Background
Ayesha Dharker was born in Mumbai, India, the daughter of Imtiaz Dharker, a noted poet, artist and documentary film-maker, and Anil Dharker, a columnist and an ex-editor of Debonair. Her father is from India and her mother, born in Lahore, was brought up in Scotland, United Kingdom.
Career
She has also appeared in Hollywood films such as Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Outsourced and The Mistress of Spices, television series such as Arabian Nights, the West End and Broadway musical Bombay Dreams. Dharker made her screen debut in the 1989 François Villiers film Manika: Une vie plus tard. Dharker subsequently went on to star in many American, French and Indian films.
She has had many television roles in the United Kingdom, particularly in Cutting lieutenant and Life Isn"t All Ha Ha Hee Hee, in which she co-starred with Meera Syal.
Her most internationally recognised role came in 2002 when she played Queen Jamillia, the Queen of Naboo, in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Dharker starred in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Bombay Dreams, both in London"s West End and on Broadway (2004).
She also starred in The Mistress of Spices (2005). In 2006, she played the role of Asha in the film Outsourced.
In 2008, she played the role of Tara Mandal in the British soap opera Coronation Street.
In 2010, she played doctor"s wife Kamini Sharma opposite Sanjeev Bhaskar in the British Broadcasting Corporation"s comedy drama series The Indian Doctor.
Membership
She is currently a recurring cast member of the British Broadcasting Corporation Asian Network radio serial Silver Street, playing the role of "Ambika". She has also appeared in the episode "Planet of the Ood" of the long-running British Broadcasting Corporation sci-fi television series, Doctor Who as Solana Mercurio.