Esha Gupta

Esha Gupta (born 28 November 1985) is an Indian film actress, model, and the winner of the Miss India International title of 2007. She has established a career in Bollywood films.
Gupta entered the Femina Miss India contest in 2007, where she placed third and won the Miss India International title, and later represented India at Miss International pageant. She soon received offers for film roles, and made her acting debut in the 2012 moderately successful crime thriller Jannat 2, that fetched her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Gupta received praise for her portrayal in the political drama Chakravyuh (2012), but her performance in the comedy film Humshakals (2014) met with negative reviews. She had her biggest commercial successes with starring roles in the horror film Raaz 3D (2012) and the suspense thriller Rustom (2016).

Gupta was born in Delhi. Her father is a retired air-force officer and her mother is a homemaker. She has a sister named Neha. She was studying Mass Communication from Manipal Institute of Communication, Manipal University, Karnataka prior to auditioning for Femina Miss India, and got a law scholarship at Newcastle University, but she pursued a career in Bollywood instead.

Gupta participated in Femina Miss India in 2007, where she won Miss Photogenic and came 3rd to go on to compete in Miss India International. She featured in the Kingfisher Calendar in 2010.

Gupta made her Bollywood debut with Mahesh Bhatt's Jannat 2 opposite Emraan Hashmi in the lead role.For her debut performance, Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama said, "Debutante Esha Gupta enchants you with her captivating charm. She appears a tad unrefined at places, nonetheless she handles her part assertively." Martin D'Souza of Glam Sham wrote, "As for the debutante, Esha Gupta, I guess she may have to enroll herself into an acting school." Gaurav Malani stated, "Esha Gupta, who looks a mix between Lara Dutta and Isha Koppikar, is merely there for the glam quotient." Asha Mahadevan of Bollywoodlife said, "Even Esha Gupta manages to cry somewhat convincingly but then there is hardly anything for her to do. Her role is limited to looking sexy and she does it well." The film was a success at the box office, earning ₹430 million (US$6.4 million) domestically and thus brought in more recognition for Gupta. Later, Gupta signed Vikram Bhatt's Raaz 3D alongside her Jannat 2 co-star, Emraan Hashmi and Bipasha Basu, Gupta received mixed reviews from critics for her acting prowess, film critic Taran Adarsh commented, "Esha Gupta appears awkward and self-conscious in the initial portions, but holds a few sequences graciously in the subsequent hour. I'd like to single out a scene when she has delusions of cockroaches attacking her. Her act in that particular scene is super". Film critic Komal Nahta noted, "Esha Gupta is stiff as Sanjana but does much better towards the end (when she almost goes berserk)". India Today wrote, "Both Bipasha and Esha get liberal scope to show off booty. A Bhatt film where the heroines don't get to flaunt it is unimaginable, after all, Bipasha looks hot in her starring role but Esha reveals a few raw edges". 'Raaz 3' performed well at box office within first three days of its release with collections in the vicinity of 360 million. Raaz 3 was declared a blockbuster, earning ₹730 million (US$11 million) domestically.

Gupta along with her Jannat 2 and Raaz 3D co-star Emraan Hashmi

Esha has also appeared in her third film, which is her first film outside of the Vishesh Films banner, Chakravyuh alongside Arjun Rampal and Abhay Deol directed by Prakash Jha. She received positive reviews for her performance in the film which was a commercial failure. For this, She was ranked No. 13 at Times' 50 Most Desirable Women of 2012.

As of 2013, she appeared in song "Dhat Teri Ki" opposite Imran Khan in Karan Johar's Gori Tere Pyaar Mein.

In 2014, Esha was seen in Sajid Khan's Comic Caper Humshakals alongside Saif Ali Khan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Ram Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Tamannaah. Box Office India declared it a "disaster". She was ranked at 8th position for Times '50 most desirable Women of 2013.

Gupta with Arjun Rampal (left) and Prakash Jha (right) at a promotional event of Chakravyuh.

In 2015, Gupta was ranked at 15th position for Times '50 most desirable Women of 2014. In January 2015, she was featured in a special item song revealing the dark side of the movie in a highly appreciated song titled "Beparwah". After which she was approached for Neeraj Vora's Hera Pheri 3. Shooting of the film will go on floors in early 2016 and the film is stated to release in August 2016. She also appeared in Bhushan Kumar's video album "Main Rahoon Ya Na Rahoon" alongside her debut co-star Emraan Hashmi. The video was well received. The video has more than 28 million views on YouTube. She has also committed to star in Tatineni Satya's Tamil/Telugu bilingual untitled film opposite Sachiin J Joshi.

After a good response from her video album, she was signed by Neeraj Pandey for his upcoming romantic thriller Rustom opposite Akshay Kumar and alongside Ileana D'Cruz. She is said to play an important negative role in the film showcasing her grey shades, her role and looks from the film is said to be inspired by Priyanka Chopra's role in Aitraaz. She has already started searching for her looks to play a "Bad vamp". She had also been approached for an item song alongside Saif Ali Khan and Shahid Kapoor in Rangoon.

• 2013: FHM World's Sexiest 100 Women:#55
• 2013: Times of India's Hotlist 2012 Most Promising Female Newcomer: No. 5
• 2013: Times of India's Most Desirable Women of 2012 No. 13 out of 50.
• 2014: Times of India's Most Desirable Woman of 2013 No. 8 out of 50.
• 2015: Times of India's Most Desirable Women of 2014 No. 15 out of 50.