I moved to Mumbai from my hometown Bangalore in 1995 to pursue a career in modeling. For me studies and modeling always went hand-in-hand, so with my graduation degree in Economics I managed to bag in campaigns for Bombay Dyeing, Siyaram’s and Synergie for L’Oreal.

My career took a glamorous turn when I walked the ramp for leading designers in India like Shahab Durazi, Rohit Bal, Ritu Kumar, Ritu Beri,etc. My talent and confidence won me Miss India title in 2000 and I proceeded to Nicosia in Cyprus in May the same year and came home with the Miss Universe crown. Not just that, I was the first Miss Universe to win with the unanimous vote of the entire panel of judges.

Along with the crown came the responsibilities. I spent the rest of the year visiting more than 68 countries spreading messages of awareness of AIDS and aiding the girl child. I managed to make time to walk the ramp for designers Randolph Duke, Sean Combs, and Roberto Cavali.

While living in New York between 2000 & 2001, I hosted a radio talk show for ABC, profiling women achievers from across the globe. On returning home, I joined the Indian film industry and since then there haven’t been any stopping for me, right from my first release “Andaaz” to the latest “Billu Barber”. Besides acting I love to dance. I am a trained Bharatnatyam and Kathak dancer. I also write and read extensively. Having done all my stunts for my films and television commercials, I have become quite an adventure sports enthusiast.