Lisa Ray

In 2020, Ray will be seen in the musical 99 songs, written and produced by A. R. Rahman. She is also slated to reappear in season 2 of Amazon Prime Video web series Four More Shots Please!

In 2020, Ray will be seen in A R Rahman’s upcoming musical 99 songs.

In May 2019, Ray’s first book, the memoir Close To The Bone, was published by Harper-Collins India. In October 2019, Ray signed up to write three more books with her publisher Harper-Collins.

Ray’s modelling career began when she was "discovered" during a family vacation in India while still in her teens. An advertisement for Bombay Dyeing where she appeared in a black swimsuit opposite Karan Kapoor earned Ray her first taste of public attention. A subsequent meeting with Maureen Wadia, editor of Indian fashion magazine Gladrags, resulted in an iconic swimsuit cover that catapulted Ray to nationwide fame in India. “Most of my most fulfilling professional moments came to me via serendipity,” Ray later wrote.

By the time the Gladrags cover broke, Ray was already back in Toronto ready to begin university. Her plans were thwarted after a tragic auto accident that would consign her mother to a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Ray returned to India and went on to become one of the country’s first supermodels, and the face of Lakmé and Bombay Dyeing. Ray would later acknowledge this coinciding of professional triumph and personal tragedy as a recurring theme in her life. “I have come to recognise that every major turning point in my life is preceded by pain,” she wrote in Femina in 2016.

As one of India’s most successful cover models, Ray would subsequently lend her face to iconic global brands such as L’Oréal, MasterCard, De Beers and Rado. A Times of India poll named her the "ninth most beautiful woman of the millennium," the only model in the top ten. She co-anchored the TV show Star Biz on Star Movies and appeared in a music video for Afreen Afreen, an iconic ghazal written by renowned lyricist Javed Akhtar, and composed and performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

In the same year, Ray appeared in Craig Goodwill’s award winning fantasy drama short Patch Town, and a season 4 episode of Canadian Television period crime drama series Murdoch Mysteries, titled The Black Hand.

The blog received media attention early on, with Livemint describing Ray’s writing as “Partly sardonic, partly heartbreaking.” An India Today cover story called it “Poignant, often heart-wrenching and always full of optimism and courage, the daily chronicling of her journey into the unknown.”

In May 2019, Ray’s completed memoir, titled Close To The Bone, a wry reference to the bone marrow disorder that proved a profound turning point in her life, was published by HarperCollins, to positive reviews. Actress Freida Pinto called it a“thrilling journey inwards as much as outwards.” ”Beautiful prose which is accessible, honest, often ironic and heartbreaking all at the same time,” wrote filmmaker Deepa Mehta. The Tribune described it as “Funny, charming, and gut-wrenchingly honest, all at once, Close to the Bone is Lisa Ray's brave and inspiring story of a life lived on her terms.” In an interview with the author, The Hindu Business Line felt the book was “as much a memoir as it is a travelogue, almost a geographical account of health and healing.” In Ray’s own words, “My journeys — both the inner and outer — have taken on a quality of questing. Embedded in them is an effort to reveal, unmask, celebrate, terrify and connect…”

In October 2019, HarperCollins India announced the acquisition of three books by Ray. These include a work of non-fiction, a novel, and a collection of poems.

Ray went on to help raise funds for the establishment of the first research chair for multiple myeloma at Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto. She took part in Plan Canada’s Because I am a Girl campaign, a global movement that fights for the rights of girls around the world who face discrimination because of their gender and age. A part of the proceeds from her film, Cooking with Stella, went to the Los Angeles based Institute for Myeloma and Bone Cancer Research.

In September 2018, Ray announced that she and her husband became parents to twin daughters via surrogacy, in June 2018.

IN 2017, the highly regarded Indian online arts journal The Punch Magazine published a selection of her poems.

In 2016, Ray opened an Instagram account dedicated to poetry In March 2019, Ray participated as a panelist on the 2019 edition of Canada Reads where she advocated for David Chariandy's award winning second novel, Brother.

In 2016, Ray starred in Ram Gopal Varma’s Veerappan. She also played a crucial supporting role in 2017’s Dobaara, the official Bollywood adaptation of supernatural horror film Oculus.

In 2016, Ray made news when she started an Instagram account dedicated to her own poetry.

Ray continues to write regularly for leading Indian and global publications such as Vogue India, Femina, Elle (India), and Harper’s Bazaar India. On January 16, 2015, Ray started her own column in the Indian daily Daily News and Analysis.

In 2015, Ray partnered with Canadian Health and Wellness brand Greeniche, a natural healthcare product brand with pure vegetarian formulas, managed by healthcare professionals.

Ray joined the Beauty Gives Back campaign, which launched in Canada in 2015. The campaign addresses the cancer blues- the emotional fallout from cancer and its treatment. While launching the campaign Ray commented, "The beauty gives back campaign helps and motivates women to overcome the shackles of cancer and the process of its treatment. It seeks to give them their lost confidence back so that they continue their fight against the deadly disease with a new belief and dignity. It was an absolute honor to be the part of such a worthy cause which works towards giving face value to the emotional fallout from cancer."

Alongside, she continued working on her withdrawn manuscript, using the ongoing events of her life – including a cancer relapse, remission, marriage and the birth of her children – as a lens to revisit her earlier life.

In 2012, Ray began hosting season two of Top Chef Canada, Food Network Canada's highest rated series. The season premiered in March 2012.

Speaking to The Telegraph in 2012, Ray remarked, ”I think every film that I’ve done so far has been a turning point because I experimented with each one and grew professionally. The movies I chose, dealt with a lot of thought-provoking subjects.

In September 2012, Ray was named ambassador for Pantene Beautiful Lengths in Canada, a charity campaign that asks people to grow and donate their hair to make real-hair wigs for women battling cancer.

In 2012, Ray initiated an effort to fund the Indian Innovation Research Centre (IIRC). The IIRC is a non-profit cancer research body that began with the 'Living With Cancer' program that was initiated by Ray the same year. Their mandate is to promote convergence of fundamental as well as translational cancer in India, it played an instrumental role in helping Lisa fight Multiple Myeloma and overcome a trying phase of her life.

In February 2012, Ray announced her engagement to management consultant Jason Dehni. On 20 October 2012, Ray and Dehni (then a banking executive and philanthropist) were married in California's Napa Valley.

In 2011, Ray began hosting a popular travel show on Discovery Channel India alongside appearing as host and judge in Food Network's highest rated show, Top Chef Canada.

In 2011, Ray acted in the acclaimed stage play Taj, opposite Kabir Bedi at Luminato Festival, Toronto's International Festival of Arts and Ideas. Written by celebrated Canadian playwright John Murrell, Taj combined poetry, music, theatre, and the Indian classical dance form kathak. The production was described by The Globe and Mail critic Deirdre Kelly “as luminous and poignant as the building that inspired it.”

She presented the 2011 IIFA Awards in Toronto, and was a co-presenter the 2011 Giller Prize along with singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado and roots rock guitar legend Robbie Robertson.

Also in 2011, Ray appeared as host and travel guide on Oh My Gold, a five part series on Discovery Travel and Living, now TLC India.

Also in 2011, Ray became the face of jewellery brand Hillberg & Berk's 2011 campaign, with the brand donating $25 from the sale of each necklace to Multiple Myeloma Canada.

2010 saw Ray in UniGlobe Entertainment's cancer docu-drama titled 1 a Minute. The documentary was made by Namrata Singh Gujral and featured cancer survivors Olivia Newton-John, Diahann Carroll, Melissa Etheridge, Mumtaz, Bárbara Mori and Jaclyn Smith, as well as William Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin, and Priya Dutt, whose lives have been touched by cancer. The feature was narrated by Kelly McGillis.

On 5 July 2010, Ray hosted an informal lunch for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip during their visit to Toronto.

In 2010, Ray was declared cancer-free after a stem cell transplant and she was approached by HarperCollins to write a memoir. Ray began writing it in late 2010, but after submitting the manuscript, had an “instinctive reaction” which made her withdraw it and return to the drawing board. “… this was not the book I wanted to write,” Ray said in a 2019 interview.

In 2010, Ray attended the Estee Lauder Breast Cancer event to spread awareness about breast cancer. As a long-time yoga practitioner, Ray partnered with co-owners Paris and Annette, in 2011, to open Moksha Yoga Brampton.

In 2009, Ray was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable form of blood cancer. She began writing The Yellow Diaries, a blog about her experiences in living with cancer. Her writing and columns have since regularly appeared in multiple major publications. Ray remains an active advocate of stem-cell therapy and has participated in several successful fundraisers and cancer awareness campaigns.

Appearing at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival in support of the film, Ray revealed that she had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

On Christmas in 2009, Ray received a stem cell transplant to treat her rare cancer. In April 2010, she announced she was cancer-free due to the transplant. She gave a candid interview on her personal cancer trauma and surviving it, appearing on the cover of the 2010 anniversary issue of the Indian men's luxury magazine The Man.

After her multiple myeloma diagnosis in 2009, Ray began The Yellow Diaries, a chronicle of her days with cancer. Right from the first entry on September 6, 2009, her writing struck a chord with readers, receiving more than 2000 comments in the first two weeks alone. Most of them were from fans she had never met, offering support and encouragement. Ray told CTV News she was “a little stunned” from the overwhelming response. "I'm putting a lot of energy into it because there's this community and support system out there, and this strange and wonderful phenomenon of people sharing and being really open," Ray told Canada AM in 2009.

On 23 June 2009, Ray was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white blood cells known as plasma cells, which produce antibodies. It is a rare disease. In April 2010, she announced that she was cancer-free, after a stem cell transplant. As multiple myeloma is an incurable disease, Ray is not completely cured of the disease.

Realising that acting was something that she wanted to pursue more seriously, Ray moved to London to concentrate on a career in the performing arts. While there, Ray studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama, the London Centre for Theatre Studies, the Desmond Jones school of Physical Theatre, and BADA. She graduated from the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA), in 2004, with a post-graduate degree in acting. While studying, Ray made a conscious effort to not accept any film offers until she had graduated. However, while still at ALRA, she received another call from Deepa Mehta, who made her an offer she simply could not refuse—the lead role of Kalyani in Mehta's much-anticipated, and eventually highly controversial, feature, Water. In the film, Lisa spoke her lines in Hindi, although her voice was dubbed in the final cut. Water released in 2005 to both national and global critical acclaim, with the venerable Roger Ebert describing it as “lovely in the way Satyajit Ray's films are lovely,”

After graduation, Ray based herself out of Milan, Paris, and New York from 2004–2008, returning to Toronto upon her mother's death in late 2008. In 2007, Ray completed filming for Kill Kill Faster Faster, which is a contemporary film noir inspired by the critically acclaimed novel of the same name, by Joel Rose. She guest-starred in a 2009 episode of the USA Network series Psych, and appeared in Woody Harrelson starrer Canadian-American superhero film Defendor. Also in 2009, she starred in the Deepa and Dilip Mehta comedy Cooking with Stella.

After turning down a number of roles, Ray made her Indian Film Industry debut in 2001 with the Hindi film Kasoor, opposite Aftab Shivdasani, in which her voice was dubbed by Divya Dutta, because she could not speak Hindi. In spite of that, her performance received positive reviews. Her work in the film also caught the eye of Deepa Mehta, who cast her in the romantic Indian-Canadian romp Bollywood/Hollywood in 2002.

Lisa Rani Ray (born 4 April 1972) is an Indian Canadian actor, author, columnist, model, performer, philanthropist, social activist, television and theater personality. Ray begun her modelling career in the early 1990s, appearing for leading Indian brands like Bombay Dyeing and Lakmé. Alongside, she made her acting debut in 1996 in the Tamil film Nethaji. Her first Bollywood appearance was in 2001, in the offbeat romantic thriller Kasoor. Through her acting career, Ray has demonstrated a penchant for issue-oriented portrayals, most notably in the 2005 Oscar nominated Canadian film Water and the award-winning South African feature The World Unseen, described by a reviewer as "one of the best-conceived queer films of the past year."

Ray has since worked in productions from Canada, Europe, and the United States. Past roles include a farm girl in All Hat, a school teacher in A Stone's Throw, and a housewife in 1950s-apartheid South Africa in The World Unseen. In 2008 Ray starred, alongside Sheetal Sheth and Amber Rose Revah, in the Shamim Sarif directed British romantic comedy I Can't Think Straight that went on to win awards in queer film festivals worldwide, including Dallas OUT TAKES, Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film festival.