Amisha Patel is the daughter of Amit Patel and Asha Patel, sister of Ashmit Patel and the granddaughter of the famous Indian lawyer Rajni Patel. She received a degree in Economics from Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, US. She also studied classical Indian Bharatnatyam dance.

Her name Amisha was derived from the first three letters of her father's name Amit and the last three letters of her mother's name Asha. Her brother Ashmit's name was also derived similarly first three letters of his mother's name Asha and the last three letters of his father's name Amit.

She caught the eye of Bollywood director Rakesh Roshan at a Mumbai party. He signed her to appear with his son, Hrithik Roshan, in his next film project.Her name is a blend of Ami[t] and [A]sha, the first names of her parents. She was raised by her grandmother Nani. She grew up speaking three Indian dialects, Hindi, Gujrati and Marathi -- sometimes in the same sentence.Amisha Patel made her debut in the hit film Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000). The film made her a star overnight.