Lisa Ray

Infobox actor

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image_caption = Lisa Ray in the film Water
name = Lisa Ray
birthname = Lisa Rani Ray
birthdate = birth date and age|1972|4|4
location = Toronto, Canada
occupation = Actor, Model
deathdate =
deathplace =
height = 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
yearsactive = 2001 – present
othername =
spouse =
homepage =
notable role =
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Lisa Ray (born April 4, 1972) is an Indian /Canadian actress and former fashion model.

Early life

She grew up in Toronto, is the daughter of a Bengali father and a Polish mother. [ [http://en.chatelaine.com/english/life/article.jsp?content=20070723_142659_4976 Chatelaine.com : The thoroughly Canadian charm of Lisa Ray ] ]

She wanted to do Journalism after finishing high school, but with modeling offer from a big publication made her entry into the fashion world.

Career

She has developed into an internationally acclaimed performer with a reputation for taking on challenging roles (ref: Glow magazine, December 2007- 'Mehta needed a skilled and serious actress who could handle such a politically and emotionally charged role and Ray rose to the challenge proving her abilities to herself, Mehta and the North american film community)

She spent a decade modelling in India and dabbled in Indian films before moving to London to attend drama school. (ref: Glow magazine, December 2007- Ray, 35 got her first big-screen break in 2001 when she was offered the lead role in the Bollywood thriller Kasoor, a remake of the American film Jagged Edge. This got her noticed by Indian-Canadian director Deepa Mehta, who gave her a starring role in Bollywood/Hollywood, a romantic-comedy-meets-musical-parody set in Toronto. The success of this film earned her rave reviews at TIFF and numerous Hollywood movie offers. But despite having her foot firmly in the door, Ray did the unthinkable for an up-and-coming actress: She said no to Hollywood and went to acting school instead)

Bollywood career

She began her acting career with the Bollywood film "Kasoor" in 2001 opposite Aftab Shivdasani. Ray then went to Tollywood in 2002 and appeared in Takkari Donga with Mahesh Babu. She has also acted in a kannada film Yuvaraja in which Shiva Rajkumar plays the male lead. She subsequently starred as the female lead of Canadian director Deepa Mehta's romantic Indian-Canadian romp, "Bollywood/Hollywood" in 2002. In 2005, she worked again with Mehta in the Oscar-nominated film, "Water"(ref: imdb.com). Since breaking through she has worked in productions from Canada, Europe and the United states (ref: imdb.com)

Recent roles include a farm girl in 'All Hat', a school teacher in 'A Stone's Throw' and a housewife in 50's apartheid South Africa in "The World Unseen".

In 2007, she completed filming for "Kill Kill Faster Faster", which is a contemporary film noir inspired by the critically acclaimed novel of the same name by Joel Rose.

Awards

She was voted Star of the Future at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival, Top Ten most Beautiful Indian Woman of the Millenium by the Times of India and won the Best Actress in a Canadian film for 'Water' by the Vancouver Critics Circle (ref: imdb.com, Glow magazine, December 2007)

Personal life

Lisa is currently dating Canadian fashion designer Neil Kotecha (Vanity Fair September 2007).

Filmography

* Kasoor - 2001
* Bollywood/Hollywood - 2002
* The Standard - 2005
* Water- 2005

References

External links

*
* [http://www.steami.net/girls/lisa-ray-dares-to-bare-like-never-before/ Lisa Ray Controversial Stills From Kill Kill Faster Faster]
* [http://bollywoodkingdom2000.tripod.com/lisa/ Profile on Lisa Ray World]
* [http://www.glamsham.com/movies/scoops/06/apr/28deepa.asp GlamSham Article]
* [http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1670 Lisa Ray Interview] on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos