Amisha Patel was born on the 9th June 1977 in Mumbai, India. Her first name is derived from the first three letters of her fathers name, Amit, and the last three letters of her mother's name, Asha. Patel is the granddaughter of the famous Indian lawyer Rajni Patel. Amisha Patel studied in the John Canon School and later in Tufts University in Massachusetts, where she achieved a honours degree in Economics. After university she stayed a while in the US, working for Morgan Stanley, until she decided to move back to India.

Upon returning to Indian she studied classical Indian Bharatnatyam dance and acting under the tutorage of Satyadev Dubey. Amisha Patel was noticed by Bollywood director Rakesh Roshan who signed her to appear in his film Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000). The film was a success and catapulted Patel into stardom. Patel's second movie Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), also hit it big. These two film's provided Patel with a clutch of Indian film awards. However, these initial hits where followed by a string of disappointing movies that failed at the box-office. Patel found her feet again in Aamir Khan's The Rising (2005), where she was received well by the critics.

Amisha Patel's recent movie Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) is providing to be a mega hit for the young star and has re-instated her in the top tier of Indian actresses.