Sushmita Sen

Sushmita Sen (born 19 November 1975) is an Indian film actress, model and beauty pageant title holder. She was crowned Miss Universe 1994 by outgoing title holder Dayanara Torres of Puerto Rico at the 43rd edition of the Miss Universe Pageant on May 20, 1994. She was the first woman of Indian origin to win the crown. 

After completing her reign, Sen went on to pursue an acting career in Bollywood movies. She started her career with Dastak, a movie rumored to have been based on her life. She rose to stardom in Tamil blockbuster Ratchagan; later, she attained commercial and critical recognition for her roles in Sirf Tum (1999) and the comedy Biwi No.1 (1999). The latter earned her the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. She has also acted in commercially successful films such as Aankhen (2002), Main Hoon Na (2004) - her biggest commercial success so far - and Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya? (2005). She received critical acclaim for her female-oriented roles in films such as Filhaal... (2002), Samay: When Time Strikes (2003), Chingaari (2005) and Zindaggi Rocks (2006).

Sen was born into a Bengali family in Hyderabad. She has attended Air Force Golden Jubilee Institute in New Delhi and St. Ann's High School in Secunderabad, but did not pursue higher education.

Sen was born to Shuber Sen, a former Indian Air Force Wing Commander, and Subhra Sen, a jewelry designer and owner of a Dubai-based store. She has two siblings, a sister named Neelam, who is married to Nauman Malik, and a brother named Rajeev.

In 1994, as a teenager, Sen won the title of Femina Miss India. Sen then represented India at the 1994 Miss Universe Pageant, held in Manila, Philippines and won there.

At Miss Universe, Sen ranked third overall in the preliminaries, right behind preliminary winner Miss Colombia Carolina Gómez, and Miss Greece Rea Totounzi, who ranked second but won the preliminary swimsuit and evening gown competitions. Sen went on to place second, fifth and third in the swimsuit, interview, and evening gown semi-final competitions respectively, placing third place behind Miss Colombia Carolina Gomez and Miss Venezuela Minorka Mercado. All three women went on to be the final three contestants. In the end, the judges placed their votes on Sen, making her the first woman from India to become Miss Universe. She owns the rights to send delegates from India to the Miss Universe pageant from 2010 onwards through her project I Am She – Miss Universe India.