Ayesha Takia

Takia began her career as a model when she was 15, appearing in the "I am a Complan Boy! I’m a Complan Girl!" campaign along with Shahid Kapoor and also in Falguni Pathak's "Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye" music video. Later she appeared in the music video Shake It Daddy Remix of song Nahin Nahin Abhi Nahin along with actor Keith Sequeira, both the songs were directed by Vinay Sapru and Radhika Rao. Which brought her to the attention of Bollywood, and a few film offers followed. She signed a contract to appear in Socha Na Tha, then for Taarzan: The Wonder Car. However, delays making Socha Na Tha meant that Taarzan was released first and was therefore her "debut" film. She won the Filmfare Best Debut Award in 2004 for her performance in the film.

Takia is very active on social media, especially Twitter and has been a supporter for wildlife protection. In April 2014, Ayesha denounced her father-in-law, the Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi, for saying that rape victims should also be punished. In a public statement, she stated she is a vegan while posing for a vegan ad for PETA India.

In 2011, she starred in Mod, which met with a good response. In 2012, she hosted the only season of musical-reality show Sur Kshetra.

Ayesha Takia was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India to a Hindu father and Muslim mother, having the ethnicity of Gujarati. She is an alumnus of St Anthony's Girls High School, Chembur. She married restaurateur Farhan Azmi, son of Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi, on 1 March 2009. She has a son with her husband Farhan Azmi.

Takia has appeared in a number of films that did poorly at the box office. However, she has been highly praised for her work in the 2006 Dor, a smaller budget film in which she plays the role of a young widowed Rajasthani woman living in a traditional joint family. She went on to win several awards for her performance in the film, including the Zee Cine Critics Award for Best Actress.

Apart from Bollywood, Takia has also appeared in the 2005 Telugu film Super, with Tollywood star Akkineni Nagarjuna, for which she was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Telugu. Her most recent hit was Prabhu Deva's Wanted, co-starring Salman Khan, which emerged as one of the biggest blockbusters of 2009. The film was the third-highest-grossing movie of the year and her role met with positive reviews.

Ayesha Takia (born 10 April 1986) is an Indian film actress who appeared in Bollywood films. She made her film debut in Taarzan: The Wonder Car for which she won the Filmfare Best Debut Award in 2004. Her notable films also include Socha Na Tha (2005), Dor (2006), for which she won the Screen Award for Best Actress (Critics), and Wanted (2009).