Yana Gupta was born as Jana Synkova in Brno, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) on April 23, 1979, to Czech parents. Her mother had quite a tough time while raising her and her sister, as her parents were divorced. Yana began modelling at a very young age, roughly in the mid-1990s. She is best remembered as for the song Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo. The song, which was her debut in Bollywood, surely made her famous. (All photos/mid-day archives and AFP)

She was 16 when she started modelling. Did you know Yana is a graduate in Park Architecture and Gardening? But to follow her passion for modelling, Yana left for Japan, where she modelled for a good amount of time.

Yana Gupta moved to India later, where she spent her initial years at Osho's ashram in Pune. Yana got her last name Gupta after marrying artist Satyakam Gupta in 2001.

Yana Gupta settled in Pune with her husband and in the meanwhile started getting modelling offers and ad offers for various brands. Yana has modelled for brands like Calvin Klein, Victoria's Secret, Toyota, Honda, Sony, Limca and MTV.

In 2003, Yana bagged an item number in the movie Dum, which was initially offered to Bipasha Basu. Little did Yana know that the song would completely change her fate! It was 'Babuji Zara Dheere Chalo'. And later, she went on to bag various special dance tracks.

After gaining popularity, Yana was quoted saying in an interview with mid-day, "I don't choose to do item numbers. I am a music lover and it's the music that turns me on. Even when I started with Babuji, I loved the song and the whole country feel that the song had. Popularity doesn't matter to me, but what matters is my work."

She further added, "When compliments come my way, I don't really know how well I've done. It's the process that matters and not the end result. And once I am convinced that I have given my 100 per cent, who cares about the outcome or what people think about me?"

In picture: Throwback to the old good modelling days! Indrani Dasgupta, Katrina Kaif and Yana Gupta walking down the catwalk during the Grande Finale of the 2004 Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW).

However, there came a staggering point in Yana's career, where she only got "special numbers" offer in films. "People think that I am going Helenji's way and that's a compliment. But personally, I feel that I can do much more than just don a bikini and add glamour to a film. I can act well and can do non-glamorous roles as well, but I am not yet taken that seriously. I think once you get typecast, it's a tough job to break free. And you can't complain and crib all the time about it," said Yana. We couldn't agree more!

In the meanwhile, Yana got divorced with her husband Satyakam Gupta. In 2005, she announced that she should be referred to as just Yana and not Yana Gupta.

After her divorce, Yana was in a steady relationship with actor Aftab Shivdasani. Though the couple kept it a secret for quite long, Aftab and Yana were pretty serious and were very close to tying the knot. However, in 2007, they broke-up.

Yana had opened up that she battled a chronic eating disorder and struggled for 16 years with the way she looked despite being conscious about fitness. She carried her own food to the places she was invited to dinner and tried every diet, but her fears about her body remained.

In 2009, Yana turned writer with her book "How To Love Your Body And Get The Body You Love". She revealed in her book how she got the balance back in her life and gradually learnt to love herself. Through her book, Yana used her own experiences and offered easy eating advice and gave a lowdown on food from the right portions to eat to being healthy on the go.

In 2011, Yana participated in the dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa - Season 4. While Meiyang Chang won the season, Sushant Singh Rajput emerged as the 2nd runner up and Yana Gupta being the 3rd.

Yana was last seen in 2018's special number 'Joganiya' in the Neil Nitin Mukesh-starrer Dassehra. The film tanked at the Box Office, and so did the song! The Czech beauty is out of limelight currently!

Here's wishing a very happy birthday to Yana!