Diana Penty

Diana Penty (born 2 November, 1985)is an Indian model and actress who appears in Bollywood films. She made her acting debut in Homi Adajania's commercially successful romantic comedy Cocktail opposite Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, and gained appreciation for her performance.Penty was born in Mumbai to an Indian Parsi father and a Christian mother. She graduated with a Bachelors in Mass Media degree from St. Xavier's College in Mumbai.Penty was originally slated to make her Bollywood debut in 2011 with Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar opposite Ranbir Kapoor, although she rejected the film due to her modelling commitments at the time and was subsequently replaced by Nargis Fakhri.She was later signed on to Homi Adajania's Cocktail instead; at Ali's suggestion. Cast alongside Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, Penty portrayed the character of Meera, a simple Indian girl with traditional values. Despite Cocktail receiving positive to mixed reviews, Penty's performance was well received and has resulted in a rapid rise in her fan following. Nikhil Ravishanker of Mutiny.in writes, "Model Diana Penty, in her debut movie, has come out on top. Her portrayal of a simple Indian girl’s transition from being an awkward introvert to a mature romantic will definitely touch viewers’ hearts". Sonia Chopra of Sify stated, "Diana Penty is a talent to look out for. She, thankfully, is modeling import who can act". Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama wrote, "Diana, who makes her acting debut, gets to portray a rather difficult character for her debut film. There's a very disarming kind of innocence that she brings to the role and she impresses a great deal." Noted writer Shobhaa De has said "Diana Penty's debut rates amongst the best in recent times. Not only is the girl absolutely lovely but she can act! Nobody expects actual acting prowess from our lissome models - well, here's one with a terrific future." The film became a major commercial success, collecting 54.50 crore (US$10 million) in the first week of release in India alone, making it the first multiplex-targeted film to cross the 50 crore (US$9.2 million) mark in the first week.The film then went onto collecting 73.24 crore (US$13 million) crores at the domestic box office after three weeks, thus being termed as a "hit" by Box Office India.Furthermore, the film was also a major commercial success in international markets, as it collected approx. 23.50 crore (US$4.3 million) overseas.
She also received praise for her dancing skills in the chartbuster Tumhi Ho Bandhu from the film, which later became a friendship anthem.