VOL XVII BEAUTIFUL EAST-ASIAN ACTRESSES & CELEBRITIES
Women of Asian-Indian & Middle Eastern Desent
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- Actress
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Jameela Alia Jamil was born on February 25, 1986 in Hampstead, London, England. She was discovered at 22 years old when she was teaching English in London, UK. Her first job in media was a main host on T4, the UK's leading youth entertainment show where she made a name for herself interviewing famous actors and musicians. She also became a journalist for Cosmopolitan Magazine and the Huffington Post. After 2 years she became the face of Maybelline and Nails Inc and in 2012, she released her own clothing line after much success in the fashion industry and having shot for both British and American Vogue, Glamour Magazine, Cosmopolitan Magazine and Japanese teen vogue. 2012 also saw her nominated for the PPA and BSME awards for her writing. Later that year she was recruited by BBC Radio 1, to host her own show on their network, which would lead to a promotion in 2013, where she made history as the first woman in its 60 years on air, to host the Official Chart on the esteemed radio station. With much success, including several awards for radio and a growing DJ career she stayed on at the network until 2015, when she left to pursue a writing career in the United States. After signing as a comedy writer at 3ARTS and being taken on by UTA, in spite of never having acted before, she was sent to audition for Michael Schur's latest project on NBC, The Good Place (2016), to star opposite Ted Danson and Kristen Bell. The comedy series will air in the fall of 2016 for 13 episodes.- Actress
- Producer
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Priyanka Chopra Jonas (née Chopra) was born on July 18, 1982 in Jamshedpur, India, to the family of Capt. Dr. Ashok Chopra and Dr. Madhu Chopra, both Indian Army physicians. She had a very varied upbringing. She started her education at La Martinière Girls College in Lucknow as a resident student; a short stay at Maria Goretti College in Bareilly prepared her for further studies in the U.S. Having completed tenth grade in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., she decided to become a software engineer or a criminal psychologist. She enjoys Indian music and dance; flair for writing poetry and short stories; reading, especially biographies; and has worked for a lot of social welfare programs.- Actress
- Producer
Indira Anne Varma (born 27 September 1973) is a British actress. Her film debut and first major role was in Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love. She has gone on to appear in the television series The Canterbury Tales, Rome, Luther, Human Target, and Game of Thrones (as Ellaria Sand). In September 2016, she began starring in the ITV/Netflix series Paranoid, as DS Nina Suresh.
Varma was born in Bath, Somerset, the only child of an Indian father and a Swiss mother who was of part Genoese Italian descent; her parents were relatively elderly and were often mistaken for her grandparents. She was a member of Musical Youth Theatre Company and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, in 1995.
Varma has had a number of television and film roles, including Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love in 1997 and Bride and Prejudice in 2004, and the young Roman wife Niobe during the first season of BBC/HBO's historical drama series Rome. Her character appeared briefly in the second season of the award-winning series when it aired on 14 January 2007.
In 2006, she played Suzie Costello in the first and eighth episodes, "Everything Changes" and "They Keep Killing Suzie", of BBC Three's science-fiction drama series Torchwood. She appeared as Dr Adrienne Holland in the CBS medical drama 3 lbs which premiered on 14 November 2006 and was cancelled on 30 November 2006 due to poor ratings. Varma guest starred in the fourth-season premiere of hit US detective drama Bones as Scotland Yard Inspector Cate Pritchard. She also played the role of Zoe Luther in the first series of the BBC drama Luther.
Varma played the role of Ilsa Pucci in the second season of the Fox series Human Target until the show was cancelled on 10 May 2011.
Varma played the role of Ellaria Sand, the paramour of Oberyn Martell in season 4 of the HBO show Game of Thrones, and reprised the role in seasons 5, 6 and 7.
She lent her voice to the Circle mage Vivienne, in the 2014 role-playing video game Dragon Age: Inquisition.
In 2016, she played the lead role of DC Nina Suresh in the eight-episode British television drama Paranoid, streamed worldwide on Netflix.
In 1997, Varma played Bianca in Shakespeare's Othello at the National Theatre, London. In 2000 to 2001, she appeared in Harold Pinter and Di Trevis's NT stage adaptation of Pinter's The Proust Screenplay, Remembrance of Things Past, based on À la recherche du temps perdu, by Marcel Proust. In the summer of 2001, she played Gila in One for the Road, by Harold Pinter, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
In 2002, she played Sasha Lebedieff in Ivanov by Anton Chekhov at the National Theatre and Bunty Mainwaring in The Vortex by Noël Coward at the Donmar Theatre, London. In 2004, she played Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder at the Young Vic Theatre Theatre, London. In 2008, she played Nadia Baliye in The Vertical Hour by David Hare at the Royal Court Theatre London. In 2009, she played Olivia in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night with Donmar West End at Wyndham's Theatre, London. In 2012, she played Jessica in Terry Johnson's Hysteria at the Theatre Royal, Bath. In 2013 she played Miss Cutts in The Hothouse by Harold Pinter in the Trafalgar Transformed season at Trafalgar Studios.
In 2014, Varma played Tamora, Queen of the Goths, in Lucy Bailey's "gore-fest" production of Titus Andronicus at Shakespeare's Globe. In 2015, she appeared alongside Ralph Fiennes in George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman at the National Theatre.- Actress
- Producer
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Sheetal Sheth is an acclaimed actress, author, and producer, known for her provocative performances in a wide range of memorable roles on film and television. Sheetal burst onto the scene with raves in the groundbreaking films, 'ABCD' and Slamdance winner, 'American Chai.' She broke out and won hearts in 'Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World' opposite Albert Brooks, as the female lead, Maya, winning the role after an extensive international casting search.
Raised in a small New Jersey city, she discovered her passion for acting in high school and subsequently enrolled in the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. After supplementing her education with a summer in Amsterdam as part of the intensive, International Theatre Workshop studying under renowned acting teachers like Kristin Linklater, she graduated with honors.
Sheetal has become a favorite in the independent film world. She won 3 Best Actress nods on the festival circuit for 'The World Unseen,' 1 for her role in 'Wings of Hope,' and most recently for 'Grin,' which she also produced. In 2012, fans voted her 'Favorite Movie Actress' in AfterEllen's Visibility Awards. To date, she has starred in over 20 feature films and has earned a loyal, international following.
Sheth began her career at a time when few South Asians were making their living as actors. Despite being told she'd have to change her name to work, her successful career has trail-blazed paths for other women of color across media. Sheth supports marginalized communities not only through her own pioneering work as an actor, but by also appearing at workshops and panels and speaking directly to issues facing those communities. Sheetal has represented brands such as Reebok and CHI hair care and has appeared on the cover of magazines including Anokhi, Audrey, Woman International, and Seema. She is known as an outspoken advocate and has delivered talks and keynotes at festivals and charity galas. She's had op-eds published on CNN and Thrive Global. She served in President Clinton's AmeriCorps and is currently on the advisory board of Equality Now and an ambassador for CA First Partner, Jennifer Newsom's The Representation Project. Her extensive background in working with kids led her into the world of children's literature and her first children's book, Always Anjali was published in 2018 to wide acclaim. It won the 2019 Purple Dragonfly Storybook Grand Prize (voted on by teachers and librarians) and is set to be a series.- Actress
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Archie is an Emmy Award winning British actress best known for her role as Kalinda Sharma in The Good Wife, for which she was nominated for an Emmy three times in a row and went on to to be honored with a Golden Globe Nomination. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed East Is East which won a Bafta for Best Film. She then went onto star in the Bafta and Golden Globe nominated international hit Bend It Like Beckham. She appeared in John Le Carre's The Constant Gardener, which was nominated for 10 Bafta's and won an Oscar and went on to work alongside Angelina Jolie in the gut wrenching A Mighty Heart. Archie then went on to star in 2 Bafta winning Netflix/BBC series; The Fall, opposite Gillian Anderson as well as Shetland. She recently starred on the American TV hit Blindspot and in the International blockbuster earthquake movie San Andreas opposite Dwayne Johnson. The New Year will see Archie lead the highly anticipated 6 part drama Next Of Kin on ITV.- Born in India, Sahar grew up in Iran and is now a Canadian citizen living in Vancouver, British Columbia.
She is a former beauty pageant contestant who represented Canada and now works as a professional actress in Film and Television.
Sahar has studied at the University of British Columbia, The Actors Foundry & the Lyric school of Acting. - Actress
Lisa Ray was finishing high school in Canada with aspirations of majoring in Journalism at University when a celebrated fashion magazine approached her to model for them, and she ended up on the cover. This catapulted her into a state of instant celebrity. Her high-profile career got her noticed by Indian filmmakers, but she refused many offers until the offbeat _Kasoor (2000)_, which received a considerable amount of attention. Indian-Canadian director Deepa Mehta then cast her as the lead in the lighthearted romantic comedy Bollywood/Hollywood (2002), which went on to be a huge success in Canada. She subsequently moved to London to study acting and concentrate on a serious career in the performing arts. After graduating from drama school she was reunited with Deepa Mehta in the critically lauded Water (2005). She has since carved out a challenging variety of characterizations- everything from a farm girl to a femme fatale- which is a testament to her adaptability and desire for challenge.- Actress
- Producer
Shelley Conn is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Dean Indira Shetty in Amazon's No.1 show, Gen V (2023), as Beelzebub in Good Omens 2 (2023), and as Lady Mary Sharma in the hugely successful Netflix series, Bridgerton (2022). Other notable appearances include Isabella in the film Love Sarah (2020), and as Dr Elizabeth Shannon in the Steven Spielberg series Terra Nova (2011). Shelley Conn was born in Barnet in north London to Anglo-Indian parents. As the daughter of a British Army Officer, she moved home and countries many times as a child, living in Germany and Gibraltar before settling in Hampshire. She is of mixed heritage, which includes Indian, Portuguese, Burmese and English. After being a student at Queen Mary's College in Basingstoke, she trained at Bretton Hall College of Performing Arts and Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. She began her career on London stages and in small roles on British television. After appearing in independent films and two seasons at the RSC including All's Well That Ends Well (2003/2004) with Judi Dench she landed a breakthrough role as Ashika Chandirimani in the BBC political drama Party Animals (2007) which has led to a long and varied career in theatre film and television, both in the UK and the US. She lives in London.- Producer
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Padma Lakshmi was born on 1 September 1970 in Madras, Tamil Nadu, India. She is a producer and actress, known for Glitter (2001), Star Trek: Enterprise (2001) and Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi (2020). She was previously married to Salman Rushdie.- Actress
Madhu Sapre was born on 14 July 1971 in India. She is an actress, known for Boom (2003), Captain Vyom (1998) and Aap Jaisa Koi Mere Zindagi (1997). She has been married to Gian Maria since 2001.- Actress
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Deepika Padukone, born 5 January 1986 in Copenhagen, Denmark, is an Indian model and actress. She is the daughter of former badminton champion Prakash Padukone. Her mother tongue is Konkani. Deepika has a younger sister named Anisha.
She has been modeling appearances in print and television advertising campaigns for Liril, Close-Up toothpaste and Limca, receiving many prestigious modeling offers, including brand ambassadorship of the Jewels of India, an annual jewelry exhibition. She hit the international scene when Maybelline made her their new international cover-girl face.
At the fifth annual Kingfisher Fashion Awards, for Indian models and designers, she was awarded the title of Model of the Year. Shortly after wards, she was chosen as one of the models for the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar for 2006, thus cementing her reputation as a supermodel. She also bagged two trophies at the Idea Zee F Awards in 2006 - female Model of the year (Commercial Assignments) and Fresh Face of the year.- Actress
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Kriti Sanon is an Indian actress who is a predominant name in the Hindi film industry, born in New Delhi to Rahul Sanon and Geeta Sanon. She holds an engineering degree from the Jaypee Institute of Information Technology. After completing her degree, she stepped into the entertainment industry as a model and later on in the year 2014 she has made her debut in Telugu cinema with Nenokkadine starting opposite Telugu Superstar Mahesh Babu. In the same year, Kriti debuted in Bollywood with Sabbir Khan's Heropanti which gave her Filmfare Best Debutant Actress. After which Kriti became a part of Bollywood's three commercially successful movies.
Before making her silver screen debut, Kriti Sanon has appeared in various television commercials like Closeup, Vivel, Samsung, Bata, Amul among others. In 2015 Sanon appeared in her second Hindi film which was Rohit Shetty's Dilwale which appeared to be one of the highest-grossing films worldwide. In 2017, Kriti Sanon was a part of two Hindi movies; Raabta and Bareilly Ki Barfi. In 2019, Kriti Sanon starred opposite Kartik Aryan in Luka Chuppi which is a romantic comedy movie. Kriti Sanon has also made special appearances in songs like 'Aao Kabhi Haveli Pe' from the movie Stree (2018), 'Aira Gaira' from the movie Kalank(2019).
Kriti's upcoming Hindi movie releases in 2019 are Arjun Patiala, Housefull4, Panipat, and Mimi in 2020- Actress
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Shruti Kamal Haasan is an India Film actress and singer and the daughter of legendary actor Kamal Haasan and Sarika Thakur. She has studied at Abacus in Chennai, until 10th grade, when she moved to Mumbai to study psychology at St Andrew's College.
She debuted as a child artist in "Hey Ram" in the role of a daughter of Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel. After that she was appeared in "Luck" as a lead actress.
Apart from acting, she is an amazing singer and sung as a playback singer in many films including Thevar Magan (1992), Chachi 420 (1997), Hey Ram (2000), Luck (2009) etc.- Actress
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- Music Department
Alia Bhatt (born 15 March 1993) is an India actress. The recipient of several accolades, including one National Award, six Filmfare Awards and three IIFA Awards. Bhatt is one of the highest-paid actresses in India. She has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2014 and was featured by Forbes Asia in their 30 Under 30 list of 2017.- Actress
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Born into a traditional south Indian family, Aishwarya started modeling at a young age. This green-blue-eyed beauty appeared in advertisements for many prestigious firms; the ones that brought her into the limelight were the garden sari and the Pepsi ad. Crowned Miss India 1994 runner-up, she was a hot favorite in the run for miss world title, which she won, her beauty and charm made her India's darling. Ash stormed into the Indian movie industry, where she has proven herself a brilliant & genuine actress. Her performance in Iruvar (1997) was critically acclaimed, and she won the Screen best female debutant award for her role in ...Aur Pyaar Ho Gaya (1997). She was adored in movies like Taal (1999), Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), Devdas (2002), her item number in 'Bunty & Bubbly' had sent waves of rhythm across the nation. With her successful Bollywood movies and prestigious Hollywood projects lined up for release it is impossible to ignore this Indian diva in international scenes.- Actress
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Shraddha Kapoor is an Indian film actress. Prior to making her cinematic debut, she took up theatre studies at Boston University, but dropped out after her first year to begin her acting career. She made her screen debut in the 2010 drama fictional Teen Patti for which she earned a nomination for the Filmfare Best Female Debut. The following year, she received appreciation and the Stardust Searchlight Best Actress Award for her role in the teen drama Luv Ka The End. She rose to prominence for her portrayal as Arohi Keshav Shirke in the 2013 romantic musical Aashiqui 2, which emerged as her first commercial success venture in which she gained positive acclaims and numerous nominations including the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.- Actress
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Kangana was born on 23 March 1987 in Bhambla, near Manali, which is in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. Her dad Amardeep is a businessman and her mom Asha is a schoolteacher. She has two sisters and a younger brother. Her grandfather was an IAS Office. She spent her childhood in Dehra Dunand studied in DAV's High School, where she participated in many debates and elocutions and also played basketball.
After completing her schooling, she attended Science College in Simla. She was enrolled in the Elite School of Modeling and also tried theater acting in Delhi and was a member of the Smita Theater Group under Arvind Gaur. She is also a trained Kathak dancer.
She decided to relocate to Bombay and lived in a flat in Yari Road, Versova. In September 2005 she was spotted drinking coffee in a cafe by filmmaker Anurag Basu, who approached her and eventually signed her for a lead role in Gangster (2006).
Since then, Kangana Ranaut has won 4 National Awards for her performance in _Fashion (2008)_qv, _Queen (2014)_qv, and _Tanu Weds Manu Returns (2015)_qv. Manikarnika(2019) Panga (2019).- Kubbra Sait is an Indian actress and TV presenter. Sait graduated from the National Institute of Information & Management Sciences, Bangalore, and moved to Dubai, where she worked as an account manager for Microsoft. She then moved back to India to pursue her dream of working in the entertainment industry.
Sait made her acting debut in 2013 with the film Ready (2011), directed by Anees Bazmee, in which she played a supporting role alongside Salman Khan, Asin Thottumkal and Paresh Rawal.
However, Sait came into the limelight and gained widespread recognition for her role as Kukoo in the Netflix series Sacred Games (2018), directed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane.
In addition to her acting career, Sait has also worked as a TV presenter and has been a part of several shows such as RejctX (2019), Illegal - Justice, Out of Order (2020), TVF Tripling (2016) and Fourplay (2018).
Sait has also appeared in films on OTT platforms, including Jawaani Jaaneman (2020) (2020), directed by Nitin Kakkar, starring Saif Ali Khan, Alaya F and Tabu and in Dolly Kitty and Those Twinkling Stars (2019) (Dolly Kitty and Those Twinkling Stars) directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, starring Konkona Sen Sharma, Bhumi Pednekar and Amol Parashar.
Kubbra has also appeared in a number of television ads for big names such as Airtel, TVS Wego and Big Bazaar, to name a few. - Actress
- Music Department
- Sound Department
Rekha Sharma is known for The Core (2003), Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007) and Love Happens (2009).- Actress
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Freida Selena Pinto was born in Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra, India, to Sylvia, a school principal, and Frederick Pinto, a senior bank branch manager. She is from a Mangalorean family.
Pinto traversed the modeling circuit in Mumbai (represented by Elite Model Management India) for two years before gaining her big break when director Danny Boyle picked her out in the audition process to play the female lead, Latika, for his project Slumdog Millionaire (2008). In a promo interview, Boyle likened spotting her to his discovery of Kelly Macdonald for Trainspotting.
Surprisingly, Freida, who studied at Mumbai's St. Xaviers College, began taking acting classes (she has done amateur theater before) only after completing her debut film -- when she attended a three-month workshop by Barry John, the veteran theater guru.
Between 2006 and 2007, she anchored Full Circle, a travel show that was telecast on Zee International Asia Pacific. She went on assignments to Afghanistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Fiji, among other countries.- Actress
- Producer
Born in Mumbai, India and raised in Nigeria until the age of seven, Contractor was well-versed in world travels and a variety of cultures at a very young age. She attended boarding school in London from seven to nine years old, then her family moved to Toronto, Canada, where she spent the majority of her childhood and young adulthood. In Toronto, Contractor excelled in academics and trained as a classical ballerina. She attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts, a specialized public arts high school where she not only danced but studied theater as well. At the age of 16, after nearly 10 years of dance Contractor realized she wanted to pursue acting seriously. Upon graduating from high school she accepted a full scholarship to the University of Toronto, where she pursued a masters in theatre and a double major in psychology and sociology. After one year at University, Contractor went to an open call audition for the play Pericles at the prestigious, world-renowned Stratford Shakespeare Festival [Ontario, Canada], and landed the lead role. She received rave reviews for her work in the 92 shows performed, the play was voted the #1 production of the year by Canadian critics, in 2002. Contractor was offered the opportunity to enroll in Stratford's conservatory program, where a select eight men and four women are accepted for a 20-week crash course on classical theater, which she eagerly took. Contractor was guaranteed a spot in the next season of plays, and landed the role of Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream. By the third season with the company, Contractor wanted to pursue film and television. In 2005 she booked a role in a FOX pilot by Anthony Hines [Borat, Bruno, The Dictator]. The role was intense, leaving the actors in character for eight to nine hours a day in front of an audience, and was a precursor to the style of film that Borat would be, just one year later. When the pilot did not get picked up, Contractor decided to go back to school and finish her education. While securing her degrees, she booked "The Border," a Canadian drama for CBC. She starred as Layla Hourani for 26 episodes, and the series aired worldwide. The role also garnered her a Golden Nymph Award at The Montecarlo Television Festival, in 2008. Once the show wrapped, Contractor made the move to Los Angeles.
In 2009, Contractor booked the role of Kayla Hassan, in 21 episodes of the hit FOX series "24." As President Omar Hassan [Anil Kapoor] and Dalia Hassan's [Necar Zadegan] daughter, she was a scene stealer, portraying a seemingly sheltered young woman, whose secret life ends up putting her in horrible conditions. While in production on "24" Contractor also booked a recurring role on CBS' "Rules of Engagement" opposite David Spade and Adhir Kalyan. Other television credits for Contractor include "Lone Star" [FOX] and "Last Resort" [ABC]. On the film front, Contractor has been seen in Seance: The Summoning [Lionsgate] in which she won Best Supporting Actress at WorldFest Houston, in 2012.
In May 2013, Contractor appeared as a devoted wife and mother facing extreme challenges in her family in the highly anticipated, Paramount feature film Star Trek Into Darkness (2013).
When not working, Contractor is an avid runner and yogi. She loves to travel the world, and her preferred method of transportation while in other countries is by motorcycle. She was also born into the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism, and is one of the 150,000 Parsis in the world. Philanthropy is a huge priority for Contractor, she is a strong supporter of the organization Second Harvest to feed the homeless, and Look Good Feel Better, supporting women with cancer. She lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, son, and border terrier.- Actress
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Tena Desae is a model turned actress who debuted in Bollywood with Yeh Faasley (2011) and made her Hollywood debut almost a year later with The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011). Desae appeared on television for the first time in the Netflix television series Sense8 (2015), which follows the story of eight strangers who find themselves growing mentally and emotionally connected, as Kala Dandekar, an successful Hindu pharmacist in Mumbai.
The Bengaluru born model first came into limelight when she participated in Reality show Get Gorgeous. Though she did not win the contest she was offered a contract with Elite Model India Management Private Limited which powers the reality show, even before the eventual winner. After that she never looked back since then and has 90+ commercials to her credit.
She was also one of the models in the 2012 Kingfisher calendar.- Actress
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Lilly Singh is a successful, famous Canadian YouTuber, known as Superwoman. She is also known for her role in the movie "Dr. Cabbie" (2014) and the YouTube series "Giving Back Glam" (2014) ; "The Tube's Hautest" (2014) and "Lana Steele : Make Up Spy" (2015). She is also known for her rapping skills and has a few songs : #LEH feat. Humble The Poet (2014); IVIVI feat. Humble The Poet (2015) and she is featured in Jassi Sidhu's song "Hipshaker" (2013).- Mallika Sherawat is an Indian actress who mainly works in the Hindi film industry. She was named Reema Lamba at birth but later took up Mallika Sherawat as her screen name.
Sherawat did her schooling at Delhi Public School, Mathura Road. She earned her degree in philosophy from Miranda House at Delhi University. She worked as an air hostess and acted in commercials before joining the film industry.
Sherawat's film career began with Talat Jani's romance film Jeena Sirf Merre Liye (2002), in which she plays a small role. She debuted in a lead role in Khwahish (2003), directed by Govind Menon, starring Himanshu Malik. While the film failed to impact the box office, Sherawat gained popularity due to her 17 kissing scenes in the movie.
A year later, she appeared in Murder (2004), a romantic thriller co-starring Emraan Hashmi and Ashmit Patel, directed by Anurag Basu. She went on to act in films like Kis Kis Ki Kismat (2004) and Bachke Rehna Re Baba (2005).
In 2005, Sherawat appeared in her first international film, The Myth (2005), a Chinese fantasy-adventure and martial arts film directed by Stanley Tong that had Jackie Chan in the lead role. Her next film was Pyaar Ke Side Effects (2006), a romantic comedy written and directed by Saket Chaudhary with Rahul Bose playing the lead opposite her.
Sherawat was next seen on Aap Ka Suroor - The Real Love Story (Joy: The Real Love Story (2007)), a romantic thriller directed by Prashant Chadha, starring Himesh Reshammiya and Hansika Motwani. She essayed the role of an advocate in the movie. Her next film was Welcome (2007), directed by Anees Bazmee, starring Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Nana Patekar. The film became a huge commercial success and earned more than Rs. 117 crores worldwide.
The following year, Sherawat appeared in Ugly Aur Pagli (2008) and Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam (2008). She debuted in Tamil cinema with the film Dasavatharam (2008), with Kamal Haasan in the lead role.
Sherawat played the lead role in Hisss (2010), an English-Hindi crossover from the adventure-horror genre directed by Jennifer Lynch. She promoted the film at the Cannes Film Festival 2010. She won the Best Actress Award at the Gotham Screen Film Festival & Screenplay Contest 2011 for her performance in the film.
She went on to work on Politics of Love (2011), directed by William Dear. Sherawat plays the lead role in this romantic comedy set during the campaign for the U.S. Presidential Election in 2008.
Sherawat appeared in films like Double Dhamaal (2011), Kismet Love Paisa Dilli (2012), and Dirty Politics (2015), among others. She acted in Time Raiders (2016), a Chinese fantasy-action-adventure movie directed by Daniel Lee.
Sherawat has also appeared in item numbers in several films, such as Thank You (2011), Bin Bulaye Baraati (2011), and Tezz (2012). She appeared in TV shows like Sarabhai V/S Sarabhai (2004) and Hawaii Five-0 (2010). In 2013, she took part in Bachelorette India - Mere Khayalon ki Mallika (2013), a reality dating show meant to find the ideal bachelor for herself.
Sherawat received the 2008 Renaissance Artist Award. She also received the International Youth Icon Award at the Kalakar Awards in 2015 - Actress
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Karishma Sharma, full name Karishma Lala Sharma, is an Indian television and film actress and model. She has worked in many TV shows, web series, and films.
Born in Mumbai, Sharma moved to Delhi and then Patna before moving back to Mumbai, where she initially worked at BMW as a marketing intern.
During her college days, Sharma walked the ramp for many designers and participated in various fashion shows. She even worked in the first season of Zee TV's horror show, Episode #1.28 (2015).
Her TV debut was with the drama series Pavitra Rishta (2009), where she played the role of Pia Arjun Kirloskar. She went on to debut in the bollywood film industry with the movie Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 (2015) as Tina.
In 2016, she was seen in the web series Life Sahi Hai (2016).
Sharma came into the limelight with her role as Ragini in ALTBalaji's web series Ragini MMS Returns (2017). After that, she acted in the lead role in the film Hotel Milan (2018).
She was also seen in the film Ek Villain Returns (2022).
Sharma has also featured in popular music videos and item numbers like Gajendra Verma: Tera Ghata (2018) by Gajendra Verma, Tony Kakkar's music album Tony Kakkar: Kanta Bai (2019), Paisa from Hrithik Roshan starrer Bollywood film Super 30 (2019), and more.- Actress
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Janina Zione Gavankar (born November 29, 1980) is an American actress and musician. Gavankar is also trained as a pianist, vocalist, and orchestral percussionist. She majored in Theatre Performance at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Gavankar's roles include Papi, a lesbian lothario in The L Word; Leigh Turner, a police officer on The Gates; Ms. Dewey, the personification of a Microsoft branded search engine who commented on the user's searches; Shiva, the namesake of the sought-after trophy on The League; shapeshifter Luna Garza on HBO's True Blood; McKenna Hall on The CW's Arrow; and Meredith Bose on NBC's The Mysteries of Laura. She also played Diana Thomas on FOX's supernatural drama Sleepy Hollow.
Gavankar was born in Joliet, Illinois, to Peter Ganesh Gavankar, an engineer from Mumbai, who first traveled to the U.S. to pursue a master's degree, and Mohra Gavankar, from Pune, Maharashtra, who also emigrated to the U.S. from India. Her mother is half-Indian and half-Dutch.
Gavankar has acted in theatre, film, television, and online. Her most notable roles include Iden Versio, canon Star Wars character, and protagonist of Star Wars: Battlefront II, shapeshifter Luna Garza in True Blood, lesbian lothario Papi in The L Word; Ms. Dewey, the personification of a Microsoft live search engine; and Shiva, the namesake of the sought after trophy on The League. She regularly appears in Funny or Die shorts.
In 2006 she joined the cast of The L Word as a series regular, and shot all of the clips used for Ms. Dewey. In 2007, she landed a lead in CW pilot Dash 4 Cash. In 2008, Gavankar appeared in TV series Stargate Atlantis, Grey's Anatomy and NCIS, My Boys, and Factory. In 2009, she appeared in the TV shows The Cleaner, Dollhouse, Three Rivers, and The League, as well as indie movies Men, Interrupted, Indian Gangster, and Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey. Gavankar played the voice of Nikki in Quantum Quest. She landed a lead role in The Gates, since cancelled, on ABC. She appears on CW's Arrow as a vice squad police officer and brief girlfriend to Oliver Queen.
Gavankar is an admitted gamer and has appeared on, as well as co-hosted, G4 TV's Attack of the Show!, Epileptic Gaming's Up All Night, where she helped review Rock Band, Burnout Paradise, and Army of Two.
In 2011 Gavankar became a series regular in HBO's True Blood as a public school teacher and shapeshifter, Luna Garza, who gets romantically involved with one of the main characters of the series.
Her indie movie, Satellite of Love, premiered at the Dallas International Film Festival in 2012, and her 2012 indie I'm Afraid of Virginia Wolf is in post-production. On December 20, 2012, Gavankar was the last person interviewed for the now cancelled Attack of the Show! which aired on G4 TV.
On August 3, 2013, Gavankar landed a role as a witch named Qetsiyah in the fifth season of The Vampire Diaries. She guest starred in the third season of Husbands.
In 2014, she starred as Amita in the video game, Far Cry 4. She also played Detective Meredith Bose on The Mysteries of Laura from 2014 to 2016.
She starred as Iden Versio, the main character in the campaign mode of the 2017 Electronic Arts video game Star Wars Battlefront II.
In 2018, she has two films releasing. Blindspotting is premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, and The Vanishing of Sidney Hall is being distributed by A24.
Gavankar returned to music with a cover of Kanye West's "Love Lockdown". Gavankar's former all female singing group, Endera, was signed to Cash Money Records Universal Records.
She collaborated on a project for a song called "Tell Me What" in India with Pratichee Mohapatra of Viva, Deep, and Navraaz. She has had songs licensed to movies and television, and has sung and played marimba on film scores. Gavankar was featured in Russian artist Ella Leya's music video for "Wish I Could", in the music video by San Francisco-based band Recliner for their single "Float Away", as well as the music video for Manu Narayan's band Darunam.
In August 2012, she released the single for her upcoming EP, entitled Waiting for Godot, and in November, Billboard premiered the official music video. It went on to win numerous film festival awards.
While in high school, Gavankar auditioned for the front ensemble of the Phantom Regiment Drum and Bugle Corps of Rockford, Illinois. Before hearing whether she had made the corps, she was accepted for the Yale School of Drama's summer camp, and went there. "I fell in love with drum corps when I was 13 years old", Gavankar has stated, and remains a strong fan of the activity. When she heard the Martin Garrix/Usher collaboration, "Don't Look Down", she had the idea of performing it as marching music. With assistance from Drum Corps International, she contacted the Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps and arranger Colin Bell. She went into the studios in New York with fifty members of Jersey Surf and recorded the music video "Don't Look Down- #JustAddDrumCorps Edition" that was released in April 2015.
On May 20, 2015, Gavankar performed a percussion duet at Carnegie Hall with Questlove for the Best Buddies charity benefit.- Parveen Kaur is a Canadian actress. She is best known for playing Christine in Beyond and scientist Saanvi Bahl in Manifest. Kaur was born on 19 October 1988 and raised in Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, Canada. She is of Punjabi ethnicity and a Sikh. At the age of 18, she moved to Toronto. She is a practitioner of yoga, hot yoga and mindfulness.
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Yasmine Al Massri is an international actress, contemporary artist and dancer. Born in Lebanon, from a Palestinian father and an Egyptian mother. At age 20, she moved to Paris to study, and graduated from the prestigious L'Ecole des Beaux Arts de Paris in Multimedia and live performances.
Her artistic interdisciplinary career began in dancing, when in 2000 she joined the Thouraya Baghdadi's Dance company in Paris. Inspired by great choreographers, she explored classical and innovative ways of performing Arab repertoire and opened herself to world folklore, Flamenco, Salsa and African dance. Shortly afterwards she created her own personal style of performance and directed herself in numerous performance videos that have been seen in performance arts festivals around the world.
Al Massri's first big break as an actress was in the award-winning Lebanese film "Caramel" written and directed by Nadine Labaki. At the 2007 Cannes Film Festival it generated tremendous critical acclaim and went on to be the most successful Arab film to date. It also got Al Massri a best actress award with the film's ensemble of actresses at the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival, and later a nomination at the Asia Pacific Screen Award 2007.
In 2008, director Najwa al Najjar cast Yasmine in the lead role of her award winning film "Pomegranates and Myrrh" alongside Hiam Abbass. The film opened at the Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and Yasmine went on to win the Youssef Chahine Best Actress award for her performance at the Rabat International Film Festival.
In 2010 Yasmine starred in Julian Schnabel's internationally acclaimed film," Miral", alongside Vanessa Redgrave, Hiam Abbas, Frieda Pinto and Willem Dafoe. Her latest movie "The Last Friday", won the best film award at the Dubai International Film Festival 2011.
More recently, Yasmine was seen as a series regular opposite John Malkovich in the NBC series Crossbones and also as a series regular in the ABC series Quantico.
In 2015, Variety included her on their list of breakout performances, which also included the likes of Rami Malek, Aziz Ansari, Titus Burgess, Taraji P. Henson, Ben Mendelsohn and more.- Bahar Soomekh was born on March 30, 1975 in Tehran, Iran, to a Persian Jewish family. She is the daughter of Manijeh and Hamid Soomekh, who owned a women's high fashion company. She has a sister, Saba Soomekh. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1979, to escape the Iranian revolution. She attended a yeshiva, Sinai Akiba Academy, and Beverly Hills High School, where she played the violin in the school orchestra. She majored in environmental studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Soomekh began working at a corporate job, and took acting classes at night, before quitting her job to pursue a full-time acting career.
Bahar began acting at age 27, guest starring in television shows like Without a Trace (2002), 24 (2001), JAG (1995), among others. She got her big break portraying an Iranian-American woman named Dorri, speaking fluent English and Farsi, in the Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Crash (2004). The whole cast won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture. Bahar also appeared in the director's cut version of another Academy Award winning movie, Syriana (2005), playing Yassi. Bahar got some more attention playing Davian's translator in Mission: Impossible III (2006). She had a leading role in the horror film Saw III (2006), playing a victim, Dr. Lynn Denlon. She had also portrayed Margo on the television series Day Break (2006). Recently, Soomekh got one of the lead roles as Hollis on the television series The Oaks (2008), which will come out in the fall of 2008. - Mumtaz Sorcar was born on 15 September 1986 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. She is an actress, known for Red Oliender's Roktokorobi (2017), Irudhi Suttru (2016) and Guru (2017).
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Sarah Jane Dias is an Actress, Model and Miss India 2007. She's been on stage, acting, singing and dancing since she was a young girl. Her Miss India 2007 win, led to her TV and film acting career, and she's found success in many regional and international films. Her most notable performance is as Frieda in Angry India Goddesses, which, along with multiple other awards, won Best Film at the Rome Film Festival. Sarah Jane has been brand ambassador to many local and international fashion, make up and wellness brands. Sarah Jane is a certified yoga instructor and an active mental health advocate. Her mission is to inspire people, through her acting, singing and pod-casting.- Actress
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Necar Zadegan is a versatile actress known for a career on stage and screen. She made her Broadway debut when she originated the role of the Leper in Rajiv Joseph's Pulitzer Prize nominated and multi Tony award accoladed play " The Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" opposite Robin Williams. She stars as Special Agent Hannah Khoury in the CBS global franchise series, "NCIS: New Orleans" and has joined the cast of the much anticipated and newest installation of the Star Trek franchise, "Picard".
Ms. Zadegan first garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of First Lady turned president Dalia Hassan on Fox's hit series "24", and most recently for her hilarious leading role in the absurdist docu-spoof film for IFC on Netflix called "Documentary: Now" written by Seth Meyers and alongside an all-star cast. The show has been nominated for multiple Emmys and has begun streaming in the UK. For HBO in the drama "Here and Now" from Oscar winning screenwriter, creator Alan Ball, she takes the lead in the delicate portrayal of Layla Shokrani.
In the much beloved Bravo comedy streaming on Netflix, "Girlfriends Guide to Divorce", Ms. Zadegan plays the character written for her by show creator Marti Noxon, of fashionable, high powered attorney and fan favorite, Delia Banai. The show recently began streaming its fifth and final season. The year also saw Ms. Zadegan join the cast of the ABC hit "The Good Doctor". Other series regular roles include her portrayal of Dr. Gina Bandari on "Emily Owens MD" and in the lead opposite Greg Kinnear in the FOX comedy "Rake".
Some highlights from her many other credits include roles for Steven Spielberg company produced series "Extant", opposite Sean Bean in spy series "Legends" and a very memorable turn as the Queen of Iran in Showtime's critical success "Masters of Sex" opposite Michael Sheen, with whom she also starred opposite in the Columbia Tri Star film, psychological thriller "Unthinkable" alongside Samuel L. Jackson. She appeared with Adam Sandler in Judd Apatow's "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" and played the title role in "Elena Undone" which enjoyed success at independent festivals worldwide.
Ms. Zadegan has worked at some of the world's most prestigious theaters including The Mark Taper Forum, the Royal Dramatic Theater of Stockholm, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and many more, and toured internationally in the Persian language production of "Satellite with Love".
Necar Zadegan was born in Heidelberg, Germany and raised in Northern California. She studied theater and dance on a performance scholarship at the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated with honors and a BA degree in English Literature. She also studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris. She speaks Persian, French and German and has learned Spanish, Arabic and Hebrew while working in those languages. She works with USAID in supporting opportunities for education across the globe and is an ambassador for BuildOn.org and travels with them around the world building schools for children.- Actress
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After her debut film Mississippi Masala (1991) became an art house hit, Sarita Choudhury was determined not to "go Hollywood," focusing her acting energies on independent film instead.
Raised in Jamaica, Mexico, and Italy, the half-Indian, half-English Choudhury studied economics at Queens University in Ontario before switching to acting. She casually auditioned for Mississippi Masala (1991) and wound up cast as the lead opposite Denzel Washington in the singular interracial romance between a Southern African American man and a transplanted Indian woman. Despite the film's surprise success, Choudhury stuck to her non-Hollywood roots, putting her exotic looks and talent to versatile use as a Pakistani country-western singer in Wild West (1992), a Chilean maid who is raped in Bille August's adaptation of The House of the Spirits (1993), and a lesbian mother in Fresh Kill (1994).
Choudhury worked with Mississippi Masala (1991) director Mira Nair again in The Perez Family (1995) and played the cuckolded queen Tara in Nair's frankly-sensual feminist parable Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996).
By the late 1990s, Choudhury added a touch of Hollywood to her repertoire with supporting roles in the glossy Alfred Hitchcock remake, A Perfect Murder (1998) and the John Cassavetes retread Gloria (1999).- Actress
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Born on January 12th 1984 in Tehran. Her father is a former national team football player, Hamid Alidoosti. She started her career as an actress visiting Amin Tarokh's acting school in 2000. Soon she was chosen for her first role in I'm Taraneh, 15 (2002) (I'm Taraneh, 15), which has so far remained her main success. Her first steps in acting brought her the silver Leopard on the 55th Locarno film festival, and the Cristal Simorgh on Iranian's biggest film festival, Fajr. Being extremely selective her next appearance was 3 years later, Beautiful City (2004) (Beautiful city) by Asghar Farhadi. Fireworks Wednesday (2006) (Fireworks Wednesday) and About Elly (2009) (About Elly) are her next movies with Asghar Farhadi. She has also played in Canaan (2008) by 'Mani Haghighi' which is going to be released in October 2008. Doubt (2009) (by Varuzh Karim-Masihi) is her latest movie which is being shot now in Tehran. She has also appeared in two theater plays, both written and directed by Mohammad Rahmanian.- Mozhdah never calls herself the "Oprah of Afghanistan". That's just the name her adoring global audience-which includes individuals like Barack and Michelle Obama as well as Ms. Winfrey herself-has given her. That's because, like Oprah, this Kabul-born, Vancouver-based icon has sparked conversations and inspired women all over the world as a bold, big-hearted example of female leadership.
Through her internationally renowned music career and groundbreaking television show The Mozhdah Show, Mozhdah has inspired profound respect and serious controversy in equal measure. She's the first Afghani artist to produce hit records in English, capturing a global audience and performing on international stages. She's the first Afghani woman to brave death threats in order to host her own talk show and cover sensitive subjects impacting Afghani women and children. She's the first Afghani female artist to perform in the White House, or appear on The Oprah Winfrey Show, or express her mission of empowerment on CNN.
Other pop artists and media figures may be known as daring, even groundbreaking, but Mozhdah's courage is on another level. A singular voice in music and media, she's risked everything in order to express herself-along with the deepest hopes of women across the planet. - Actress
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Haifa Wehbe was born on 10 March 1976 in Mahrouna, Lebanon. She is an actress, known for Bahr al nojoum (2008), Dokkan Shehata (2009) and Renegades of Europe (2022). She was previously married to Ahmad Abu Husheima.Dazzling Brunette w/Smoldering Dark Eyes Born in Beirut, Lebanon. Named to People's Mag Top 50 in 2006- Actress
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Dilshad Vadsaria was born in Karachi, Pakistan, of Portuguese and Indian descent. She moved with her family to the US at the age of six and spent her childhood in various parts of the country, including Chicago, Richmond (Virginia) and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She eventually moved to New York to study acting. Although she has appeared in a few films, much of her work has been in television, with a regular role on the series Greek (2007) and guest appearances on such series as NCIS (2003) and Bones (2005).- Actress
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Tiya Sircar starred as "Roonie Schuman" in the ABC comedy series "Alex, Inc." which premiered in 2018. Based on the podcast StartUp, Sircar played the wife to Zach Braff's character, "Alex Schuman". Sircar is also on the NBC hit comedy "The Good Place," for which Entertainment Weekly dubbed her the series 'Scene Stealer." She appeared on the comedy opposite Kristen Bell and Ted Danson in multiple shifting roles, from an altruistic human rights lawyer to a power-hungry demon. She also starred opposite Kate Beckinsale in the Paramount+ series, Guilty Party. In the wake of recent guest starring roles on such series as Netflix's "Master of None" and Fox's "The Mindy Project," Sircar has also exercised her comedic and dramatic acting chops on "The Witches of East End," "The Vampire Diaries," "The Crazy Ones," "Hannah Montana" and "The Suite Life on Deck."
Having also established herself as a capable voiceover actress, Sircar lends her pipes as Sabine Wren, a graffiti artist and explosives expert, on the Disney/Lucas Film animated series "Star Wars Rebels" on the Disney Channel and the short-form interstitial series "Star Wars: Forces of Destiny," opposite Daisy Ridley, Felicity Jones and Lupita Nyong'o. Among other voiceover credits is The Simpsons, American Dad, Robot Chicken, and the Netflix/Dreamworks series "Spirit Riding Free."
Film audiences have come to know Sircar equally well, most recently in Netflix's Good Sam and in the independent feature comedy, Miss India America. Along with voiceover work on the animated studio film Walking with Dinosaurs 3D, she starred in the 20th Century Fox comedy feature The Internship opposite Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, in a starring role in the foreign drama The Domino Effect, with Zac Efron in New Line's 17 Again, and in the Paramount family comedy Hotel for Dogs.
A native of Arlington, Texas, Sircar was raised in a family of academics. Her parents, originally from Calcutta (Kolkata), India, are both college professors who instilled a love of the arts in her at a very early age. Sircar began dancing at age three, first Indian classical and folk dance, then ballet, jazz, lyrical and modern. After taking her first acting class at age seven, she realized her true calling. Sircar attended the University of Texas at Austin, receiving two bachelor's degrees: the first in Business/Marketing, and another in Theater & Dance. Following graduation, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her professional career.- Actress
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Zuleikha Robinson was born in London, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Hidalgo (2004), The Merchant of Venice (2004) and Homeland (2011). She was previously married to Sean Doyle.