Tanushree Dutta was born and raised in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand state (then Bihar), and did her graduation in commerce from Brihan Maharashtra COllege of Commerce in Pune, Maharashtra. She is Bengali. She won the Femina Miss India title in 2004, and placed among the top ten in the Miss Universe 2004 pageant held in Quito, Ecuador. She debuted in Bollywood in 2005. She worked on two films simultaneously Chocolate and Aashiq Banaya Apne. Chocolate was intended to be her debut film, however its release was preceded by Aashiq Banaya Apne.