Celina Jaitly (born 24 November 1981) is a Indian actress who mainly appears in Bollywood films. A former beauty queen and model, she was crowned Femina Miss India Universe in 2001.
Jaitley's breakthrough film role was in the 2003 thriller Janasheen. She rose to fame in the late 2000s following roles in the films Silsiilay (2005), No Entry (2005), Tom, Dick, and Harry (2006) and Golmaal Returns (2008).
Early life
Jaitley was born on 24 November 1981, to a Punjabi Indian father and Afghan mother. Her father, V.K. Jaitley, is a retired Indian Army colonel and her mother, Meeta, was a nurse in the Indian army, as well as an Afghan beauty queen.
She has one brother, who is serving in the Indian army.
Due to her army background, Jaitly grew up in several cities in India, like Lucknow, where she attended City Montessori School. However most of her life was spent in the Kashmir valley and the north eastern states of India. She finished her school from Guwahati. She also spent some years of her childhood in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu and graduated from St Joseph's College, Manjakuppam. She has, however, spent most of her time in Kolkata, India.
During her teenage years, Jaitly aspired to be a part of the Indian army, either as a doctor or a pilot. However, she started modeling alongside studies at the age of 16 Celina and took part in the 2001 Ms India pageant. She won the crown and then went on to become a runner up at Ms Universe the same year.
Career
2001-04: Debut and setback
Jaitly came in first place at Femina Miss India 2001 winning the title of Femina Miss India Universe 2001. In addition to her title, she won the Miss Margo Beautiful Skin, Indiatimes Surfer's Choice, and MTV's Most Wanted award. She was subsequently sent to the Miss Universe 2001 contest representing India where she was finished 4th runner up.
In 2001, she featured in Jazzy B's music video of Oh Kehri, which was immensely popular. She also featured in music videos for Bombay Vikings.
In 2003, she made her film debut in Feroz Khan's Janasheen.The movie was a moderate box-office success in India. For her second release she had a starring role opposite Sunny Deol, in the romantic action Khel, but the feature was poorly received and earned little at the box office.
In 2004, Jaitly turned down the lead role in Julie in an interview with Stardust Jaitly commented "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".
2005-08: Professional expansion
By 2005, Jaitly was keen on broadening her range as an actress and thus decided to portray more challenging roles. Under the direction of Khalid Mohamed, Jaitly plays the role of Preeti a air hostess in Silsiilay. The movie was well received by critics. Rediff.com reported that "Celina Jaitley sizzles in the song Belibaas". She next portrayed the character of Sanjana in No Entry, the film was received favourably by critics and became successful at the box office with gross earnings of INR 840.9 million (US$14 million).
The following year, Jaitley co-starred in Deepak Tijori's comedy Tom, Dick, and Harry, the film became successful at the box office with gross earnings of INR 250.7 million (US$4.2 million). She next appeared in Apna Sapna Money Money directed by Sangeeth, the film received mixed reviews, though became a financial success, with a domestic total of INR 390.4 million (US$6.5 million).
In 2007 Jaitly flew to New Zealand and shot her first international movie Love Has No Language, a romantic comedy. While there, she was targeted by a stalker who had followed her from India. Jaitly was said to be traumatized by the experience. For her next feature, Jaitly was cast as the protagonist of Vikram Bhatt 's Red: The Dark Side. Upon release, Red: The Dark Side received negative reviews with Celina Jaitley's performance receiving positive to mixed reviews. Indicine gave it 1 out of 5 stars and said, "Much improved from her previous performances. Celina Jaitley looks alluring and impresses for the first time". Jaitly's final release of 2007 was Suneel Darshan's comedy Shakalaka Boom Boom, with Bobby Deol, Upen Patel and Kangna Ranaut. Upon release it did moderately well at the box office but was critically panned.
In 2008, she took a supporting role in Golmaal Returns, the film received mixed reviews though became a financial success, with a domestic total of INR 660.9 million (US$11 million). Jaitley's performance was applauded with critic Taran Adarsh writing "Celina stays on your mind even after the show is over".
Recent work (2009-present)
During 2009 and 2010, Jaitley continued to work in a number of projects but experienced a setback. All three films in which she starred, Paying Guests, Accident on Hill Road and Hello Darling were critically and commercially unsuccessful.
In 2011, Jaitley had two leading roles. Her first film was Anees Bazmee's Thank You, a romantic comedy. The film was poorly received by critics but became an economic success, earning over INR 950.6 million (US$16 million) She next appeared in Shrimathi a Kannada film directed by Ravi kumar. The film proved a commercial success.
There were reports that Jaitly was slated to play the character of a Persian princess in the film Quest of Scheherzade along with actors Sean Connery and Orlando Bloom, and directed by Ken Khan. However, this has yet to be confirmed.
Personal life
Celina at LA1-crop
In January 2011, she announced her engagement with Austrian businessman, hotelier and marketeer, Peter Haag. She married Peter Haag on 23 July 2011 at a thousand year old monastery in Austria. Now she is living in Mumbai, Dubai and Singapore. On 24 March 2012 she gave birth to twin boys Winston and Viraaj.
Other work
Philanthropy
Celina Jaitly in campaign organised by PETA
Jaitly is a supporter of the rights and equality of the LGBT community and supports the gay rights movement in India. She has been involved in various activities concerning human rights, women and children health, and sex workers rehabilitation in India for the past 10 years.
Jaitly was a vociferous proponent of abolition of Section 377 of Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalized homosexuality. The actress once stated that her first boyfriend was a closet homosexual who died of bulimia-induced problems. She has appeared several times on national TV channels, debating people who oppose abolition of Section 377. She even expressed shock and disbelief over Supreme Court's Verdict on Section 377.
The actress recently pledged her eyes to Aditya Jyot Eye Hospital, one of the leading eye care hospitals in Mumbai. The hospital had launched the "Care for the eye" program as a social initiative aimed at supporting the cause of eye donation, as part of its 19th anniversary.
She has also done a photoshoot to show her support for PETA.
Jaitley recently made her singing debut in a music video on gay rights. The video titled 'The Welcome' has come up as one of the most watched online videos of the United Nations. The video was launched by UN in April 2014 as a campaign against homophobia and has claimed over one million views so far.
Endorsements
Jaitly is the brand ambassador of Egyptian tourism and Diya Diamond Jewellery from Gitanjali Group.
Galleries of Celina Jaitley
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