9 June 1975
Ameesha Patel was born to Gujarat’s wealthy businessman Amit Patel and Punjabi NRI mother Asha. She was named Ameesha by combining her mother and father’s names. At the age of 5, she was given training in Bharatanatyam.
A picture of Ameesha with younger brother Ashmit Patel.
Her grandfather Rajni Patel was a famous barrister and a senior Congress politician. In 1986, a road in Mumbai was named Barrister Rajni Patel Marg after him. In Manish Paul’s podcast, Ameesha had revealed that her grandfather was about to become the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He was close to Indira Gandhi.
A picture of Ameesha’s grandfather Barrister Rajni Patel with Indira Gandhi.
Indira Gandhi had also attended Ameesha Patel’s parents’ wedding. She herself fixed the wedding date on a day when she would not be busy with work and could attend the wedding. In fact, when Ameesha was born, Indira Gandhi was the first person to reach the hospital.
Ameesha Patel in her teenage years.
At the age of 16, Ameesha had gone with her father to the music launch of Saheli. There, Rakesh Roshan, her father’s friend from boarding school, also arrived.
When Ameesha started dancing in a carefree manner, Rakesh Roshan’s attention fell on her. He went straight to her father and asked – Who is this? Girlfriend?
The answer came – No Rakesh, this is my daughter Ameesha. She has just returned after completing her studies in Boston.
Rakesh told him – When I launch my son Hrithik, I will make your daughter the heroine.
The father said – No, she is going to Boston for studies. The question of working in films doesn’t even arise.
After her initial education, Ameesha studied Bio Genetic Engineering at TUFT University in Boston and later studied Economics.
Ameesha’s father Amit Patel often socialized with people from the film world. One day he called Ameesha, who was living in Boston, and told her that Vinod Uncle (Vinod Khanna) wanted her to debut in films with his son Akshay Khanna’s debut film Himalaya Putra, but we refused. We don’t want your studies to be affected. Ameesha didn’t pay attention to this, because she herself had never thought of entering films.
A few days passed, then her father again told her that Firoz Khan had also offered her son Fardeen Khan’s film Prem Aggan, but this time too he refused.
When she returned to Bombay in her final year, one day Rakesh Roshan invited her to lunch. Ameesha went with her parents. Rakesh’s son Hrithik was also present there. They talked a lot about studies, Ameesha also showed her CV and the job letter she received from Morgan Stanley Bank in America.
A little while later, when Ameesha went to the washroom, Rakesh Roshan asked his son Hrithik whether he should cast her in the upcoming film Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai.
Upon receiving Hrithik’s approval, Rakesh offered Ameesha the film as soon as she returned.
Actually, at that time Rakesh Roshan had started the film Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai with his son Hrithik Roshan and Kareena Kapoor, but Kareena had left the film due to a disagreement between Rakesh Roshan and her mother Babita.
When offered, Ameesha asked – But the heroine for your film has already been finalized.
To this, Rakesh said – No, I want to make you the heroine.
Hearing this, Ameesha agreed. She thought that if the first film flopped, she would start a job in economics, but fortunately the film was a superhit and Ameesha Patel became a star and is still associated with films today.
Today Ameesha Patel has turned 51 years old. On the special occasion of her birthday, let’s know the interesting story of her life, along with some entertaining anecdotes-
Got Gadar while doing Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai, gave screen test for 12 hours
Ameesha Patel started shooting for Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai after taking a few days of acting training. During this time, she got information about the audition for Anil Sharma’s film Gadar. She went for the audition, for which 500 girls had already auditioned. 22 girls were shortlisted for the screen test, which included Ameesha as well.
Her screen test went on for 12 hours. Finally, Anil Sharma cast her in Gadar. After selection, Ameesha Patel received taunts for signing Gadar. Everyone believed that at the beginning of her career, Ameesha should not do the role of a mother, but she was adamant about doing this role.
Ameesha shot for Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai and Gadar simultaneously. In one film she was a bubbly girl and in the other, a survivor of the riots that occurred between India and Pakistan.
First, his film Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai was released. Everyone advised Rakesh Roshan not to release this film starring newcomers Hrithik and Ameesha around the time of Shah Rukh Khan’s film Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani and Aamir Khan’s film Mela. Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai was released on January 14, 2000, while Mela released on January 7, 2000 and Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani released on January 21, 2000.
Despite the big clash, Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai became a blockbuster and became the highest-grossing film of that year.
After this, Ameesha Patel’s film Gadar was also released which became a blockbuster and she started being counted among the top actresses. In Gadar, Ameesha played the role of Pakistani Sakina, in which Sunny Deol played the role of Tara Singh. Their pairing was very much liked. A few years later, Ameesha Patel got the film Humraaz with Sunny Deol’s brother Bobby Deol.
In the climax scene of the film, Ameesha had to shoot Akshay Khanna and hug Bobby. The film was shot at a fort in Jaipur, where a huge crowd had gathered to watch the shooting. As soon as Ameesha hugged Bobby, the crowd of spectators started shouting. The people in the crowd were shouting and telling Bobby Deol – Leave Sakina, she is your brother Tara Singh’s trust. Leave her.
Hearing this, the entire team present on set burst into laughter and the scene had to be reshot.
Early films like Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai and Gadar made Ameesha a star, but later many of her back-to-back films started flopping. These included Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage and Kranti.
Impressed by her humor, Aamir Khan replaced Aishwarya and cast Ameesha
Amidst Ameesha’s flopping films, one day Aamir Khan watched an interview she gave to BBC, in which she was giving humorous answers in an excellent manner. Aamir liked her humor so much that he immediately called his producer and said that Ameesha should be cast in his upcoming film Mangal Pandey: The Rising.
While at that time Aishwarya Rai had already been cast in the film. Ameesha was in the news for replacing Aishwarya. This film was average, however her subsequent films Zameer, Vaada, Humko Tumse Pyaar Hai, Ankahee, Aap Ki Khatir continued to flop and she got labeled as a flop actress.
Dated Vikram Bhatt, sent legal notice to family
During the shooting of the 2002 film Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage, Ameesha Patel and director Vikram Bhatt came into a relationship. Ameesha’s family was unhappy with this relationship.
Ameesha Patel with Vikram Bhatt.
Over time, Ameesha’s estrangement from her family began. The dispute escalated when Ameesha sent a legal notice to her father in 2004, accusing him of misusing her earnings.
According to the notice, Ameesha’s father had invested all of Ameesha’s savings in his business without permission when his business suffered losses. She also demanded the return of 12 crore rupees. Ameesha left home and started living alone.
During this time, there were reports that Ameesha was going to marry Vikram, but suddenly in 2008, the two separated. It was at this time that Ameesha’s family wanted to reconcile with her.
Right after the breakup with Vikram, Ameesha’s name was linked with American businessman Kanav Puri in March 2008. From 2009, Ameesha’s relationship with her family started improving. Amidst news of marriage with Kanav Puri, Ameesha broke up with Kanav as well and said that she wanted to focus on her career.
Ameesha Patel with Kanav Puri.
Air India employee filed complaint against the actress
In August 2006, Ameesha, who was traveling to participate in the Victory Parade in New York, got embroiled in controversies. An Air India employee filed a complaint against her for misbehavior. After returning to India, an investigation was initiated against Ameesha and she was called for questioning.
According to the complaint, she misbehaved with her companion over not being given a first-class ticket, although Ameesha called all these allegations baseless. She also said that the airline employees were framing her to save themselves. The dispute ended when the organizers of the New York Victory Parade apologized to the actress, saying the mistake was on their part. They had also booked first-class tickets for those traveling with Ameesha, but due to technical difficulties, their tickets were booked incorrectly.
Mamta Kulkarni argued and said – What is your status
In the 90s, Mamta Kulkarni was a star, while Ameesha Patel used to do modeling. At that time, both of them got an ad for a hair oil together, which was shot in Mauritius for 4-5 days. During the shoot, the organizer and owner of Bajaj Sevashram, Mr. Bajaj, organized a dinner for everyone.
During dinner time, Mamta Kulkarni, Mr. Bajaj, Ameesha and her mother were sitting at the same table with their respective teams. Just then Mamta took a dish from the buffet, which had no name written on it. When she had difficulty chewing it, she called the waiter and asked the name of the dish. The waiter told her that it was deer meat. At this, Mamta got irritated and shouted at the waiter saying – Who eats deer meat, chicken-mutton is what people eat. She and her secretary abused the waiter and misbehaved, when Ameesha, sitting nearby, intervened and said, Everyone here is eating the same food, so no one should throw tantrums.
At this, Mamta flared up and shouted – You have come here for a hair oil ad, right? You have been paid 1 lakh rupees for it and I got 15 lakhs, so tell me who is the star, what is your status.
After this, when Ameesha replied to her, her secretary became aggressive and started approaching Ameesha while misbehaving with her. Just then Ameesha’s mother Asha immediately got up and holding the secretary’s hand said, Don’t even dare to touch my daughter.
This dispute remained quite in the discussion. Ameesha Patel has talked about this in an interview. Last year, when Mamta, who appeared in Aap Ki Adalat, was asked about this, she did talk about the matter, but clarified that she did not directly abuse Ameesha, rather her manager had an argument with her.
Blockbuster films like Tere Naam and Lagaan slipped from Ameesha Patel’s hands
Initially, Aamir Khan’s film Lagaan was offered to Ameesha Patel. She had to play the role of a village girl in that film. Her dates were also finalized, however later director Ashutosh Gowariker realized that Ameesha was not a good option for the role of a village girl, because she looked extremely beautiful and educated. This was the reason that at the last moment Gracy Singh was cast in her place.
Let us tell you that the films Gadar: Ek Prem Katha and Lagaan were released on the same day, June 14, 2001.
Salman wanted to do Tere Naam with Ameesha Patel
Ameesha Patel is a close friend of Salman. When he received the script of Tere Naam, he offered the film to Ameesha. He played the songs of Tere Naam to Ameesha, which had already been composed. However, the shooting dates of the film were not fixed then, nor was it decided who would direct the film. By the time Satish Kaushik was finalized to direct the film, Ameesha had become busy with other films. Later, Bhumika Chawla was cast in her place.
Was cast with Shah Rukh in Munna Bhai MBBS
Director Vidhu Vinod Chopra had planned the film Munna Bhai MBBS with Shah Rukh Khan and Ameesha. However, Shah Rukh could not do this film as he was busy with other films. Later, Sanjay Dutt replaced him. By the time the casting was finalized, Ameesha also got busy with other films and she left this film.
Grandfather gave the opportunity to M F Husain
At one time, the famous painter M F Husain used to paint billboards on the streets. He was a friend of Ameesha Patel. In the beginning, when MF Husain was struggling to build a career in painting, Ameesha’s grandfather supported him and got his paintings purchased by his associates. This was the reason why M F Husain had a close relationship with Ameesha’s family. Even today, Ameesha’s house has many luxury paintings given by M F Husain.
