Padma Lakshmi
Encyclopedia
Padma Parvati Lakshmi also Padma, Lady Rushdie is an American
cookbook
author
, actress, model
and television host. She has been the host of the US reality television
program Top Chef
since season two
in 2006, for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
. In 2010, Top Chef won the Emmy Award
for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program.
, Tamil Nadu
, India
in an Iyengar brahmin
family. Her father was a Pfizer
executive and her mother Vijaya, the first wife of her father, was a nurse who specialized in suicide prevention. Her mother tongue is Tamil
. She grew up shuttling between her grandparents in Chennai
and her mother in New York
. She is her parents' only child from this marriage. Her parents separated when she was one and divorced a year later. Both parents later remarried, and Lakshmi has a younger paternal half-brother and half-sister. The latter formerly worked as an actress and classical dancer but is now pursuing a career with children with special needs. In an interview in The Guardian
, Lakshmi said, "My father had quit his job as an executive at Pfizer to manage her career. That was kind of like rubbing salt in the wound. I didn't understand why he wanted that relationship with her, and not with me."
In 1984, when she was 14 years old, Padma was in a car accident in Malibu, causing an injury to her right arm that required surgery, which left a 7-inch scar between her elbow and shoulder. The incident happened on a Sunday afternoon as Padma was being driven home from a Hindu
temple in Malibu. She remembers a flash of orange, looking over to see the large car upon her. Padma describes the event in the April 2001 edition of Vogue, saying, "Being in a car crash was like an exhilarating hallucination, an unbelievable moment that oddly remains one of the most beautiful images in my memory." The car left Padma with injuries that included a fractured right hip and a shattered upper right arm.
in Worcester, Massachusetts
, USA, where she received a B.A.
with honors in Theatre Arts
.
She speaks English
, Tamil
, Hindi, Italian
and Spanish
.
, Spain
while sitting in a café. As she has stated, "I was the first Indian model to have a career in Paris, Milan and New York. I'm the first one to admit that I was a novelty." Lakshmi managed to pay off her college loans while working as a model and actress.
She has modeled for top designers such as Emanuel Ungaro
, Ralph Lauren
, and Alberta Ferretti
and appeared in ad campaigns for Roberto Cavalli
and Versus
. She was a favorite model of the photographer Helmut Newton
, whose photographs of her often highlighted the large scar on her right arm.
Lakshmi appeared on the covers of RedBook, Vogue India,FHM, Cosmopolitan
, L'Officiel India, Asian Woman, Avenue, Industry Magazine, Marie Claire
(India Edition), Harper's Bazaar
, Town & Country
, and Newsweek
. Lakshmi also posed nude for the May 2009 issue of Allure
magazine.
. She was host of the Food Network
series, Padma's Passport, which was part of the larger series Melting Pot, in 2001. She also hosted two one-hour specials on South India
and Spain for the British culinary tourism show Planet Food, broadcast on the Food Network in the U.S. and internationally on the Discovery Channel
s. Her second cookbook, Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet, was released October 2, 2007.
with Mariah Carey
. She starred with Amitabh Bachchan
and Jackie Shroff
in the 2003 Hindi action film Boom
as Shiela Bardez, one of a trio of super models accused of stealing diamonds. She played the role of Geeta in Paul Mayeda Berges
' 2005 film The Mistress of Spices
.
Lakshmi served as hostess of Domenica In, Italy
's top-rated television show in 1997. She made a 2002 guest appearance as alien princess Kaitaama in "Precious Cargo", the 37th episode of the science fiction TV series Star Trek: Enterprise
. Lakshmi portrayed Sean Bean
's nemesis Madhuvanthi in the 2004-2005 TV series Sharpe's Challenge
. In 2006, Lakshmi appeared in ABC's TV series The Ten Commandments with Dougray Scott
, Naveen Andrews
, and Omar Sharif
. She serves as lead host and judge on the television show Top Chef
, joining in 2006 during its second season
, and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award
for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program as co-host in 2007. Lakshmi was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in 2009 for Top Chef. The show won the Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2010.
Lakshmi has expressed a desire to work in Tamil films
in future, and stated she would love to meet Kamal Haasan
.
Lakshmi made a guest appearance on the show 30 Rock
in 2009.
video for the song "That Look You Give That Guy" playing the love interest of Mark Oliver Everett
.
, Lakshmi married the novelist Salman Rushdie, to whom she was introduced at a party in 1999 hosted by the journalist and editor Tina Brown
. On July 2, 2007, the couple filed for divorce. She is the model for one of the central characters — and love interests — in Rushdie's novel Fury
(a novel dedicated to her as well).
On October 1, 2009, after years of struggling with a gynaecological medical illness known as endometriosis
, a condition that causes pelvic pain and has been associated with infertility, Lakshmi confirmed that she was pregnant. Lakshmi also co-founded The Endometriosis Foundation of America, which is a nonprofit organization focused on increasing awareness, education, research, and legislative advocacy against the disease On February 20, 2010, Lakshmi gave birth to a baby girl named Krishna Thea Lakshmi. Although the father's identity was not initially given, it was later revealed to be Adam Dell
. In January 2011, Dell sued Lakshmi for full custody of their daughter.
Although professing little interest in fashion, Lakshmi has written articles on style for American Vogue magazine at Anna Wintour
's request, and writes her own column on style in Harper's Bazaar following a commission from editor Glenda Bailey
.
Lakshmi was brought up as a vegetarian and has admitted that because of this, she sometimes becomes "squeamish" when sampling other cultural delicacies. In 2009, she starred in a television advertisement
for the Carl's Jr.
restaurant chain eating a Western Bacon Cheeseburger and in her second cookbook Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet she credits the chain with bringing her away from vegetarianism during her teenage years.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cookbook
Cookbook
A cookbook is a kitchen reference that typically contains a collection of recipes. Modern versions may also include colorful illustrations and advice on purchasing quality ingredients or making substitutions...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, actress, model
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
and television host. She has been the host of the US reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
program Top Chef
Top Chef
Top Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants...
since season two
Top Chef (season 2)
Top Chef: Los Angeles is the second season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in Los Angeles, California, and concluded in Waikoloa Village, Hawaii. The season premiered on Bravo on October 18, 2006 and ended on January 31, 2007. Padma Lakshmi took over as host,...
in 2006, for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program was an award created in 2008. On July 27, 2008, it was announced that this category's 5 nominees would all co-host the 2008 Primetime Emmy Awards telecast.-2000s:2008: Survivor - Jeff Probst...
. In 2010, Top Chef won the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program.
Early life
Padma Lakshmi was born in ChennaiChennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
in an Iyengar brahmin
Iyengar
Iyengar or Ayyangar is a caste given to Hindu Brahmins of Tamil origin who follow the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Sri Ramanujacharya. They are found mostly in Tamil Nadu as they are generally native to the Tamil Nadu state of the Republic of India...
family. Her father was a Pfizer
Pfizer
Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation. The company is based in New York City, New York with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States...
executive and her mother Vijaya, the first wife of her father, was a nurse who specialized in suicide prevention. Her mother tongue is Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
. She grew up shuttling between her grandparents in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
and her mother in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. She is her parents' only child from this marriage. Her parents separated when she was one and divorced a year later. Both parents later remarried, and Lakshmi has a younger paternal half-brother and half-sister. The latter formerly worked as an actress and classical dancer but is now pursuing a career with children with special needs. In an interview in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, Lakshmi said, "My father had quit his job as an executive at Pfizer to manage her career. That was kind of like rubbing salt in the wound. I didn't understand why he wanted that relationship with her, and not with me."
In 1984, when she was 14 years old, Padma was in a car accident in Malibu, causing an injury to her right arm that required surgery, which left a 7-inch scar between her elbow and shoulder. The incident happened on a Sunday afternoon as Padma was being driven home from a Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
temple in Malibu. She remembers a flash of orange, looking over to see the large car upon her. Padma describes the event in the April 2001 edition of Vogue, saying, "Being in a car crash was like an exhilarating hallucination, an unbelievable moment that oddly remains one of the most beautiful images in my memory." The car left Padma with injuries that included a fractured right hip and a shattered upper right arm.
Education
Lakshmi went to Workman High School in the City of Industry, California. Lakshmi is a 1992 graduate of Clark UniversityClark University
Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...
in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
, USA, where she received a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
with honors in Theatre Arts
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
.
She speaks English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
, Hindi, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
.
Modeling
Lakshmi's career began at age 18, when during a study trip in her college years she was discovered by a modeling agent in MadridMadrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
while sitting in a café. As she has stated, "I was the first Indian model to have a career in Paris, Milan and New York. I'm the first one to admit that I was a novelty." Lakshmi managed to pay off her college loans while working as a model and actress.
She has modeled for top designers such as Emanuel Ungaro
Emanuel Ungaro
Emanuel Ungaro is a French fashion designer.-Early life:Ungaro's Italian father fled to France from Francavilla Fontana of Brindisi province because of the fascist uprising in Italy...
, Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren is an American fashion designer and business executive; best known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand.-Early life:...
, and Alberta Ferretti
Alberta Ferretti
Alberta Ferretti is an Italian fashion designer and dressmaker. She designs for Alberta Ferretti and Philosophy di Alberta Ferretti. Her showroom is in Milan, Italy but her studio is in the picturesque village of Cattolica, near Rimini, Italy....
and appeared in ad campaigns for Roberto Cavalli
Roberto Cavalli
Roberto Cavalli is an Italian fashion designer from Florence.-Biography:Roberto Cavalli was born in Florence, Tuscany. His grandfather, Giuseppe Rossi, was a member of the Macchiaioli Movement, whose work is exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery. Cavalli decided to enroll at the local Art Institute,...
and Versus
Versace
Gianni Versace S.p.A. , usually referred to as Versace, is an Italian fashion label founded by Gianni Versace in 1978.The first Versace boutique was opened in Milan's Via della Spiga in 1978, and its popularity was immediate. Today, Versace is one of the world's leading international fashion houses...
. She was a favorite model of the photographer Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter was a German-Australian photographer. He was a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications."-Early life:Newton was born in Berlin, the son of Klara...
, whose photographs of her often highlighted the large scar on her right arm.
Lakshmi appeared on the covers of RedBook, Vogue India,FHM, Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan (magazine)
Cosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
, L'Officiel India, Asian Woman, Avenue, Industry Magazine, Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Marie Claire is a monthly women's magazine first published in France but also distributed in other countries with editions specific to them and in their languages. While each country shares its own special voice with its audience, the United States edition focuses on women around the world and...
(India Edition), Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar
Harper’s Bazaar is an American fashion magazine, first published in 1867. Harper’s Bazaar is published by Hearst and, as a magazine, considers itself to be the style resource for “women who are the first to buy the best, from casual to couture.”...
, Town & Country
Town & Country (magazine)
Town & Country, formerly the Home Journal and The National Press, is a monthly American lifestyle magazine. It is the oldest continually published general interest magazine in the United States.-Early history:...
, and Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
. Lakshmi also posed nude for the May 2009 issue of Allure
Allure (magazine)
Allure is the leading U.S. women’s beauty magazine, published monthly by Condé Nast in New York City. It was founded in 1991 by editor in chief Linda Wells, who has been at the helm of the magazine ever since. From its inception, the magazine has been widely recognized for its intelligent,...
magazine.
Cookbooks
Her first cookbook Easy Exotic was awarded Best First Book at the 1999 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards at VersaillesVersailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
. She was host of the Food Network
Food Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
series, Padma's Passport, which was part of the larger series Melting Pot, in 2001. She also hosted two one-hour specials on South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
and Spain for the British culinary tourism show Planet Food, broadcast on the Food Network in the U.S. and internationally on the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
s. Her second cookbook, Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet, was released October 2, 2007.
Film and television
Lakshmi first role was in an Italian murder mystery Il figlio di Sandokan and her subsequent role in Caraibi (Pirates: Blood Brothers), a costume drama about 17th-century pirates got Lakshmi hooked on acting in 1999. She had a comical supporting role as the lip synching disco singer Sylk in the 2001 American movie GlitterGlitter (film)
Glitter is a 2001 film starring R&B singer, songwriter Mariah Carey. It was produced by 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall. It centers on the life and times of a struggling singer from the early club music scene in the 1980s.-Production:Carey has said about...
with Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
. She starred with Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan
Amitabh Bachchan is an Indian film actor. He first gained popularity in the early 1970s as the "angry young man" of Hindi cinema, and has since appeared in over 180 Indian films in a career spanning more than four decades...
and Jackie Shroff
Jackie Shroff
Jackie Shroff is an Indian actor. He has been in the industry for more than 28 years and has appeared in over 150 films.-Personal life:...
in the 2003 Hindi action film Boom
Boom (2003 film)
Boom is a Bollywood film that was released on 19 September 2003. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Gulshan Grover, Padma Lakshmi, Madhu Sapre, Katrina Kaif and Zeenat Aman. The film is directed by Kaizad Gustad and produced by Jackie Shroff's wife, Ayesha Shroff...
as Shiela Bardez, one of a trio of super models accused of stealing diamonds. She played the role of Geeta in Paul Mayeda Berges
Paul Mayeda Berges
Paul Mayeda Berges is an American screenwriter and director.Of Japanese ancestry, Berges graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1990. He has collaborated with his wife, British-Indian director Gurinder Chadha, on a number of films...
' 2005 film The Mistress of Spices
The Mistress of Spices (film)
The Mistress of Spices is a film by Paul Mayeda Berges, with a screenplay by Gurinder Chadha and Berges. It is based upon the novel The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. The film stars Aishwarya Rai...
.
Lakshmi served as hostess of Domenica In, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
's top-rated television show in 1997. She made a 2002 guest appearance as alien princess Kaitaama in "Precious Cargo", the 37th episode of the science fiction TV series Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
. Lakshmi portrayed Sean Bean
Sean Bean
Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
's nemesis Madhuvanthi in the 2004-2005 TV series Sharpe's Challenge
Sharpe (TV series)
Sharpe is a British series of television dramas starring Sean Bean about Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. Sharpe is the hero of a number of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books...
. In 2006, Lakshmi appeared in ABC's TV series The Ten Commandments with Dougray Scott
Dougray Scott
-Early life:The son of Elma, a nurse, and Alan Scott, an actor and salesperson, Stephen Dougray Scott was born in Glenrothes, Fife and attended Auchmuty High School...
, Naveen Andrews
Naveen Andrews
Naveen William Sidney Andrews is a British American actor. He is best known for portraying Kip in the movie The English Patient and Sayid Jarrah on the American television series Lost.-Early life:...
, and Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
. She serves as lead host and judge on the television show Top Chef
Top Chef
Top Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants...
, joining in 2006 during its second season
Top Chef (season 2)
Top Chef: Los Angeles is the second season of American reality television series Top Chef and was filmed first in Los Angeles, California, and concluded in Waikoloa Village, Hawaii. The season premiered on Bravo on October 18, 2006 and ended on January 31, 2007. Padma Lakshmi took over as host,...
, and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program as co-host in 2007. Lakshmi was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in 2009 for Top Chef. The show won the Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2010.
Lakshmi has expressed a desire to work in Tamil films
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the film industry based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to the production of films in the Tamil language. It is based in Chennai's Kodambakkam district, where several South Indian film production companies are headquartered...
in future, and stated she would love to meet Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan is an Indian film actor, screenwriter and director, considered to be one of the leading method actors of Indian cinema. He is widely acclaimed as an actor and is well known for his versatility in acting...
.
Lakshmi made a guest appearance on the show 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
in 2009.
Music video
In 2009, Lakshmi starred in the EelsEels (band)
Eels is an American indie rock band formed by singer/songwriter Mark Oliver Everett, better known as E...
video for the song "That Look You Give That Guy" playing the love interest of Mark Oliver Everett
Mark Oliver Everett
Mark Oliver Everett is the lead singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist and sometime drummer of the independent rock band Eels...
.
Jewelry design
Combining her culinary and fashion style tastes, Lakshmi launched her first line of jewellery in 2009. Titled "Padma", the first collection consisted of forty pieces.Personal life
On April 17, 2004, in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Lakshmi married the novelist Salman Rushdie, to whom she was introduced at a party in 1999 hosted by the journalist and editor Tina Brown
Tina Brown
Tina Brown, Lady Evans, CBE , is a journalist, magazine editor, columnist, talk-show host and author of The Diana Chronicles, a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales. Born a British citizen, she took United States citizenship in 2005 after emigrating in 1984 to edit Vanity Fair...
. On July 2, 2007, the couple filed for divorce. She is the model for one of the central characters — and love interests — in Rushdie's novel Fury
Fury (novel)
Fury is the seventh novel written by Salman Rushdie. It was published in 2001.-Plot summary:Malik Solanka, a Cambridge-educated millionaire from Bombay, is looking for an escape from himself...
(a novel dedicated to her as well).
On October 1, 2009, after years of struggling with a gynaecological medical illness known as endometriosis
Endometriosis
Endometriosis is a gynecological medical condition in which cells from the lining of the uterus appear and flourish outside the uterine cavity, most commonly on the ovaries. The uterine cavity is lined by endometrial cells, which are under the influence of female hormones...
, a condition that causes pelvic pain and has been associated with infertility, Lakshmi confirmed that she was pregnant. Lakshmi also co-founded The Endometriosis Foundation of America, which is a nonprofit organization focused on increasing awareness, education, research, and legislative advocacy against the disease On February 20, 2010, Lakshmi gave birth to a baby girl named Krishna Thea Lakshmi. Although the father's identity was not initially given, it was later revealed to be Adam Dell
Adam Dell
Adam R. Dell is an American venture capitalist and is the brother of Michael Dell, the founder of computer manufacturing company Dell Inc.-Early life:Adam Dell was born in Houston, Texas...
. In January 2011, Dell sued Lakshmi for full custody of their daughter.
Although professing little interest in fashion, Lakshmi has written articles on style for American Vogue magazine at Anna Wintour
Anna Wintour
Anna Wintour, OBE is the British-born editor-in-chief of American Vogue, a position she has held since 1988. With her trademark pageboy bob haircut and sunglasses, Wintour has become an institution throughout the fashion world, widely praised for her eye for fashion trends and her support for...
's request, and writes her own column on style in Harper's Bazaar following a commission from editor Glenda Bailey
Glenda Bailey
Glenda Adrianne Bailey OBE is the editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar, a monthly fashion magazine published by the Hearst Corporation. She was appointed to this position in May 2001. Before joining Harper's Bazaar, she served as the editor-in-chief at the U.S...
.
Lakshmi was brought up as a vegetarian and has admitted that because of this, she sometimes becomes "squeamish" when sampling other cultural delicacies. In 2009, she starred in a television advertisement
Television advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
for the Carl's Jr.
Carl's Jr.
Carl's Jr. is an American fast-food restaurant chain located mostly in the Western and Southwestern United States. The first store has opened in Canada in Kelowna, BC. They are in the process of expanding to Mexico, Malaysia, Denmark, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Russia, Vietnam,...
restaurant chain eating a Western Bacon Cheeseburger and in her second cookbook Tangy, Tart, Hot and Sweet she credits the chain with bringing her away from vegetarianism during her teenage years.
Selected filmography
| Year | Film | Type | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Unzipped Unzipped (film) Unzipped is a 1995 documentary film, directed by Douglas Keeve. It follows fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, Keeve's then boyfriend, as he plans and ultimately shows his fall 1994 collection... |
Documentary (High Fashion) | Herself |
| 1997 | Domenica In | TV Series (Italy) | Host |
| 1998 | Il Figlio di Sandokan | TV Series (Italian, Drama) | |
| 1999 | Caraibi - Pirates: Blood Brothers | TV Series (Italian, Adventure) | Malinche |
| 2000 | Linda e il brigadiere ep: "Il fratello di Linda" |
TV Series (Italian, Comedy) | Indian Lady |
| Planet Food | Documentary (Cooking) | Host | |
| 2001 | Glitter Glitter (film) Glitter is a 2001 film starring R&B singer, songwriter Mariah Carey. It was produced by 20th Century Fox and Columbia Pictures and directed by Vondie Curtis-Hall. It centers on the life and times of a struggling singer from the early club music scene in the 1980s.-Production:Carey has said about... |
Film (US, Drama) | Sylk |
| Melting Pot: Padma's Passport | TV Series (US, Cooking) | Host | |
| 2002 | Star Trek: Enterprise Star Trek: Enterprise Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001... episode: "Precious Cargo" |
TV Series (US, Sci-Fi Science fiction Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities... ) |
Kaitaama |
| 2003 | Boom Boom (2003 film) Boom is a Bollywood film that was released on 19 September 2003. It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Jackie Shroff, Gulshan Grover, Padma Lakshmi, Madhu Sapre, Katrina Kaif and Zeenat Aman. The film is directed by Kaizad Gustad and produced by Jackie Shroff's wife, Ayesha Shroff... |
Film (Indian, Drama) | Shiela Bardez |
| 2005 | The Mistress of Spices The Mistress of Spices (film) The Mistress of Spices is a film by Paul Mayeda Berges, with a screenplay by Gurinder Chadha and Berges. It is based upon the novel The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. The film stars Aishwarya Rai... |
Film (Drama) | Geeta |
| 2006 | The Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (2006) The Ten Commandments is a miniseries that dramatizes the biblical story of Moses.-Plot:Moses's mother, Jochebed, saves her baby from the edict of the Pharaoh that all newborn male Hebrew children must die by placing him in a basket on the Nile River... |
TV Series (US, Biblical) | Princess Bithia |
| Sharpe Sharpe (TV series) Sharpe is a British series of television dramas starring Sean Bean about Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars. Sharpe is the hero of a number of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books... episode: "Sharpe's Challenge Sharpe's Challenge Sharpe's Challenge is a British television drama, part of a series that follows the career of Richard Sharpe . Here, the former British soldier undertakes his last mission for his former commander, the Duke of Wellington.-Plot:In 1803 India, Sergeant Sharpe leads a patrol to an East India Company... " |
TV Series (Action/History/War) | Madhuvanthi | |
| 2006–present | Top Chef Top Chef Top Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants... |
TV Series (US, Reality/Cooking) | Host / Judge |
| 2009 | 30 Rock 30 Rock 30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live... |
TV Series (US, Comedy) | Herself |
External links
- Padma Lakshmi's official website showcasing her jewellery collection
- Padma Lakshmi's MySpace
- Padma's Bio
- Top Chef Website
- http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/season-5/about