Bipasha Basu is often credited as one of the most beautiful and sexy female actors we have in Bollywood today. In fact, even her critics have credited her for working hard to become a famous model and actor with her dusky complexion in an industry dominated by the fair-skinned. She ranked 8 in Times’ 50 most Desirable Women in 2011. Twice, she has been named the Sexiest Woman in Asia.

Given her svelte frame and bold image, Bipasha is a head-turner, but she recently revealed that it hasn’t been that way always. In her younger days, she too was a victim of Indian mentality that only fair is beautiful. She admitted that as a child and teenager, she wasn’t considered pretty due to her dusky complexion.

“I was never meant to be beautiful. I was a short, dark and round girl. Nobody thought I was pretty at all. Cruel jokes have been made about it. I think most people were surprised by the way I looked,” Bipasha said in a soon-to-be-aired episode of Big CBS Love’s  show India’s Glam Diva. Bipasha also revealed that when she was younger, she was more interested in academics than modelling.

She wanted to become a doctor, but decided against it when, during a science class, she had to dissect a rat and she fainted instead. She then switched to modelling. After winning a beauty contest at the age of 17, she never looked back. She was recently seen in Players, and is now gearing up for the release of romantic comedy Jodi Breakers.

India’s Glam Diva brings together women from the entertainment and sports industry to compete as India’s final choice of the most glamorous diva. Those in the competition include Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Vidya Balan, Aishwarya Rai, Katrina Kaif, Sonam Kapoor, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ekta Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Sania Mirza, Freida Pinto, Shruti Haasan and Bipasha.