Tulip was born in Bombay, India, to a Hindu Gujerati father and a Christian Armenian mother. As a result she has practiced both Hinduism and Christianity, while she was also baptized as a Christian. She participated in and excelled in sports activities. She studied in Bombay, and went to graduate from Mithibai College in Food and Chemistry. She has two sisters, Selphi and Monalisa, and the latter is married to Bollywood actor Rajat Bedi. She has a nephew, Vivaan, and niece, Vera. She entered the Femina Miss India Contest in 2000. Although she did not make to the final list, her slender figure, and charm were noticed, and she was signed up for a number of TV commercials, including Pepsi, Smirnoff, Siyaram's, Ponds, BPL, Coca Cola etc.. She has also appeared in a video-tribute to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. When she attended the wedding reception of Yash Chopra's son, Aditya, she was noticed and asked to audition for a role in 'Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai'. Since she is not fluent in Hindi, she enrolled in Feroz Khan's Studio, where she was re-named Sanjana, and went on to star in her very first Bollywood movie. This movie did not do too well at the box office, but Sanjana was noticed. Before she could launch her career and sign up for more pictures, her personal life faced considerable rift when her parents openly disapproved of her appearing in commercials and on the silver screen, and broke off all relations with her. This resulted in her being depressed for almost a year. She made her reappearance in a Telegu movie 'Villain' and then in 'Dil Maange More' in 2003. She did not appear in any movies or commercials for close to two years, due to severe back problems, resulting from a slipped disc and a shifted spine. In 2005 she made a come-back with 'Matrubhoomi' - and this she scored, and went on receive considerable praise. She went on to sign for lead roles in 'Shoonya' and 'Hostel'.