Amrita Rao was born on 7th June, 1981 in Mumbai, She comes from a very well to do Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin family.
Her father is Deepak Rao, he owns an Advertising Agency. Amrita Rao's younger sister, Preetika Rao is a journalist / columnist and actress.
She attended Canossa High school in Mumbai, and later enrolled in Sophia College to pursue a degree in Psychology. She speaks Marathi, Hindi, English and her mother tongue, Konkani.
Amrita Rao begin her career as a model. While studying in Sophia College, Rao auditioned for an advertisement for Fairever Face Cream. The cameras love the fresh-faced, delectable Amrita Rao. Amongst other assignments that got her noticed were Hindustan Lever's 'Close-up' Cadbury's Perk, and Nestle Bru Coffee. Ken Ghosh approached Amrita for movie Ishq Vishq after seeing her in the perk commercial, where she plays a hungry bride eagerly awaiting the arrival of her husband on the religious occasion of 'Karva Chauth'. Ishq Vishq was a world-wide hit and made her famous virtually overnight.
But Amrita’s debut was with Raj Babbar’s son, Arya Babbar, in Ab Ke Baras which released in 2002 followed by a cameo in The Legend of Bhagat Singh. She shot to stardom in 2003 with the release of Ishq Vishq with Shahid Kapoor, and she won a nomination for the Filmfare Best Debut Award for her role as struck-by-cupid Payal Mehra.
In 2004, she was part of the multi-starrer Main Hoon Na with Shah Rukh Khan, Zayed Khan, and Sushmita Sen. She was nominated for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actress Award. Her films in 2005, Vaah! Life Ho Tho Aisi and Shikhar didn’t get a good reception at the box office. Vivah in 2006, with Shahid Kapoor, became one of the biggest commercial successes of the year.
In 2006 Rao made her debut in Tollywood, with the Telugu film Athidhi opposite Mahesh Babu.
Amrita Rao is also a Brand Ambassador for D'Damas Gold Jewellery, Parachute Hair Oil, and Miss Players Apparels.
She is passionate about reading short stories. Allergic to spicy Indian food, she prefers bland continental, and loves dessert such as Gulab Jamun
Besides working in ads and films, Amrita has to her credit the Dada Saheb Phalke Award at the young age of 25. She is also the muse of the bare-footed artist M.F.Hussain. Amrita Rao is all set for her successful innings at Bollywood.
