Sanjeeda Sheikh

Sanjeeda Sheikh was born on December 20, 1984, into a Muslim family living in Kuwait. She has a brother named Anas Abdul, whose wife later accused him (along with other members of the Sheikh family) of domestic violence and abuse.

She initially wanted to pursue a career in dance, working as a choreographer and moving to Mumbai to start a dance studio with a friend.

Sheikh moved to acting from dance early in her career and made her film debut in the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer family drama, ‘Baghban’ in 2003. Two years later, she acted in the Tamil film, ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ (2005).

In 2006, she made her television debut in the Bajaj Telefilm comedy, ‘Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka,’ where she played the role of ‘Nimmo.’ This role established Sheikh’s comedic screen presence. The character also incorporated elements of drama and romance alongside comedy.

In 2007, she played the antagonist in the Star Plus series ‘Kayamath.’ Her role as a prototypical vamp gained much acclaim and the series grew very popular, eventually becoming one of Star Plus’ top ten shows of all time.

In the same year, Sheikh ventured back into dance with her partner, Aamir Ali. The couple participated together in ‘Nach Baliye 3’, a dance reality show that pits celebrity couples against each other. Despite stiff opposition from noted Indian reality TV personality, Rakhi Sawant, and her then-partner, Abhishek Awasthi, Sheikh and Ali won the competition.

After ‘Nach Baliye,’ the partners continued to work together, starring together next in the 9X series ‘Kya Dill Mein Hain,’ where they played each other’s love-interest.