Ayesha Dharker was born in Bombay, India, the daughter of Imtiaz Dharker, a noted poet, artist and documentary film-maker, and Anil Dharker, a columnist and an ex-editor of Debonair. Her father is from India and her mother, born in Lahore, was brought up in Scotland, United Kingdom.

In May 2010 she married Robert Taylor in St Giles Cripplegate.^[4]

Dharker made her screen debut in the 1989 François Villiers film Manika, une vie plus tard. Dharker subsequently went on to star in many American, French and Indian films. She has had many television roles in the UK, particularly in Cutting It and Life Isn't All Ha Ha Hee Hee, in which she co-starred with Meera Syal.

In the international award-winning film The Terrorist (1999), she played the lead character Malli, a role that earned her a nomination for the National Film Award for Best Actress in India and the Cairo Film Festival award for Best Artistic Contribution by an Actress.

Her most internationally recognised role came in 2002 when she played Queen Jamillia, the Queen of Naboo, in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones. Dharker starred in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Bombay Dreams, both in London's West End and on Broadway (2004). She also starred in The Mistress of Spices (2005).

She is currently a recurring cast member of the BBC Asian Network radio serial Silver Street, playing the role of "Ambika"; she has also appeared in the episode "Planet of the Ood" of the long-running BBC sci-fi television series, Doctor Who as Solana Mercurio.

In 2006, she played the role of Asha in the film Outsourced.

In 2008, she played the role of Tara Mandal in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street.^[5]

In 2010, she played doctor's wife Kamini Sharma opposite Sanjeev Bhaskar in the BBC's comedy drama series The Indian Doctor.

In 2017, Dharker begun playing Nina Karnik in a returning role on long running BBC drama Holby City.

Films

Television

Theatre