She was born in Toronto, Canada to a Polish mother and Hindu Bengali father. |
She shared a close bond with her maternal grandmother and conversed in Polish with her. |
She enjoyed watching movies by Satyajit Ray and Federico Fellini with her friendly father. |
She spent part of her childhood in Calcutta (now Kolkata). |
She excelled academically, completing 5 years of high school in just 4 years. |
Her plan to study journalism at a Canadian university was interrupted by her mother's car accident. |
She gained fame by gracing the cover of Gladrags magazine in a red Baywatch-style swimsuit. |
She was ranked the 9th most beautiful woman of the millennium in a Times of India poll. |
She returned to Toronto in 2008 following her mother's passing. |
In 2009, she announced her battle with Multiple Myeloma at the Toronto International Film Festival. |
To chronicle her cancer journey, she launched a blog called The Yellow Diaries. |
She follows a strict vegetarian diet and abstains from dairy products. |