Anusha Dandekar

Dandekar was born in Sudan on 9 January 1982 into a Marathi family of Shashidhar and Sulabha Dandekar, originally from Pune, India. She and her sisters, actress and model Shibani Dandekar and Apeksha Dandekar grew up in Kingsgrove, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.

 

In 2002, at the age of 19, Dandekar moved to Mumbai, Maharashtra to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. She was cast as an anchor in MTV's House of Style. She later hosted MTV Dance Crew, MTV Teen Diva, MTV News and MTV Love School for the network.

In 2008, she won Best VJ at the Cosmopolitan Fun Fearless Female Awards. As of 2014, Dandekar is a judge on India's Next Top Model alongside model-actress Lisa Haydon.

In 2003, Dandekar made her acting debut in Bollywood with Mumbai Matinee and went on to do Viruddh in 2005, alongside Bollywood veterans Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Sharmila Tagore and John Abraham. Her performance in the film won her the Best Debut Award at the Maharashtra Times Awards in 2006. She then went on to star in the musical Miss Bollywood. Later in 2006, she starred in Anthony Kaun Hai? alongside Arshad Warsi and Sanjay Dutt. In 2012, she made her Marathi film debut with her role in Jai Jai Maharashtra Majha.

In 2012, Dandekar made her music debut with single Better Than Your Ex. The song, in the English language, was released in June.

A fashion icon, Dandekar has also graced the covers of Cosmopolitan, Elle and Seventeen. She has also endorsed the brands Reebok, Toni & Guy, Crocs and Lee Jeans.

In 2017 she became a mentor on a show India's Next Top Model, which is aired on MTV India.

Special appearances