Lara Dutta is an Indian actress and a model. She was born on April 16, 1978 in Ghaziabad to Indian father L. K. Dutta and Scottish mother, Jennifer. Lara finished her schooling from the Frank Anthony Public School in Bangalore and graduated from Mumbai University with a major in economics and minor in communications. Lara won the Gladrags Megamodel Contest two times – in 1994 and in 1997. She represented India at the 1997 Miss Intercontinental pageant and had secured first place. Later, she won the 2000 Femina Miss India Universe title which qualified her to compete in the 2000 Miss Universe pageant in Cyprus. She became the second Indian woman to capture the Miss Universe title in 2000. She is the Goodwill Ambassador of United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for India. Lara made her film debut with the Hindi film Andaaz in 2003. The film was a box office success and earned her the 2003 Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. She has acted in various Hindi films such as Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost (2003), Khakee (2004), Masti (2004), Bardaasht (2004), Aan (2004), Jurm (2004), Insaan (2005), Elaan (2005), No Entry (2005), Kaal (2005), Zinda (2005), Ek Ajnabee (2006), Bhagam Bhag (2006) etc. Lara has also acted in a Tamil film called Arasatchi (2004). She had made special appearances in Hindi films such as Fanaa (2006) and Om Shanti Om (2007). Lara’s first release in 2007 was the film Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. Her next release was David Dhawan’s Partner which was a hit. She was one of the judges of Mission Ustaad, a musical reality show on 9X channel.