Amisha Patel was born on 9th June 1976 in Mumbai to Amit Patel and Asha Patel. She is sister of Ashmit Patel and the granddaughter of the famous Indian lawyer Rajni Patel. Amisha did her schooling in the Cathedral and John Connon School and was very keen to develop her leadership and acting skill at school itself. She was head girl for the academic year 1992-1993 at John Connon School. She received a degree in Economics from Tufts University, U.S(gold Medallist in Economics). She also studied classical Indian Bharatnatyam dance. While doing Economics in the United States, Amisha Patel kept herself busy teaching classical dance in her free time. She was raised by her grandmother Nani. She grew up speaking three Indian dialects, Hindi, Gujrati and Marathi — sometimes in the same sentence.
Amisha Patel did join a financial company but a regular nine to five job couldn’t hold her for long. She joined Satyadev Dubey’s theatre group and started doing plays after convincing her parents a process that took a year. Armed with a foreign degree and an ultra respectable family background Amisha Patel was to be the CEO of the family business. Fate have something to do with her. Director Rakesh Roshan had already signed Kareena Kapoor opposite his son and had even started shooting with her. When that association did not work out Roshan remembered his fascination with his school friend Amit Patel’s limpid-eyed daughter at a sangeet celebration. Rakesh Roshan even remarked that if he ever made a film with his son he would take her as a heroine. And this way Amisha Patel got her debut film Kaho Naa Pyar Hai. In her debut film ‘KNPH’ she replaced Kareena Kapoor. Amisha Patel stole hearts with her impressive performance in the film opposite Hrithik Roshan, the biggest Bollywood blockbuster of 2000.
However her other filims bombed in Box office- notably Suno Sasurji with Aftab, Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage with Hrithik, Yeh hai Jalwa with with Hrithik and ‘Yeh Zindagi Ka Safar’, with Salman. She replaced Priyanka Chopra in Humraaz, that is why Amisha Patel believe what is in destiny no one can take away from you. After that she appeared in Gadar, one of the biggest blockbusters in the history of Indian cinema, in which she gave a stupendous performance and which included her in the top league of actresses in Bollywood. In 2003 Amisha Patel had a Parwane which was a flop.
Satum and Jupiter, which give her slow but huge successes after gaps of about two – two and a half years, but her successes will always be big. Amisha Patel received numerous awards for her performance, but remained unaffected by it. “I have won an award every year for the four years that I have been here. But these can be bought. So how does it matter if you win one?” Amisha Patel says. Awards she received are
•2000, Kalashree “Sensational Discovery”, Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai
•2000, Zee Cine Awards “Best Female Debut”, Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai
•2000, Sansui Viewers Choice Award “Best Debut / Face of the Year”, Kaho Naa… Pyaar Hai
•2001, Filmfare Special Performance Award, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha
A shy girl with a good sense of humor, Amisha believes in honesty and integrety and hates double standards and hypocrisy. “I’m a transparent person because I don’t like hypocrisy. I may not open up to someone quickly, but that doesn’t mean that I pretend. It’s too taxing.” avers Ms. Patel.
On the personal front, the hazel-eyed beauty spends most of her free time reading books and listening to Jagjit Singh. Amisha Patel loves homecoked food, her favourates are ‘butter- chicken’ and ‘paranthas’. Amisha Patel considers her family, her greatest strength and is superstitious about names and numbers.
Amisha Patel has the best collection of bags and belts in tinselville. Whenever she goes abroad Amisha Patel shops for expensive accessories. Her collection includes from Louis Vuitton, Salvotore Feragamo, Christian Dior, Gucci and Versace.
She also worked in Vikram Bhatt’s Elaan in which Amisha Patel played a journalist. The Rising for which she thrilled to work with Aamir Khan. Amisha Patel played an innocent bengali girl, Jwala who gone through a devastating time before a Britisher comes into her life.
