Neha Dhupia

Early life

Dhupia was born in Kochi, India to a Punjabi Sikh family. Her father, Commander Pradip Singh Dhupia, served in the Indian Navy and mother, Manpinder, (Babli Dhupia) is a homemaker. She went to Naval Public School then transferred to Army Public School, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi. She graduated from Jesus and Mary College in New Delhi, affiliated to the University of Delhi, with Honours in History.

Career

Dhupia made her acting debut in a play in New Delhi called Graffiti. Thereafter she appeared in a music video for Indipop band Euphoria and modeled for advertisement campaigns. She then appeared in the TV serial Rajdhani In 2002 she entered the Femina Miss India pageant finishing in first place, winning the Femina Miss India Universe title, and was subsequently sent to the Miss Universe 2002 pageant in Puerto Rico. She was placed in the top 10.

Film career

Dhupia made her film debut in the 2003 Bollywood film Qayamat: City Under Threat, which had an average performance at the box office. She rose to fame with her role Julie and then appeared in Sheesha (2005) in a dual role of twin sisters but it did not do well at the box office. She then starred in films such as Kyaa Kool Hai Hum (2005) and Shootout at Lokhandwala (2007), which did well at the box office, and featured in a segment of the Anthology film Dus Kahaniyaan (2007).

In the following years, Dhupia appeared in supporting roles in multiple critically and commercially acclaimed films including Chup Chup Ke (2006), Ek Chalis Ki Last Local (2007), Mithya (2008), Maharathi (2008), Singh Is Kinng (2008) and Dasvidaniya (2008). In 2011, she played Eva Braun in the film Dear Friend Hitler about Mahatma Gandhi.

Her most recent films are Moh Maya Money, Paying Guest, Action Replayy, De Dana Dan and Pappu Can't Dance Saala. She has worked on her first international project with Chris Kattan in IFC's Bollywood Hero.

Other

In 2016, Neha conceptualized and hosted a Bollywood podcast called #NoFilterNeha on the Indian Music App called Saavn, in which she interviews famous Bollywood celebrities. The show received positive reviews, with over 2.3 million listeners. In 2017, she returned with #NoFilterNeha Season 2.

Personal life and off-screen work

Dhupia has run in the Mumbai Marathon to support the Concern India Foundation and helped to raise over 5 lakhs. She also helped to raise money for victims of the 2011 Sikkim earthquake. She performed at the GR8 Women's Award 2012.

She also participated in the Hiru Golden Film Awards 2014 in Sri Lanka as a special guest along with Bollywood actors such as Sunil Shetty, Vivek Oberoi, Anil Kapoor, and actress Bipasha Basu.