Ameesha Patel has seen the ebb and flow of her career after she switched her profession from being an economic analyst early in life, to a Bollywood actress. Having modelled for renowned brands like Fair & Lovely, Cadburys, and Lux, her first acting stint was with Satyadev Dubey`s theater group. Two of her biggest Bollywood box office successes are her debut film Kaho Naa Pyar Hai (2000) opposite Hrithik Roshan, and the critically acclaimed Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001) opposite Sunny Deol. Her career prospects improved when she starred in two multi-starrer movies Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. andBhool Bhulaiyaa in 2007.

Early Life
Born to Amit and Asha Patel in 1975, she was named Amisha. Her brother, Ashmit Patel, is also a Bollywood & television actor. Ameesha is the grand-daughter of lawyer-politician Barrister Rajni Patel. She studied in Mumbai at the Cathedral and John Connon School and is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer. She ventured into studying Biogenetic engineering but later opted for Economics at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and graduated with a gold medal for an Economics paper. She started her career as an economic analyst but turned down a job at Morgan Stanley to join Satyadev Dubey`s theater group in India. She acted in several plays, including an Urdu language play titled Neelam (1999) written by Tanveer Khan.

Personal Life
Ameesha met director-producerVikram Bhatt in 2002 while filming the movie Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage. The couple soon started dating but reportedly separated in 2008, after five years into the relationship. She was in a relationship with a London-based businessman Kanav Puri from 2008 to 2010.

Movie Career
Ameesha Patel chanced upon being an actress after she accepted the role of Sonia in the filmKaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai offered to her by director-producer Rakesh Roshan. She initially rejected the offer to pursue her studies in the USA, but was offered the role again whenKareena Kapoor walked out of the film. The movie established Ameesha and her co-star Hrithik Roshan as rising stars, and she won several awards as the best debutant that year. Her second movie, Badri was a Telugu language drama opposite Pawan Kalyan which was another major success. She bagged a role in her second Bollywood movie Gadar (2001), even before she shot to fame with Kaho Naa.. Pyaar Hai. The film set during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 starred Sunny Deol and became one of the top-grossing films of the year. Ameesha`s performance won her the Filmfare Special Performance Award, as well as nominations for Best Actress at several award ceremonies.

These successful movies followed with some flops by the actress, such as Aap Mujhe Achche Lagne Lage (2002) opposite Hrithik Roshan for the second time. However, her movie Humraaz (2002), a thriller by Abbas-Mastan opposite Akshaye Khanna and Bobby Deol, in which she played a negative role for the first time, became the fifth highest-grossing film of the year at the box office. The years 2002-2006 saw a series of flop films and unrecalled performances by the actress.

Some of Ameesha`s other noteworthy performances include her role as Jwala in Ketan Mehta`s historical drama Mangal Pandey: The Rising (2005), and her character as the wronged wife in Ankahee (2006) got her critical acclaim despite the movie being a box office failure. She was also seen in the multi-starrer comedy drama Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. (2007) where her comic timing was appreciated. It was a small budget film that got moderate box office success. Priyadarshan`s hit Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) opposite Akshay Kumar where she played the character of a rejected adopted girl got her acclaim even for a supporting role. Abbas-Mustan`s Race 2 (2013) saw her as Anil Kapoor`s flaky assistant, which despite being a critical failure emerged as a box office success. Her 2016 release includes Bhaiyya Ji Superhit . She reprised her role of Sakeena for the commercially hit movie Gadar 2 (2023).