Bindya Solanki (born 24 May 1974) is a British actress.

Biography

Solanki comes from

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

, the seaside town in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. Her parents are of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

i descent and emigrated to England in the 1960s. She attended

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

and graduated in 1995 with a BA (hons) degree in drama. She made her television debut in the ITV children's programme ''

My Parents Are Aliens ''My Parents Are Aliens'' is a British children's television sitcom that was produced for eight series by ITV Yorkshire, Yorkshire Television and aired on ITV (TV network), ITV from 8 November 1999 to 18 December 2006. Overview The show primar ...

'' in 1999, playing a teacher. She went on to have roles in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

drama '' Sweet Revenge'' and she also played Nima Shah in

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

's '' Dream Team'' in 2001. She is best known for playing the role of Nita Mistry in the popular BBC soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' (2001–2003, 2019). Solanki's character was introduced as a love interest to Dean Gaffney's character, Robbie Jackson. She remained in the role for two years, but was axed along with Gaffney in 2003. In a press report executive-producer

Louise Berridge Louise Berridge is a British historical fiction writer. She was previously a television producer and script editor, her most famous post being the executive producer of BBC's ''EastEnders'' between 2002 and 2004. During her tenure, the long-run ...

commented "Dean and Bindya have contributed an enormous amount to the programme... However, we feel that the characters have reached the end of their natural course in the show, and they will both be leaving in Spring 2003... It is always sad to be saying goodbye to a good double act, so we will be leaving the door open for both characters". Nita made a return for one episode in 2019. Solanki has also appeared in many stage productions including playing Juliet in ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' at the English Shakespeare Company. In 2004 she played Pramila in RIFCO Arts ''The Deranged Marriage'' and in 2006 she played Frehia in ''Mercy Fine''. In 2005, she guest starred in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

Sixth Doctor The Sixth Doctor is an incarnation of The Doctor (Doctor Who), the Doctor, the protagonist of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Colin Baker. Although his televisual t ...

audio drama '' The Juggernauts'', returning to Doctor Who audios again in 2009 in the

Seventh Doctor The Seventh Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He is portrayed by Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy. Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-o ...

audio drama '' Enemy of the Daleks''. Solanki appeared in BBC Asian Network's ''Silver Street'', playing the character Mindy. From 2012 onwards, Solanki took a step back from acting has worked in new business development for London-based companies. She continues to carry out voice over work for radio and volunteers as an Ambassador at Diversity Role Models.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1974 births English soap opera actresses English television actresses Alumni of Brunel University London Living people British people of Indian descent 21st-century British actresses English people of Gujarati descent Actresses from Southend-on-Sea {{UK-tv-actor-1970s-stub