She is involved in "Akansha ", a theatre workshop for street children and has also acted in a number of Gujarati plays including Shodh Pratishodh which won rave reviews and accolades from the masses as well as the classes and was performed 125 times in four months, a record of sorts.

She has also acted in Pallavi Bani Parvati and To Karo Shree Ganesh, both Gujarati plays.

She is also involved in 7x3=21 (Saat Tari Ekvees), in which seven directors, actors and writers come together to create seven monologues. She plays a middle-class woman married into a rich family whose marriage values challenge her childhood.

She shaved her head for the serial Uttaran, making her the first woman to go bald in the history of Indian Television.^[4]

She has done many popular roles in Indian soap operas, most notably Ram Milaayi Jodi, and also Uttaran etc. In 2015, she played the pivotal role of Shanti Devi in Star Plus serial Mere Angne Mein.^[5]

Desai is married to Imtiaz Khan, the son of Hindi film actor Jayant and the brother of actor Amjad Khan. The couple has one daughter.

Films

• Insaaf (1987)
• The Adopted (2001)
• Dattak
• Turn Left at the End of the World (2004)
• Dastak

• Dekh Bhai Dekh
• Betaal Pachisi
• Buniyaad
• Chandrakanta
• Zameen Aasmaan
• Kismet (TV series)|Kismet
• Hungama
• Superhit Muqabla
• A Mouthful of Sky
• Noorjahan (TV Series)
• Mansi
• Black
• Do Saheliyaan
• Ek Aam Aadmi (TV series) STAR One
• Air Hostess
• Annu Ki Ho Gayee Waah Bhai Waah
• Woh Rehne Waali Mehlon Ki
• Ram Milaayi Jodi ( 2012-2013)
• Uttaran - The name of the character that she played was Ekadashi Avinash Chatterjee. The telecast of this was between 2013 and 2015
• Mere Angne Mein (2015-2017) The name of the character she played was Shanti Devi. The telecast of this show was 2015-2017.
• Paramavatar Shri Krishna