Ayesha Takia-Azmi (born on 10 April 1986) is an Indian actress who mainly appears 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 most recent commercial successful was the 2009 film Wanted (2009). Takia was born in Mumbai to a Gujarati Hindu father, Nishit, and an Anglo-Indian Muslim mother, Faridah. Her mother is half British and half Maharashtrian. She has a younger sister named Natasha who is three years younger than her.Takia attended St. Anthony’s High School, but never went to college because she started to work when she turned sixteen.
Takia began her career as a model appearing in the famous I am a Complan Boy! I’m a Complan Girl! campaign alongside Shahid Kapoor and also in Falguni Pathak's "Meri Chunar Udd Udd Jaye" music video when she was fifteen. When she was 18,she appeared in the music video Shake It Daddy, 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 Taarzan: The Wonder Car.
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 Dor, 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 Filmfare Best Actress Award (Telugu). Her most recent hit was in Prabhu Deva's Wanted (2009 film) co-starring Salman Khan, which emerged as the one of the biggest blockbusters of 2009. The film was third highest grossing movie of the year and her role met with positive reviews.
In 2011, she starred in Mod which met with good response. As on 2012, Ayesha hosted the most awaited musical-reality show called Sur Kshetra.
