Lisa Ray – Bollywood actress and model of ‘Kasoor’ fame

Lisa Ray is a very successful model who has been a part of several ramp walks, print ads and TV ads in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She also appeared in popular music videos of 1990s like ‘Afreen’ and ‘Jalwa’ before she made her Bollywood debut with the murder mystery, Kasoor in 2001. The romantic songs composed by Nadeem – Shravan such as ‘Kitni Bechein Hoke’ and ‘Mohabbat Ho Na Jaaye’ filmed on her and Aftab Shivdasani got noticed and film also fared well at box office. However after becoming a part of a few Bollywood and English projects, she disappeared from screen because she was diagnosed with incurable multiple myeloma. Ray received a stem cell transplant in 2009 and returned to her professional career.

This Indian Canadian actress and model was born in 1972 in Toronto. Her father is a Bengali Hindu while her mother is a Polish. Ray spent her early childhood in Kolkata. Yet she mostly spoke Polish at home. She reached India in the late 1980s where she started her modelling career. She simultaneously studied acting in London. By mid-1990s she became one of the most sought young models of the country. She came to public attention for the first time after she appeared in a high-cut black swimsuit in the 1990s opposite Karan Kapoor. Later she appeared in the cover of Glad Rags wearing a red Baywatch-style swimsuit which made her a sensation.

She got many film offers in the late 1990s. She rejected all of them till Kasoor happened. Later she played lead role in a few international projects like Hollywood Bollywood, Water etc. She was diagnosed with cancer in 2009, and later she got associated with many humanitarian works for cancer patients, girl campaigns etc. She returned to films most recently and was seen in films like Veerappan, Dobaara, Ishq Forever etc. She played Samara Kapoor in 2019 Amazon web series, Four More Shots Please!

Lisa Ray – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. She is a successful TV host, philanthropist and social activist.

2. She was featured in the popular music videos of 1990s – Har Taraf Mera Jalwa of Daler Mehndi and Afreen Afreen of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

3. Divya Dutta dubbed for her debut Hindi film, Kasoor, as she was not proficient in Hindi.

4. She made her acting debut with Tamil film, Nethaji opposite Sarath Kumar in 1996, and the movie was a flop. Later she never worked in Tamil films.

5. Lisa starred in Telugu film Takkari Donga in 2002 which also starred Bipasha Basu.

6. She is a cancer survivor who fought bravely with the disease.

7. She is currently married and mother of twins. She adopted surrogacy.

8. Times of India polls declared her as the 9^th most beautiful lady of the millennium.