Shivani Ghai

Shivaani Ghai (born 25 April 1975) is an English actress.

Shivani Ghai
Born (1975-04-25) 25 April 1975[1]
Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England
NationalityBritish
OccupationActress
Known forEastEnders (Ayesha Rana)

Early life

Shivaani was born in Newcastle upon Tyne (born 25 April 1975). She grew up in Gosforth and attended Gosforth High School. Later, she went to University, where she gained a BA in film and television studies.[2]

Career

Shivaani started her acting career in theatre in London, working for companies such as Man Mela, Rifco and Kali.[3][4] She moved on to television with minor parts in shows such as Doctors, Spooks and The Bill.[2]

In 2003 she was cast as the guest lead in an American adventure series Adventure Inc. alongside Michael Biehn. Later the same year Gurinder Chadha picked Ghai out at a script reading and cast her as the bride and best friend of Ashwarya Rai in Bride and Prejudice.[2][1] After this, Ghai appeared in BBC shows such as My Hero and Sinchronicity, short films, theatre and commercials. In 2006 she was cast as Sarita Dhavi in Rai Uno's Medico in Famiglia,[1] the popular Italian television programme, when an Indian family was added to the show. She played Sarita Dahvi, which was originally to be cast to an Italian actress of Indian descent, but one could not be found. Ghai could not speak Italian but learnt some scenes for her audition. She became part of the first Indian family on Italian television.[5] After this, Ghai travelled to Tunisia to work on the HBO/BBC co-production House of Saddam, where she played Saddam Hussein's middle daughter Rana. The miniseries aired in September 2008.[2][5]

In 2009, Ghai filmed a guest lead as Jamilla Sagar, in a series called Identity, starring Aidan Gillen and Keeley Hawes.[1] She filmed a five-part drama called Five Days II (sequel to Bafta and Golden globe nominated Five Days). She played Nusrat Preston, a character described as being "at the heart of the serial".[6] She was also noted in the press for standing out amongst an ensemble cast that included Suranne Jones, Anne Reid, David Morrissey, Bernard Hill, and Steve Evets.[7][8][9] She played the part of Rena in the film Cleanskin, which starred Sean Bean and Charlotte Rampling. The film was released in 2012.[1]

In 2012, Ghai appeared in EastEnders playing Ayesha Rana, a friend of Zainab Masood.[10] She first appeared on 17 December 2012. She departed from the show on 1 March 2013.[11]

In 2013, she appeared in Ambassadors as Natalia, the head of public relations. She also played the role of Batya in the History Channel's The Bible.

She was part of the main cast of the apocalyptic series Dominion. In 2016, Shivani Ghai appeared in ABC's The Catch as Felicity.

In 2019, she appeared in Strike Back: Revolution as a very wealthy Hindu entrepreneur and one of the main villains of the series.

In 2021, she landed a recurring role on Batwoman as the big bad of season two, Safiyah Sohail.

Personal life

She was married to the late British Asian playwright Parv Bancil.[12] In 2014, she met the South African actor Ty Keogh on the set of Dominion. They married two years later.[13]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Day of the Sirens Amanda Barnes
2004 Bride & Prejudice Bride
2005 Red Mercury Secretary
2005 Goal! The Dream Begins Ground Attendant
2007 Road Jeet Short
2010 The Bounty Hunter Nazia
2010 Rojin Rojin Short
2011 Everywhere and Nowhere Sairah Khan
2011 Spirit Sara Short
2012 Cleanskin Rena
2013 Fireflies Sharmila
2016 London Life Paro
2016 London Has Fallen Amal Mansoor

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2001 Doctors Joythi 1 Episode
2002 The Bill Young Asian Woman 1 Episode
2003 Adventure Inc Zeyar 1 Episode
2005 My Hero Mother Group Attendee with Baby 1 Episode
2005 The Camping Trip Meera Television Short Movie
2006 Sinchronicity Shazney 2 Episodes
2007 Un medico in famiglia Sarita 26 Episodes
2007 Domenica in Herself 1 Episode
2008 House of Saddam Rana Hussein Mini Series: 2 Episodes
2010 Five Days Nusrat Preston Mini Series: 5 Episodes
2010 Identity Jamilla Atwal 1 Episode
2012–13 EastEnders Ayesha Rana 25 Episodes
2013 The Bible Batya Mini Documentary Series: 1 Episode
2013 Ambassadors Natalia Mini Series: 3 Episodes
2014–15 Dominion Arika 19 Episodes
2016–17 The Catch Felicity 7 Episodes
2019 Strike Back: Revolution Anjali Vartak 2 Episodes
2020 Around the World in 80 Days (2021 series) Aouda Recurring role
2021 Batwoman Safiyah Sohail Recurring role

References
  1. Shivani Ghai at IMDb
  2. Sonia Sharma (21 December 2012). "Top Eastenders role for Tyneside actress Shivani Ghai". Evening Chronicle. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  3. "Dec2000Tehelka".
  4. Lewis, Barbara (6 May 2005). "Bells". Archived from the original on 11 June 2011.
  5. "Interview: Shivani Ghai – on the first Indian family on Italian TV and Saddam Hussein's daughter". Asians In Media. 28 July 2008. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010.
  6. "BBC – Press Office – Five Days 2 press pack: Character synopsis".
  7. Watson, Keith (2 March 2010). "Five Days is a crime drama worth the week-long commitment". Archived from the original on 12 September 2017.
  8. Viner, Brian (2 March 2010). "Last Night's Television – Why Did You Kill My Dad? BBC2; Five Days, BBC1". The Independent. London.
  9. "It should have been the film for our generation – what went wrong with the Circle?". 20 November 2017.
  10. Nickie (16 November 2012). "New face on the Square: Ayesha Rana". EastEnders. BBC. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
  11. Director: Michael Owen Morris; Executive Producer: Lorraine Newman; Writer: Kim Revill (17 December 2012). "Episode dated 17/12/2012". EastEnders. BBC. BBC One.
  12. Vasani, Anisha (5 December 2012). "Ghai Life". Asiana.tv. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017.
  13. "Ty Keogh is married! See the gorgeous photos". 9 December 2016.
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