Ishaa Koppikar

Ishaa Koppikhar was born September 19, 1976 is an Indian actress and model. She has appeared in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi films.Koppikar was born in Mumbai, India. Her family is of Mangalorean origin and she has one younger brother. Koppikar graduated in Life Sciences at Ramnarain Ruia College in Mumbai. it was during her time at college that she appeared in a photoshoot for Indian photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha. The shoot led to work in advertising as a model, notably for L'Oréal, Rexona, Camay, Tips & Toes and Coca-Cola. Koppikar contested the 1995 Miss India Contest, winning the Miss Talent Crown. Her modelling work gave her an introduction to the film industry and to her first film appearance in the Tamil movie Kaadhal Kavithai in 1998. Since then, Koppikar has made over forty films and has several Hindi films in production or due for release in 2008. She continues to model for fashion designer Anita Dongre and is currently the Indian representative of the Italian fashion company Police Watches and Jewellery. Outside her work in film, music and television, Koppikar is a spokesperson for the animal rights organisation PETA.The 1997 Hindi film Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadhkan, directed by Shahrukh Sultan, is often quoted as being Ishaa Koppikar's first film, but there is no evidence the project was ever released. Koppikar's career must therefore be said to have begun with the 1998 Tamil film Kaadhal Kavithai, co-starring alongside Prashanth, and directed by Agathyan, with music by Maestro Ilaiyaraaja. Koppikar was awarded the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award. Continuing her Tamil film career, Koppikar's second movie was En Swasa Kaatre in 1998, opposite Arvind Swamy, directed by K. S. Ravikumar, with music by renowned music director A.R. Rahman. 1998 saw a third film, this time a cameo appearance in Praveen Kanth's Jodi, starring Prashanth and Simran. In 1999, Koppikar alternated between appearances in the Telugu comedy Chandralekha, co-starring Nagarjuna and Ramya Krishnan, directed by Krishna Vamshi; and the Tamil gangland movie Nenjinile, starring Vijay and directed by S. A. Chandrasekhar. By 2000, Koppikar's sights were on Bollywood, but this did not stop her appearing in four Kannada films: Hoo Anthiya Uhoo Anthiya with Ramesh and directed by Praveen Naik, with music by Karthik Raja; Nuvvu Vasthavani, starring and directed by Ravichandran; alongside actor-director Ravichandran again in O Nanna Nalle; and finally Surya Vamsha, directed by S Narayan and starring Vishnuvardhan in a double role as father and son.
After four films in 2000, and a detour to Mumbai for a brief appearance in Fiza and an item number in Rahul, Koppikar returned to the south in 2001 for Sundar C's Tamil project Kaathal Solla Vanthen. This was another film never to leave the development stage although a soundtrack of the same name was made available. However, the Telugu comedy Prematho Raa, starring Venkatesh and Simran, and directed by Uday Shankar, saw Koppikar's penultimate South Indian role She signed off her South Indian career in the Tamil action film Narassima, directed by Tirupathisamy and starring Vijayakanth
http://bollywoodactress.blogspot.com/2007/06/ishaa-koppikar.html.