Archie Panjabi

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Archie Panjabi, birth name Archana Kaur Panjabi, born 1973 in West London, England is a British actress of Panjabi descent. She is a Sikh. She is sometimes incorrectly credited using the name Archie Panabi. In order to avoid confusion, she chose to be billed using her nickname, Archie, when she started working as an actress--a choice she humorously regretted a few times in her early career when some directors were expecting to audition a man.

In a film scheduled to be released in 2007, Panjabi is appearing with Angelina Jolie in the movie adaptation of "A Mighty Heart," a book by Wall Street Journal Daniel Pearl's widow Mariane Pearl. In filming that started in October 2006 in Pune, India, she is playing the role of former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Q. Nomani. Nomani is an American Muslim of Indian descent whose house Daniel Pearl's family was staying at when he left for the interview from which he was kidnapped. Nomani played a key role in the search to find her friend and colleague.

Panjabi plays a snarky administrative aide, "Gemma," to Russell Crowe's character in the November 2006 release, A Good Year.

Panjabi made her entree into Hollywood in 2005 as a British diplomat, Ghita Pearson, helpful to Ralph Fiennes's character in the Oscar-winning The Constant Gardener as he searches for answers to the murder of his wife, played by Rachel Weisz.

In 2004, Panjabi starred as the title character, a young British Muslim woman, in the much discussed film Yasmin, about racism in post-9/11 England.

Panjabi appeared as a regular in the first series of BBC One's paranormal drama Sea of Souls. She has also appeared as "Sam Tyler's" girlfriend in the second series of the BBC One serial "Life on Mars." However, she is probably most recognisable to international audiences as 'Pinky Bhamra', playing sister to Parminder Nagra in Bend It Like Beckham (2002).

Panjabi graduated from Brunel University in West London, with a degree in Management Studies in 1996.

The leading role which launched her acting career was in the British comedy, East is East.