Early life

Celina Jaitly was born on 24 November 1981 in Shimla to V.K. Jaitly, a Punjabi Indian Army Colonel from Punjab, India and an Afghan mother from Kabul. Her mother Meeta is a psychologist by profession. She has one brother, who is currently serving the Indian Army Special Forces. Her parents are settled in the Army town of “Mhow” in the Indore district of Madhya Pradesh.

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 has, however, spent most of her later teenage years in Kolkata, India.

She changed 13 different schools due to the nature of her father’s profession and studied mainly in the following schools. Canossa Convent Ranikhet Army Public Schools Udhampur (J&K) City Montessori School (Lucknow) Kendriya Vidyalaya (Nationwide)

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 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

Jaitley started her career from a marketing job in a Cell phone company in Kolkata before she decided to participate in a local beauty contest. She 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 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". The same years Jaitly appeared in the Telugu language drama Suryam opposite Mohan Babu.

2005-08: Professional expansion

By 2005, Jaitly was keen on broadening her range as an actress and decided to portray more challenging roles. Under the direction of Khalid Mohamed, Jaitly plays the role of Preeti, an 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 ₹840.9 million (US$12 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 ₹250.7 million (US$3.7 million). She next appeared in Apna Sapna Money Money directed by Sangeeth. It received mixed reviews, though became a financial success, with a domestic total of ₹390.4 million (US$5.8 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 Kangana 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. It received mixed reviews, though became a financial success, with a domestic total of ₹660.9 million (US$9.8 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 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 was Anees Bazmee's Thank You, a romantic comedy. The film was poorly received by critics but became an economic success, earning over ₹950.6 million (US$14 million). She next appeared in Shrimathi a Kannada film directed by Ravi kumar. It proved a commercial success.

There were reports that Jaitly was slated to play a Persian princess in the film Quest of Scheherzade with actors Sean Connery and Orlando Bloom, and directed by Ken Khan. This has yet to be confirmed.

Personal life

Celina is married to hotelier Peter Haag and they are the parents of twin boys Winston and Viraaj, born in March 2012. Celina is currently based out of Singapore/Dubai and travels for her film and endorsement work between Singapore/Dubai and Mumbai regularly.

Other work

Philanthropy

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 activities concerning human rights, women and children's 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 expressed shock and disbelief over Supreme Court's verdict on Section 377.

She took part in the Mumbai gay pride march to support sexual minorities. On 16 April 2009, India's first gay magazine Bombay Dost, was re-launched by Celina Jaitley in Mumbai.

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.

In 2014, Jaitley made her singing debut in a music video on gay rights. The video titled 'The Welcome' has come up as the most watched online videos of the United Nations. It was launched by UN in April 2014 as a campaign against homophobia and has claimed over one million views so far.

Endorsements

Sepang Circuit Malaysia 2002, Ayur (ayurvedic hair shampoos) 2002-2004, Ponds (Dreamflower talc) 2001-2004, Margo (skin soap) 2001-2003, Gitanjali (Diamond jewels) 2003-till present, Jashn (Leading Indian apparels) 2006- till present, Proactv (International skin solutions) 2008-till present, RICHFEEL (trichology clinics) 2012-till present, 18 Again (women’s intimate care) 2012-till present, PETA 2005-till present, United Nations Equality Champion 2013- till present

Filmography

Key

Delayed Film

Key

Upcoming Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2003	Janasheen	Jessica Pereira
	Khel	Saanjh Batra
2004	Suryam	Madhubala	Telugu-language film
2005	Silsiilay	Preeti
	No Entry	Sanjana Saxena
2006	Jawani Diwani: A Youthful Joyride	Roma Fernandes
	Zinda	Nisha Roy
	Tom, Dick, and Harry	Celina
	Apna Sapna Money Money	Saania
2007	Red: The Dark Side	Anahita Saxena
	Shakalaka Boom Boom	Sheena
	Heyy Babyy	Special appearance
2008	C Kkompany	Item number
	Money Hai Toh Honey Hai	Shruti
	Golmaal Returns	Meera mena
2009	Paying Guests	Kalpana
	Accident on Hill Road	Sonam Chopra
2010	Hello Darling	Candy Fernandes
2011	Thank You	Maya
	Shrimathi	Sonia	Kannada film
2012	Will You Marry Me?
	Run Bhola Run
2014	Hello 2	Radhika Jha

[ Source: Wikipedia ]