Bipasha is the second of three daughters in her family. She was born in New Delhi. Later her family moved to Kolkata where she studied for a business degree. In an interview, she said that she had come into modelling and acting "quite by accident". She had planned to learn chartered accountancy or study medicine. She said that she dropped the idea of doing medical studies because she fainted when attempting to dissect rats.
Bipasha won the Ford Supermodel of the World (contest) at the age of seventeen; she was also named Tulips Miss Super Vivacious. She worked as a model before she was signed for her first film.
Of late, many Indian models have turned from modeling to acting; Bipasha has been one of the most successful models turned actresses.
Bipasha's debut film Ajnabee (2001) was fairly successful and she was soon signed for other movies. She attracted attention with her roles in Raaz (2002) and Jism (2003). Jism featured more sex and bare skin than had previously been customary in Bollywood; it was a success and Bipasha was afterwards marketed as a sex symbol. In 2005, she had a boundary-pushing role in the successful film No Entry. She later appeared in the 2006 film Phir Hera Pheri, which did well at the box office.