Celina Jaitley Biography

Celina Jaitley
Date of Birth 9 June 1981, Kabul, Afghanistan
Birth Name Celina Jiya Jaitley
Nickname Chinto
Height 5' 6" (1.68 m)

Celina Jaitley was born in Kabul, Afghanistan on 9th June 1981 to an Afghan mother and Indian father. She is daughter of a Punjabi father who was an Indian Army officer. Her mother is an Afghan and is a child psychologist by profession. Her schooling was done all over the country due to the frequent transfers of her father. She had to change thirteen schools till her Board exams. Presently her family stays in Bangalore. Celina's past five generations have served the army and there was a point of time in her life, when she was also tinkering with the idea of taking the Combined Defense Services exam.

But destiny willed otherwise. She graduated in Commerce and fetched a marketing job for a Cell phone company in Kolkatta. There she participated in a local beauty contest just for the heck of participation and to everybody's surprise she emerged victorious. This gave her a boost and she sent her pictures for the Miss India contest. Just a day before the preliminary rounds were to begin Celina got the invitation to participate. Soon she walked away with the coveted, Miss India crown bagging almost every title from Best Skin to Best Clothes to MTVs most wanted.

This title win enabled her to participate in the Miss Universe title. But Indian girls had won it for three consecutive years. There was an immense pressure on her persona with press flooding her with questions about rigging. She was weighed down by this pre -contest skepticism and it did cast its impact on the final outcome. Celina was adjudged fourth runner up from amongst 83 contestants.

Her latest movies are 'Shakalaka Boom Boom' and 'Red: the dark side'. 'Dulha Mil gaya', 'Kaash Tumse Mohabbat Na Hoti', 'Unusual Love Story', 'One Night', 'No Entry II' are some of her forthcoming films.

Fourth runner up at the 2001 Miss Universe pageant.
Father is Punjabi and mother is Afghani.
Never wanted to become a model or an actress. Celina had her mind set on becoming a pilot.
Became a model in the Bollywood industry after the Miss Universe pageant.
Femina Miss India 2001
Hobbies: Surfing the net, reading, sketching and listening to music.
Her mother is a psychologist.
Her favorite actor is Aamir Khan, and favorite actress is Aishwarya Rai.
Her favorite Hollywood movie is Saving Private Ryan (1998).

Personal Quotes
"I'm young right now; I have a lot of time in the future to de-glam myself. Now I want to do roles of my age which are glamorous; because I have that image - I'm a glamorous woman. I wanted to be called a good and a good-looking actress."

About her cameo in Silsiilay (2005): "In Sisilay I have a special appearance; it was a strange experience because I can never imagine being a woman like the one I've portrayed. I'm in love with a married man, much older to me and who has a son her own age. It's a complex character, and I loved it."

When asked which character she would like to play in a remake: "I would like to play Meena Kumari's role in Pakeezah, Waheeda Rehmanji's role from `Chaudavi Ka Chand' and Rekha's role in `Umrao Jaan'." (erosentertainment.com interview, 2005)

"I think Fardeen and I have a special chemistry on-screen, I don't deny that. At the same time I think Hrithik and I will be great together. Our physical features will work well to create that chemistry - especially the combination of our height, the light eyes; together we'll have a good screen presence." (erosentertainment.com interview, 2005)

On turning down the lead in Julie (2004): "I turned down Julie because I didn't agree with the reasoning of the protagonist in the story, who resorts to prostitution because her man ditches her. I didn't see why any educated girl would take such a drastic step. I take up roles that I mentally agree with, and this was not such a role." (Stardust, April 2005)

"When I intend to settle down, I'm just gonna tell my parents to find someone for me. I have lost faith in myself to make the right decision as far as a man is concerned. Sean (her ex-boyfriend) was a big lapse in judgment."

"It's scary, if you think of it. You read these stories all the time in the magazines, how someone got duped in a relationship. You think, this could never happen to me, except, it does. Until you're a part of that statistic, you never believe that this could be you."

"I rate myself 8 as an actor...but everybody doesn't share the same viewpoint."

Celina Jaitley Filmography