| Preeti Desai | |
|---|---|
| Born | Preeti Desai 29 September 1985 Middlesbrough, England |
| Occupation | Actress, Model |
| Years active | 2008-present |
| Partner | Abhay Deol |
Preeti Desai (Gujarati: પ્રીતિ દેસાઇ; born 29 September 1985) is a Indian Actress who was Miss Great Britain 2006. A British Indian, she made history by becoming the first British woman of Indian origin to ever win the title.[1]
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Preeti Desai was born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire England.[2] The daughter of Jitendra and Hemlata who have a pyrotechnics company called G2 Fireworks. She has a younger sister Anjlee who is a singer/songwriter. She attended St Augustine Roman Catholic primary school in Coulby Newham, then Nunthorpe Secondary School. After leaving school she did a three-year course in hair and beauty therapy at Middlesbrough College. After graduating as a fully qualified beauty therapist, Desai worked in and managed a salon for a number of years.
Following the dismissal of the original winner Danielle Lloyd over allegations of impropriety, Desai, who had originally placed fifth in the Miss Great Britain competition was voted the winner by the country.[3] was elected Miss Great Britain 2006 by the British public in a poll of readers of The Sun newspaper,[4] and moved to London. During the time she had the title Miss Great Britain she used her popularity to help charity organisations like Carers Week.[5] and Mind.
After Desai passed on the Miss Great Britain title to Gemma Garrett in May 2007, she went on to be a professional fashion model, and walked for fashion weeks, couture weeks and top designers. She has been on the covers of Cosmopolitan, L’Officiel, Grazia, and G2.
Desai was on both the cover and as February and September model in the Kingfisher Swimsuit Special Calendar 2008, and was also invited by Vijay Mallya as ambassador of Kingfisher to the Formula 1 world tour in 2008.[6] She has done television commercials and print ads for brands like Cadbury plc, LG Corp., Hero Honda, Citibank and Nokia.[7]
In October 2009 she was announced as the new face of the retail apparel company Provogue, along with Indian actor Hrithik Roshan. She shoots with Italian designer Leonardo Ferragamo of Salvatore Ferragamo Italia S.p.A. for L'Officiel magazine, and she walked for fashion designer Christopher Kane in Fashion Week March 2010.
Desai made her film debut in a feature film Shor in the City which released on April 2011. It is directed by Raj Nidimoru and DK Krishna, and is produced by Balaji Films Ekta Kappor.[8][9] Desai plays the role of the female protagonist Sharmili, opposite Indian-American actor Sendhil Ramamurthy.[10] The film is a thriller drama, set in contemporary Mumbai, with three separate but interrelated storylines, of which one is in English and two in Hindi.
Shor in the City was officially selected for the Pusan International Film Festival and the Dubai International Film Festival in 2010. The film won the Best Director Award at MIAAC in New York.[11]
Desai is in a romantic relationship with actor Abhay Deol.[12]
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | "Shor in the City" | Shalmili | won the Best Director Award at MIAAC in New York |
| 2012 | "Rock The Shaadi" | Jeevan | Filmimg |
|title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.bollywoodmantra.com/picture/preeti-desai-september-kingfisher-calendar-2008-1/.|title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujzbidRVVFU.| Honorary titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Danielle Lloyd |
Preeti Desai Miss Great Britain 2006 |
Succeeded by Gemma Garrett |