

Basu was born in New Delhi, India, to a Bengali family. She is the second of three daughters to her parents, the elder being Bidisha, and the younger—Vijayeta. Although she was born in New Delhi, her family later moved to Kolkata.



After winning the Ford Godrej Cinthol contest, Basu was flown to New York by the Ford Company, where she had a successful modelling career at the age of 17.
Basu made her film debut in Abbas Mustan's Ajnabee, with Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol and Kareena Kapoor. She played a married woman who goes all out to woo her husband’s married friend, and eventually won the Filmfare Best Female Debut Award for her performance.

In 2006, she won popular acclaim for her performance in an Item number during the song Beedi in the film Omkara. The song was a national hit, and Basu's picturisation was appreciated.


In 2009, Bipasha was rumored to sign onto her first Hollywood venture Chaimera alongside Billy Zane.

Basu is currently dating actor John Abraham. The couple have been together since late 2002 and have been referred to as a supercouple in the Indian media. She previously dated fellow Bollywood actor Dino Morea.
In 2006, Basu claimed to have been harassed by certain organizers of the India Day Parade in Edison, New Jersey. Basu was initially scheduled to lead the parade on August 13, 2006.

In 2005 and 2007, UK magazine Eastern Eye named Basu the "Sexiest Woman in Asia".