Dutta was born on April 16, 1978 in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Her father is Wing Commander L.K. Dutta (retired) and her mother is Jennifer Puddi. She also has two older sisters, one of whom serves in the Indian Air Force and a well known younger sister. Famed composer and DJ Nitin Sawhney is Dutta's cousin. The Dutta family moved to Bangalore in 1981 where she completed high school from St.Francis Read more...

Dutta won the annual Gladsrags modelling competition in her native India, thus winning the right to be the first Indian representative at the 1997 Miss Intercontinental pageant, in which she took first place. Later, she was crowned Femina Miss India Universe and Miss Universe in 2000.

At Miss Universe 2000 in Cyprus, Dutta was the clear favourite ahead of fierce competition from Venezuela, Read more...

Dutta primarily signed up to do the Tamil film, Arasatchi in 2002, but due to financial problems, it only released in mid-2004. She made her Hindi debut in 2003 with the film Andaaz which was a box office success and won her a Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. She then appeared in a number of films, some of which failed at the box office and some of which were mildly successful. Her box office "hits" Read more...