The dusky beauty from Bengal began her career as a model after winning the Gladrags Supermodel contest. Koena featured in a couple of music videos and made it big in TV commercials as she modeled for ACP Whisky, Miranda, Maruti Alto and Clinic All Clear. Koena’s first break in Bollywood was an item number in Ram Gopal Verma’s ‘Road’; the song “Khullam Khulla” became a big craze and Koena got typecasted as an item girl. Koena was flooded with offers to do raunchy numbers in Bollywood movies, but she refused as she was waiting to make her mark as an actress. It took Koena two years and Sanjay Gupta’s ‘Musafir’ to break the mould. Even tough the actress played a dancer in the movie, she did have a cameo.

Pritish Nandy’s ‘Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena’ was Koena’s first claim to fame as she played the lead actress opposite Fardeen Khan in the movie. Even tough the movie wasn’t a hit, Koena finally made it to the actress club. Koena dramatics aren’t very impressive, but she is able to procure roles with her dancing style and image.