Happy birthday, Lara Datta: Interesting facts you didn't know

Bollywood actor and former Miss Universe Lara Dutta turned 45 years old on Sunday (April 16). To recall, she won the prestigious beauty pageant in 2000 and entered the Hindi film industry later in 2003 with Andaaz. Over the years, Dutta grew to become popular in showbiz. On the occasion of her birthday, check out these interesting facts about her.

Not many would be aware that the former Miss Universe is half-Scottish. Dutta's father reportedly belongs to a Hindu Punjabi family, but her mother, Jennifer Dutta, is a Scottish Christian. Therefore, Dutta has Scottish genes and follows multiple faiths. She is married to former tennis legend Mahesh Bhupathi, who was born in a Chennai-based Telugu family. According to reports, Bhupathi's mother is Christian.

There is a reason why Dutta has earned the tag of being a "beauty with brains." In the final interview of Miss Universe 2000, she reportedly scored 9.99 marks, which was the highest among all the contestants. Interestingly, Dutta's score is the highest individual score in any category in the history of the beauty pageant, as per multiple reports.

It was nothing short of a proud moment when Priyanka Chopra Jonas starred in Keanu Reeves starrer The Matrix Resurrections. But much before she became part of the hit franchise, Dutta was offered a role—twice! She was reportedly offered a part in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, too, but the actor turned them down because of the scripts.

Dutta may have scored the highest points in the swimsuit round at Miss Universe 2000, but she apparently didn't know how to swim for the longest. As per reports, while filming a scene for Andaaz, she nearly drowned but was rescued by Akshay Kumar. However, she finally learned how to swim before her 2009 film Blue which also co-starred Kumar in the lead.