Happy Birthday sizzling beauty Bipasha Basu: Her sexiest onscreen avatars

Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu was one of the few actresses to have an extremely successful modeling career even before she made her way into the film industry. Known for her sensual roles in films like ‘Jism’, ‘Raaz’, ‘Ajnabee’ and ‘Dhoom’, the actress also appeared in strong women-oriented films as well. She will be seen in one of her hottest avatars soon in horror thriller 'Alone' this Friday. As the Bengali beauty celebrates her 36th birthday today, we take a look at some of her sexiest onscreen avatars.

In 2001, Bipasha Basu made her Bollywood debut in Abbas-Mustan's 'Ajnabee' along with Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor and Akshay Kumar. The film was fairly bold and revolved around the concept of wife swapping. However, Bipasha’s role as the imposter Sonia, was greatly appreciated and she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

The dusky beauty was then seen in Vikram Bhatt's 'Raaz' (2002) opposite her then beau Dino Morea, in which she played a woman who is pursued by a spirit. The horror film is said to have established Bipasha in Bollywood and earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Best Actress Award.

The following year, Bipasha Basu sizzled onscreen with boyfriend at the time, John Abraham in Pooja Bhatt’s 'Jism'. Bipasha played the role of a seductive, ambitious wife of a millionaire who indulges in an extramarital affair with an alcoholic lawyer and plots to kill her husband. According to a poll, 'Jism' ranked 92 in the top 100 sexiest movie scenes and also earned Bipasha a second Fimlfare Award for Best Villain.

In 2004, Bipasha starred with John Abraham once again in Tanveer Khan's 'Madhoshi'. The actress played the role of a mentally unstable woman who falls in love with a figment of her imagination. Her performance of Anupama Kaul was generally well received.

Bipasha once again showed off her rocking hot bod in Anees Bazmee's comedy flick 'No Entry' (2005). The film featured an ensemble cast of Salman Khan, Anil kapoor, Fardeen Khan, Lara Dutta, Esha Deol and Celina Jaitley.

Bipasha essayed the role of a bar girl that acts as the wife of two men. The film gained a lot of popularity and was the biggest blockbuster of 2005 and grossed Rs 75 crore at the Box Office. Bipasha's performance earned her yet another Fimfare nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

'Phir Hera Pheri' in 2006 was another major success in Bipasha Basu’s career. The Bengali actress played the role of Anuradha, a con woman who steals Rs 10 million from Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Suniel Shetty. The Neeraj Vora directed film became the ninth highest grossing film of the year.

Then came 'Dhoom 2', her second release of 2006 that saw Bipasha Basu play a double role as Shonali Bose and Monali Bose. Bipasha showed off her fab bikini body in the movie and she is known to have set the bikini craze in Bollywood.

That same year, Bipasha was seen romancing a much-younger Ranbir Kapoor in rom-com ‘Bachna Ae Haseeno’. Her role of an aspirirng supermodel earned her a second nomination for Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. The film on the other hand, was declared a hit. Her jodi with Ranbir was highly appreciated.

Bipasha Basu donned the role of the bikini babe once more in Sajid Khan’s ‘Humshakals’, when she played Mishti. But, the film was negatively reviewed. The movie ran into contrversy when Bipasha disassociated herself from the Sajid Khan film and refused to promote it.

Her next release of the year, ‘Creature 3D’ saw her play the role of Ahana Dutt, who later fights off a super-natural creature. This film failed to perform well at the Box office too.

Bipasha then oozed oomph in Rohan Sippy’s crime film ‘Dum Maaro Dum’ in which she played an airhostess who gets arrested for smuggling drugs. However, the actress’ role of Zoey Mendonca was well received though the film opened to mixed reviews, it was termed a success.

In 2008, Bipasha once again joined hands with Abbas-Mustan for ‘Race’. The actress essayed the role of Sonia, a girl stuck in a love-triangle between two brothers (played by Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna). The film grossed 68 crores at the box office and was the fourth-biggest hit that year in India. Bipasha’s performance garnered much praise, with some critics stating that it was her best work so far.

However, Bipasha’s forthcoming release, ‘Alone’ has got fans waiting eagerly. The trailer of the horror flick with Karan Singh Grover looks spooky and thrilling and Bipasha received quite a lot of praise. She will be seen playing a double role in the film, that tells the tale of conjoined twins.