Esha Gupta (; born 28 November 1985) is an Indian actress, model and beauty pageant titleholder. She works in Hindi films. She was crowned Femina Miss India International 2007 and represented India at Miss International 2007. She made her acting debut with the crime thriller Jannat 2 (2012) receiving a Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut nomination.Gupta entered the Femina Miss India contest in 2007, where she placed third and won the Miss India International title, and later represented India at Miss International pageant. Post her debut, Gupta has received praises for her portrayal in the political drama Chakravyuh (2012) but her performance in the comedy film Humshakals (2014) met with negative reviews. Her highest-grossing releases came with the horror thriller Raaz 3D (2013), the crime drama Rustom (2016) and the action-adventure Baadshaho (2017).

Early life and work

Esha Gupta was born on 28 November 1985 in New Delhi. Her father is a retired Air Force Officer and her mother is a homemaker. She has a sister named Neha. She spent most of her childhood in Dehradun, Hyderabad and Delhi. Gupta has completed her graduation in Mass Communication from School of Communication, Manipal University, Manipal.Gupta participated in Femina Miss India in 2007, where she won Miss Photogenic and came 3rd to go on to compete in Miss India International. She featured in the Kingfisher Calendar in 2010. Later she pursued a career in Bollywood.

Early life

Esha Gupta was born in New Delhi. Her father is a retired Air Force Officer and her mother is a homemaker. She has a sister named Neha. She spent most of her childhood in Dehradun, Hyderabad and Delhi. She has completed Mass Communication from School of Communication, Manipal University, Manipal Later she pursued a career in Bollywood instead.

Career

For her debut performance, Taran Adarsh of ''Bollywood Hungama'' said, "Debutante Esha Gupta enchants you with her captivating charm. She appears a tad unrefined at places, nonetheless she handles her part assertively." Martin D'Souza of ''Glam Sham'' wrote, "As for the debutante, Esha Gupta, I guess she may have to enroll herself into an acting school." Gaurav Malani stated, "Esha Gupta, who looks a mix between Lara Dutta and Isha Koppikar, is merely there for the glam quotient." The film was a success at the box office, earning domestically and thus brought in more recognition for Gupta. Later, Gupta signed Vikram Bhatt's ''Raaz 3D'' alongside her Jannat 2 co-star, Emraan Hashmi and Bipasha Basu, Gupta received mixed reviews from critics for her acting prowess, film critic Komal Nahta noted, "Esha Gupta is stiff as Sanjana but does much better towards the end (when she almost goes berserk)". ''India Today'' wrote, "Both Bipasha and Esha get liberal scope to show off booty. A Bhatt film where the heroines don't get to flaunt it is unimaginable, after all, Bipasha looks hot in her starring role but Esha reveals a few raw edges". ''Raaz 3D'' performed well at box office within first three days of its release with collections in the vicinity of 360 million. Her third film of the year, ''Chakravyuh'', was invited to premiere at London Film Festival. Sukanya Verma noted, "Esha's character makes zero contribution to whatever scenes she has."Gupta appeared in a cameo in ''Gori Tere Pyaar Mein''. In 2014, she was seen in Sajid Khan's ''Humshakals'' alongside Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Bipasha Basu and Tamannaah. Box Office India declared it a "disaster". Gupta played a high society woman in the 2016 film ''Rustom''. It became a box office success grossing over ₹210 crore (US$26 million) worldwide. ''Mumbai Mirror'' stated, "Gupta steals the show (unintentionally) with her OTT makeup and her misplaced expressions." Gupta had three releases in 2017. She played the main antagonist in action film ''Commando 2'', which was a moderate box-office success. She then appeared in ''Baadshaho'' opposite Hashmi, in their third film together. She then made her Telugu and Tamil debut with the bilingual film ''Veedevadu''. ''Hindustan Times'' termed her "blissfully blank". She also made her television debut as a judge with & TV's ''High Fever — Dance Ka Naya Tevar'' in 2018. In 2019, she had a cameo in comedy film ''Total Dhamaal''. The film grossed ₹200 crore (US$28 million) worldwide in twelve days of release, and was one of the highest grossing Bollywood films of 2019. The same year, she played DCP in ''One Day: Justice Delivered'' alongside Anupam Kher. Shubhra Gupta of ''Indian Express'' noted, " Esha Gupta's portrayal as a tough crime branch officer took away the 'credibility of the film' whatever it had."Gupta expanded to web shows in 2020. She made her web debut with ''RejctX'''s second season. She then appeared in ''Nakaab'' in 2021. In 2022, she played Bobby Deol's image-maker in the third season of Indian Hindi-language crime drama web series ''Aashram''. ''Hindustan Times'' wrote, "Esha Gupta looks good as Sonia but the show under-utilises her." Gupta will next appear in Ameesha Patel's much delayed ''Desi Magic''. She also has ''Hera Pheri 3'' and ''File No. 323'' in the pipeline.

Debut and early work (2012-2017)

For her debut performance, Taran Adarsh of ''Bollywood Hungama'' said, "Debutante Esha Gupta enchants you with her captivating charm. She appears a tad unrefined at places, nonetheless she handles her part assertively." Martin D'Souza of ''Glam Sham'' wrote, "As for the debutante, Esha Gupta, I guess she may have to enroll herself into an acting school." Gaurav Malani stated, "Esha Gupta, who looks a mix between Lara Dutta and Isha Koppikar, is merely there for the glam quotient." The film was a success at the box office, earning domestically and thus brought in more recognition for Gupta. Later, Gupta signed Vikram Bhatt's ''Raaz 3D'' alongside her Jannat 2 co-star, Emraan Hashmi and Bipasha Basu, Gupta received mixed reviews from critics for her acting prowess, film critic Komal Nahta noted, "Esha Gupta is stiff as Sanjana but does much better towards the end (when she almost goes berserk)". ''India Today'' wrote, "Both Bipasha and Esha get liberal scope to show off booty. A Bhatt film where the heroines don't get to flaunt it is unimaginable, after all, Bipasha looks hot in her starring role but Esha reveals a few raw edges". ''Raaz 3D'' performed well at box office within first three days of its release with collections in the vicinity of 360 million. Her third film of the year, ''Chakravyuh'', was invited to premiere at London Film Festival. Sukanya Verma noted, "Esha's character makes zero contribution to whatever scenes she has."Gupta appeared in a cameo in ''Gori Tere Pyaar Mein''. In 2014, she was seen in Sajid Khan's ''Humshakals'' alongside Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Bipasha Basu and Tamannaah. Box Office India declared it a "disaster". Gupta played a high society woman in the 2016 film ''Rustom''. It became a box office success grossing over ₹210 crore (US$26 million) worldwide. ''Mumbai Mirror'' stated, "Gupta steals the show (unintentionally) with her OTT makeup and her misplaced expressions." Gupta had three releases in 2017. She played the main antagonist in action film ''Commando 2'', which was a moderate box-office success. She then appeared in ''Baadshaho'' opposite Hashmi, in their third film together. She then made her Telugu and Tamil debut with the bilingual film ''Veedevadu''.

Further career and expansion (2018-present)

''Hindustan Times'' termed her "blissfully blank". She also made her television debut as a judge with & TV's ''High Fever — Dance Ka Naya Tevar'' in 2018. In 2019, she had a cameo in comedy film ''Total Dhamaal''. The film grossed ₹200 crore (US$28 million) worldwide in twelve days of release, and was one of the highest grossing Bollywood films of 2019. The same year, she played DCP in ''One Day: Justice Delivered'' alongside Anupam Kher. Shubhra Gupta of ''Indian Express'' noted, " Esha Gupta's portrayal as a tough crime branch officer took away the 'credibility of the film' whatever it had."Gupta expanded to web shows in 2020. She made her web debut with ''RejctX'''s second season. She then appeared in ''Nakaab'' in 2021. In 2022, she played Bobby Deol's image-maker in the third season of Indian Hindi-language crime drama web series ''Aashram''. ''Hindustan Times'' wrote, "Esha Gupta looks good as Sonia but the show under-utilises her." Gupta will next appear in Ameesha Patel's much delayed ''Desi Magic''. She also has ''Hera Pheri 3'' and ''File No. 323'' in the pipeline.

Humanitarian work

Esha is seen participating in environmental initiatives including “Beach Cleanup Drives”, “Walk for saving the Mangroves”, protecting the forests. She is also associated with Surman Sansthan towards girl child upliftment and education.

Personal life and media image

She is a vegan. Gupta said, "At the time that being vegetarian saved the lives of animals and she thought it was a healthy way for both humans and the planet to embrace vegetarianism."Gupta ranked 5th in 2017, 21st in 2018 and 32nd in 2019 in Times' 50 Most Desirable Women list. Gupta is an endroser of brands such as Hazoorilal Legacy and gaming brand Khelraja.

Personal life and public image

She is a vegan. Gupta said at the time that "being vegetarian saved the lives of animals and she thought it was a healthy way for both humans and the planet to embrace vegetarianism."Gupta ranked 5th in 2017, 21st in 2018 and 32nd in 2019 in Times' 50 Most Desirable Women list. Gupta is an endorser of brands such as Hazoorilal Legacy and gaming brand Khelraja.

Controversy involving Alex Iwobi

In 2019, Esha Gupta and her friend racially abused ex-Arsenal player Alex Iwobi after an Arsenal defeat. When this came out in public, she apologised to the player and to Arsenal.