. The latter one was a comedy and garnered good collections. She started 2007 with ‘Jhoom Barabar Jhoom’, a box office failure, followed by ‘Partner’, which became a blockbuster.

Personal Life

Lara Dutta is a trained Bharatnatyam and Kathak dancer. She loves to read and also has a habit of writing extensively. Along with that, she is an avid adventure sports enthusiast. This is the reason why she does all her own stunts, whether they are for advertising campaigns or movies. Dutta lives in Mumbai, but visits her family in Bangalore, whenever she finds time for the same. She dated model Kelly Dorjee for quite a long time, but the couple broke up sometime back. Presently, she is rumored to be dating actor Dino Morea.

Awards

* 2004 - Star Screen Award Most Promising Newcomer - Female, Andaaz
* 2004 - Filmfare Best Female Debut Award, Andaaz (joint winner with Priyanka Chopra)

Filmography

* 2003 - Andaaz, Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost
* 2004 - Khakee (Special appearance), Masti, Bardaasht, Arasatchi (Tamil film), Aan: Men at Work
* 2005 - Insan, Elaan, Jurm, Kaal, No Entry, Ek Ajnabee (Special appearance), Dosti: Friends Forever
* 2006 - Zinda, Fanaa (Special appearance), Alag (Special appearance), Bhagam Bhag
* 2007 - Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Partner, Om Shanti Om (Special appearance)