Tanushree Dutta was born in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, to a conservative Hindu-Bengali family, where she was raised with strict social norms, making her a shy and introverted person. Her father, Tapan, worked for the Life Insurance Corporation of India, and her mother was a housewife.
Tanushree completed her junior school in Jamshedpur and her high school studies in Pune. However, she dropped out of college to pursue a career in modeling, a long-held dream. She started modeling for ramp shows, local ad campaigns, and print shoots, while working part-time as a sales junior executive at an event management company.
Tanushree participated in several local beauty pageants in Pune in 2003 and appeared in music videos, stage shows, a Bengali show on local TV, Bangladeshi ad campaigns, and several print and commercial assignments. Her big break came when she won the title of Miss India in 2004, which led to her representing India at the Miss Universe pageant in Quito, Ecuador, where she placed amongst the top ten participants.
Tanushree's upbringing exposed her to Indian classical music and dance, and she had been trained in painting and fine arts at the Rabindranath Tagore Society for Arts. She had an inclination towards the performing arts from a young age, and the title of Miss India opened doors for her in Bollywood.
Tanushree's career as an actress started with the films 'Chocolate' and 'Ashique Banaya Apne' in 2005. 'Ashique Banaya Apne' became a box office success, while 'Chocolate' received a lukewarm response. Still, the double impact of these films proved to be a perfect launch pad for Tanushree into Bollywood.
Tanushree worked in several other feature films, covering different genres such as romance, comedy, horror, thriller, and action, in a short career span of five years from 2005-2010. She made headlines for her red carpet appearances, personal life, and controversies common in Bollywood.
Tanushree maintained a dignified silence and let her talent and work speak for her, eventually proving her detractors wrong by garnering rave reviews for her performances in films like Rokk, Apartment, and Rama the Saviour.
Tanushree culminated her career with the film 'Rama the Saviour' in 2010 and took a two-and-a-half-year self-imposed sabbatical. During this time, she traveled extensively, pursued different personal interests, and rediscovered herself. She returned to the limelight in 2013 with stunning appearances at high-profile media and red carpet events.
