Archie Panjabi

Archie Panjabi has been happily married since 1998. Her husband is tailor Rajesh Nihalani and their bond seems to be quite strong.

There was a rumored feud between Archie Panjabi and ‘The Good Wife’ actress Julianna Margulies. Archie left the show after the 6th season, shooting the season finale with a goodbye scene with Julianna. According to some sources, the two actresses shot separately for the scene which was edited afterwards.

Archie Panjabi was born on 31st May 1972 in Edgware, Middlesex, England to Govind Panjabi and Padma Panjabi, Sindhi emigrants from India. Her family has roots in Sindh which is in Pakistan now. Her birth name is Archana Panjabi.

She is trained in ballet dance form and wanted to become an actress from a young age. In 1996, she completed her graduation from Brunel University, England with a degree in management studies (BSc.). Later on, she was felicitated with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters.

Archie Panjabi started her acting career in television with the series ‘Siren Spirits’, playing Joyoti. She debuted in the hit comedy movie ‘East is East’ as Meenah Khan, a rebellious and tomboyish football fan. At the Cannes film festival, the movie received a 10-minute standing ovation and in 2000, won Best film at BAFTA.

In 2004, she played the lead role in the award winning movie ‘Yasmin’ which was written by Simon Beaufoy, an Oscar winning writer. She won ‘Shooting Star Award’ for this movie at the renowned Berlin International Film Festival in 2005. She received many awards for best actress for this movie including the one she was awarded at the Reims Festival in 2006.

In 2006, she played a mischievous, witty and savvy assistant named Gemma in ‘A Good Year’, a romantic comedy directed by Ridley Scott based on Peter Mayle’s novel.

In 2007, she appeared in the movie ‘A Mighty Heart’ along with Angelina Jolie playing the role of reporter Asra Nomani. The movie was based on the true story of the Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl.

In the British animation series, ‘Postman Pat’, she played several voice roles from 2004-06 and also voiced the characters in the video game series ‘Dead Space: Extraction’. In February 2008, she appeared on the ‘BBC Four World Cinema Award Show’ and acted as an MI5 agent in the French movie ‘Espion(s)’ in 2009.

Archie Panjabi worked in the international blockbuster movie ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ in 2002 which was nominated for Golden Globe and BAFTA awards. She received a ‘BBC Mega Mela’ for her amazing performance in the movie.

From 2009-15, she played the famous role of Kalinda Sharma as the lead in the TV show ‘The Good Wife’. She acted in the British comedy movie ‘The Infidel’ as Saamiya Nasir in 2010 and as pathologist Tanya Reed Smith in the BBC Two drama ‘The Fall’ in 2012.