Lara Dutta rang in her 46th birthday on Tuesday with wishes from old friends Priyanka Chopra and Dia Mirza. On Tuesday, Priyanka Chopra wished her Andaaz co-star by sharing a throwback picture of her on her Instagram stories and wrote, "Happy birthday Lara Paaji (heart emoji). Wishing the best for you, always.” Lara Dutta also reshared Priyanka Chopra's story on her Instagram feed with heart emojis. Dia Mirza also shared a GIF of her kissing Lara on her cheek from the pageant years ago. She also shared a picture with Lara and her husband and tennis player Mahesh Bhupathi. Dia wrote in the caption, “@larabhupathi love you (sparkle emoji). Happy birthday!! Keep shining, keep inspiring.”
For the unversed, Lara Dutta scripted history in the year 2000 as she was crowned the second Indian Miss Universe after Sushmita Sen. In the same year Priyanka Chopra also won Miss World 2000 contest. Later, the duo also went on to make their acting debuts with Akshay Kumar in the film Andaaz.
In an interview on Rendezvous With Simi Garewal in the year 2006, Priyanka Chopra had said that she and Dia referred to Lara as "mom." The actor said that the Miss Universe 2000 always guided them in terms of clothing and makeup throughout the competition. "I looked up to Lara quite a bit, because she'd had so much experience. Dia was 18, and I was 17, and we were like these little babes. We used to call Lara ‘mom'. I wouldn't know what to wear, or how my makeup was. And I remember one time she took me to the bathroom, and she showed me the right makeup to use for my skin. Totally look up to her for that.”
On the work front, Lara will next appear in the show Ranneeti: Balakot & Beyond. Meanwhile, Priyanka is filming for Heads of State..