Ayesha Dharker Biography

Ayesha Dharker (born 16 March 1978) is a British-Indian actress. She is known for her performance in the Tamil Indian film The Terrorist (1999), for which she was awarded Best Artistic Contribution by an Actress at the Cairo International Film Festival and nominated for a Chlotrudis Award and National Film Award for Best Actress. She has also appeared in Hollywood films such as Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, Outsourced and The Mistress of Spices, television series such as Arabian Nights, the West End and Broadway musical Bombay Dreams.

Family

Ayesha Dharker was born in Mumbai, India, the daughter of Imtiaz Dharker, a noted poet, artist and documentary film-maker, and Anil Dharker, a columnist and an ex-editor of Debonair. Her father is from India and her mother, born in Lahore, was brought up in Scotland. In May 2010, she married her British boyfriend Robert Taylor at quaint old medieval church, St Giles Cripplegate.

Career

Dharker made her screen debut in the 1989 François Villiers film Manika: Une vie plus tard. Dharker subsequently went on to star in many American, French and Indian films. She has had many television roles in the UK, particularly in Cutting It and Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee, in which she co-starred with Meera Syal.

In the international award-winning film The Terrorist (1999), she played the lead character Malli, a role that earned her a nomination for the National Film Award for Best Actress in India and the Cairo Film Festival award for Best Artistic Contribution by an Actress.

Her most internationally recognised role came in 2002 when she played Queen Jamillia, the Queen of Naboo, in Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. Dharker starred in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Bombay Dreams, both in London's West End and on Broadway (2004). She also starred in The Mistress of Spices (2005).

She is currently a recurring cast member of the BBC Asian Network radio serial Silver Street, playing the role of "Ambika"; she has also appeared in the episode "Planet of the Ood" of the long-running BBC sci-fi television series, Doctor Who as Solana Mercurio.

In 2006, she played the role of Asha in the film Outsourced.

In 2008, she played the role of Tara Mandal in the British soap opera Coronation Street.

In 2010, she played doctor's wife Kamini Sharma opposite Sanjeev Bhaskar in the BBC's comedy drama series The Indian Doctor.

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1989	Manika, une vie plus tard	Manika Kallatil
1992	City of Joy	Amrita H. Pal
1997	Saaz	Kuhu Vrundavan
1999	Split Wide Open	Leela
	The Terrorist ()	Malli	Cairo International Film Festival Award for Best Artistic Contribution by an Actress Nominated "? Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress
2000	The Mystic Masseur	Leela
2002	Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones	Queen Jamillia
2002	Anita and Me	Daljeet Kumar
2005	The Mistress of Spices	Hameeda
	Colour Me Kubrick: A True...ish Story	Dr. Stukeley
2006	Outsourced	Asha Bhatawdekar
2007	Loins of Punjab Presents	Opama Menon
2010	Red Alert	Radhakka

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Misteri della giungla nera, I	Young girl
1995	A Mouthful of Sky
2000	Arabian Nights	Coral Lips
2001	Doctors	Meena Chauhan
2002	Cutting It	Sunni Khadir
2003	Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee	Chila
	Doctors	Mina Patel
2005	Waking the Dead	Mary Sharman
2008	Doctor Who	Solana Mercurio	Episode: "Planet of the Ood"
2008"2009	Coronation Street	Tara Mandal
2010	The Indian Doctor	Kamini Sharma

Theatre

2009 'Arabian Nights' Shahrazad Dir: Dominic Cooke Royal Shakespeare Company

2010 'Disconnect' Vidya Dir: Indhu Rubasingham Royal Court

'Bombay Dreams' Rani (Original Cast) Dir: Stephen Pimlott Broadway Theatre (New York) Apollo Theatre (West End, London)

'The Ramayana' Sita Dir: Indhu Rubasingham Royal National Theatre Birmingham Rep

'Dr. Faustus' Mephastophilis Dir: David Fielding Bristol Old Vic