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Ishaa Koppikar formerly Isha 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'Oreal, Rexona, Camay, Tips & Toes and Coca-Cola.
Ishaa 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.

Taking time out from four Ishaa Kannada films in 2000,
Ishaa Koppikar appeared alongside Karisma Kapoor and Hrithik
Roshan in Khalid Mohammed's Fiza. An item number
appearance in Prakash Jha's Rahul completed Koppikar's
introduction to Hindi film. Brief returns to South
India in 2001 were coupled with two more Bollywood
films: Pyaar Ishq aur Mohabbat, directed by Rajiv Rai
and starring Sunil Shetty alongside a young Arjun
Rampal; and K Raghavendra Rao's urban comedy Aamdani
Atthanni Kharcha Rupaiya, opposite Govinda, Juhi
Chawla and Johnny Lever.

By 2002 Ishaa Koppikar (Isha Koppikar) appeared to be consigned to support
roles until she was asked by Ram Gopal Varma to appear
in an item number for his underworld movie Company
starring Ajay Devgan, Vivek Oberoi and Manisha
Koirala. The number in question was Khallas,
choreographed by Ganesh Hegde and the effect on cinema
audiences and critics was to leave Koppikar with the
enduring nickname Khallas Girl. A second notable item
number, Ishq Samundar, in Sanjay Gupta's Reservoir
Dogs remake Kaante, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay
Dutt and Sunil Shetty, was enough to raise Koppikar's
profile and in the following year she took the
Stardust Award for Most Exciting New Face for Khallas.

In 2005, Ishaa Koppikar eased up somewhat only releasing
four films. Sangeeth Sivan's bawdy comedy Kyaa Kool
Hai Hum, with Anupam Kher, Ritesh Deshmukh and Tusshar
Kapoor saw Koppikar nominated in four separate award
ceremonies (IIFA, Filmfare, Zee Cine and Star Screen)
for best comedy role. Two more comedies saw her make
guest appearances: David Dhawan's Salman Khan vehicle
Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya, and Abbas Mustan's whodunnit,
36, China Town with Akshaye Khanna and Kareena Kapoor.
A return to Ram Gopal Varma's Factory saw her
alongside Chunkey Pandey in Vishram Sawant's gangster
flick D-Underworld, starring Randeep Hooda.

Farhan Akhtar directed a 2006 remake of the Amitabh
Bachchan hit Don: The Chase Begins Again, this time
with Shahrukh Khan in the lead. Ishaa Koppikar was cast as
Khan's moll Anita. By now the success of Don was in
contrast to Koppikar's stuttering career with a string
of films stuck in production or abandoned. Vicky
Ranawat's Haseena Smart Sexy and Dangerous crept out
towards the end of 2006, Jagdish A Sharma's murder
mystery Garhee appeared on dvd, Hansel Mehta's Raakh
was dropped, whilst Koppikar's highest profile film of
2007, Nikhil Advani's multi starrer Salaam-e-Ishq, saw
her sharing limited screen time with Sohail Khan. Ram
Gopal Varma's much discussed Shabri, directed by Lalit
Marathe -a role which led to Koppikar being
unrecognised in character and barred from the film set
by secuirty men- has yet to attract a distributor. To
date only Ram Gopal Varma's Darling, with Fardeen Khan
and Esha Deol has seen Koppikar continue any kind of
momentum. Atul Agnihotri's Hello, based on the novel
One Night in a Call Centre by Chetan Bhagat, has a
2008 release date and may be the first of several new
movies which include Jahnu Barua's Har Phall, Manoj
Tiwari's Hello Darling, Right Ya Wrong by Neeraj
Pathak and Kaushik Ghatak's Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi.

BIO #2

Known in the industry as the 'Khallas girl', Ishaa Koppikar fomerly Isha Koppikar shot to fame with her song number in Ram Gopal Verma's movie Company. Ishaa's performance in Company mesmerized moviegoers and she has continued to shine.
Ishaa is 5'7½", tall with black hair and brown eyes. She was born in Mumbai, India. Coming from a family of academics, father is a doctor mother is in banking; her brother is in the financial funds industry. Ishaa finished her degree in Life Sciences at Ruia College in Bombay and graduated from Bombay University with a degree in Biotechnology.
Dancing is a favorite pastime and her martial arts abilities in Taekwondo (also written as "tae kwon do", "taekwon-do" or "t'aegwondo") sets her miles apart from other Bollywood actresses.
While starring in the lead role in 2004’s sensation Girlfriend, there was a shot where Ishaa was on the 12th floor. She had to jump and also break glass — a difficult thing to do, even for a regular stunt man. Ishaa actually did that stunt herself with ease.
Ishaa Koppikar started her glamour career in modeling as assignments started to flow-in after she did a photo shoot with 'Gautam Rajyadhyaksha' when she was still in junior college. She has done ads for 'Deepam Sarees', 'Ponds', 'Camay', 'Rexona', 'Synergy', 'Coke', 'L'Oreal' and 'Tips & Toes'. Ishaa currently

BIO #3

Ishaa Koppikar comes from a family of learned academicians, as she herself has completed her course in Life Sciences from Ruia College in Bombay. After completing her college course, she starred in a Tamil movie (En Swasa Katre) opposite Arvind Swamy, which got her a lot of positive reviews.
She shot to fame after a modeling shoot with Gautam Rajyadhaksa when she was still in Junior College.
So far She has modeled for "Camay", "Rexona", "L'Oreal", "Tips & Toes", "Coke" "Synergy", "Ponds", "Deepam Sarees", and also took part in several ramp shows.
Talented, stunningly beautiful, and tall, a majestic five feet seven inches in height, which is literally head and shoulders above the average Indian woman (and a lot of men, too!), she has better chances of becoming a leading lady opposite the taller Bollywood heroes.
Ishaa Koppikar got her fame in Bollywood when she did the Ram Gopal Varma number (Khallas) in the movie named "Company", and since then has been referred to as the "Khallas Girl" .
Today Ishaa Koppikar towers over many Bollywood actresses, has come beyond just a sizzling "item" girl, and has become a household name. She fills the niche (and much more) created by the exit of another attractive Bollywood actress, Sonam.
Isha's name bounced back into lime-light when she starred in a controversial film named "Girlfriend", which is the story of two lesbian lovers - a subject that is still very taboo in India and some other parts of the world.
Ishaa Koppikar was nominated for her part in "Qayamat" in which she plays a negative role. She also received accolades for her role in "Pinjar".