Born on August 21, 1978, Bhumika's birth name is Rachna Chawla. Daughter of Col. Ajitsingh Chawla, Bhumika belongs to a Punjabi family and did her schooling in New Delhi. All pictures/Bhumika Chawla's Instagram account and mid-day archives

At the age of 19, (roughly in the year 1997), Bhumika Chawla moved to Mumbai to start her career in showbiz. Without a godfather, Bhumika initially started off with ad films and Hindi music video albums.

Though Bhumika Chawla is still remembered as Salman Khan's Tere Naam girl, she first appeared in the Zee TV series Hip Hip Hurray. Chawla was only part of the pilot episode!

Before entering Bollywood, Bhumika Chawla made her debut in the Telugu film industry. She made her debut in 2000 with Yuvakudu alongside actor Sumanth. The very next year, Bhumika's second film Kushi opposite Pawan Kalyan released, which turned out to be a box office success. Chawla even bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Actress, Telugu.

Some of the most notable Telugu films she featured in were Okkadu (2003) opposite Mahesh Babu, Simhadri (2003) opposite Jr. NTR, both became two of the year's highest grossers in Telugu. Her performance in Missamma (2003) as a businesswoman with cancer was applauded.

Bhumika Chawla also made her foray in Tamil cinema. She starred in Badri (2001) opposite actor Vijay, followed by her second Tamil film Roja Kootam (2002).

After making a mark in the South film industry, Bhumika Chawla made her Bollywood debut with Tere Naam, opposite Salman Khan. Being one of the highest grossers of that year, Tere Naam was not only a critical success, but her performance in the film won her many positive reviews. She won the Best Debut at the Zee Cine Awards ceremony.

Subsequently, Bhumika Chawla starred in films such as Run (2004), opposite Abhishek Bachchan, Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa (2004), again opposite Salman Khan, Silsilay (2005) alongside Rahul Bose and Dil Jo Bhi Kahey... (2005) alongside Amitabh Bachchan. However, none of these films managed to make a mark at the Box Office.

In 2008, Bhumika Chawla made her debut in the Punjabi film industry, starring in Yaariyan, opposite Gurdas Maan, following which she debuted in Malayalam as well. Bhumika starred in Bhramaram alongside Mohanlal.

On the personal front, Bhumika Chawla was dating her Yoga teacher Bharat Thakur. After a courtship of four years, Bhumika married Bharat in 2007.

The couple got married in Guru Nanak Dev Gurudwara at Devlali Camp (Nashik). The marriage was performed in a simple ceremony attended by close relatives and friends of Bhumika Chawla and Bharat Thakur.

Bhumika took a break from Bollywood for a couple of years after her marriage. She got busy with projects in the South after moving to Hyderabad post her marriage. In 2014, Bhumika Chawla and Bharat Thakur were blessed with a son.

Talking about her break, Bhumika Chawla had told mid-day in an interview, 'For the first two years of married life, I was in Hyderabad. Post that we moved to Dubai and I kept working in Tamil and Telugu films. Finally, after shifting base to Mumbai, now I plan to travel between Bangalore, Mumbai and Dubai.'

Bhumika Chawla has also penned a book of poems. The book consists of 60 poems based on her life's incidents over the past few years. She writes about whatever inspires her - people, incidents, anything. A sample of Bhumika's poem... 'Iss seher main har mod pe hamari chahato kay chehre badalte kyon hai? Hum ek he chehre ko roz dekhne se darte kyon hai?' Impressed?

Bhumika loves watching films, spending time around animals and adventure sports. In an old interview, Bhumika Chawla, when asked 'What should every woman do at least once in her lifetime?', the actress had one of the most interesting answers to give. She said, 'Have a fun, flirtatious relationship with someone other than her partner.'

Very few know that Bhumika Chawla had also signed Jab We Met. Though the production house of the film changed and so did the cast, from Bobby Deol and Bhumika to Bobby and Ayesha Takia to Ayesha and Shahid Kapoor and finally it was made with Kareena Kapoor and Shahid. In 2016, Bhumika made her comeback in Bollywood with MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, playing Sushant Singh's on-screen sister.

In 2019, Bhumika Chawla made her web-debut with the ZEE5 series Sab Bhram Hai which also starred Kalki Koechlin, Sanjay Suri and Eijaz Khan. The eight-episode web series had Bhumika playing a pivotal role.

Meanwhile, Bhumika continues to feature in Tamil and Telugu films. As she turns a year older, here's hoping to see more of the Tere Naam actress on-screen.

Happy birthday, Bhumika!