Anjli Mohindra
{{short description|English actress (born 1990)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Anjli Mohindra
| image = Anjli Mohindra in 2013.jpg
| caption = Mohindra at a fan convention in 2013
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = London, England
| alma_mater = Central Junior Television Workshop
| occupation = {{hlist|Actress|writer}}
| television = {{plainlist|
}}
| partner = Sacha Dhawan{{cite web |last1=Osborne |first1=Emma |title=Bodyguard's Anjli Mahindra's life away from the BBC drama uncovered as her FAMOUS boyfriend is revealed |url=https://www.ok.co.uk/lifestyle/bodyguard-nadiya-real-name-anjli-14362497 |website=OK |access-date=31 January 2022 |date=24 September 2018}}
| years_active = 2005–present
}}
Anjli Mohindra ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|n|dʒ|l|i|_|m|ə|ˈ|h|ɪ|n|d|r|ə}}{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7oYLy8zSGE&t=41s |title=Everything Hair Removal {{!}} On The Pulse With Anjli & Mandip |publisher=Pulse Light Clinic London |date=2 March 2022 |access-date=21 May 2024}}) is an English stage, screen and voice-over actress and writer. She is best known for her television roles as Rani Chandra in the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures (2008–2011) and would-be suicide bomber Nadia Ali in Bodyguard (2018). Her other television roles include Surgeon Lieutenant Tiffany Docherty in Vigil (2021), Detective Constable Josie Chancellor in Dark Heart (2016–2018) and Archie in The Lazarus Project (2022–2023).
Early life
Mohindra was born in London to immigrant parents of Indian descent. She grew up in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire,{{cite news |title=Anjli hungers for a real taste of home |work=Nottingham Post |date=16 October 2013 |page=36}} apart from a four-year period on a military base in Germany, where she was the only ethnic minority child out of 2,000 students at an Armed Forces school.{{cite news |last1=Mohindra |first1=Anjli |date=23 September 2018 |title=What starring in Bodyguard taught me about self-acceptance |language=en |work=Stylist |url=https://www.stylist.co.uk/life/bodyguard-spoilers-terrorist-nadia-anjli-mohindrataught-tv-self-acceptance-news-spoilers/228235 |access-date=20 January 2019}} According to Mohindra, her family is Hindu Punjabi.{{Cite web |date=22 June 2019 |title=Anjli Mohindra interview - from Bodyguard to Wild Bill, she's on a role |url=https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/anjli-mohindra-interview-bodyguard-wild-bill-shes-role-1414830 |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=The Scotsman |language=en}} Her father was raised in Kenya when it was a British colony and had a clerical job in the British Army for several years. Her mother was born in Punjab, India and arrived in the UK from India at the age of 18 to further her education, working variously as a court clerk, bank manager, postmistress, pub owner and English tutor.{{cite news |last1=Harvey |first1=Chris |title=Bodyguard star Anjli Mohindra: 'Nadia isn't an Islamophobic stereotype – playing her was empowering' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/bodyguard-staranjli-mohindra-nadia-isnt-islamophobic-stereotype/ |access-date=20 January 2019 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=24 September 2018 |url-access=subscription}}
Mohindra has a sister and a brother.{{Cite web |title=INTERVIEW {{!}} Bodyguard Anjli Mohindra - Acting adventures |url=http://www.essence-magazine.co.uk/Interview2_October_2018.html |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=www.essence-magazine.co.uk}} In a 2018 interview about her personal style, Mohindra said that she had been a tomboy growing up, sometimes wearing her brother's hand-me-down clothes.{{Cite web |last=Mulley |first=Laura |date=13 September 2018 |title=Bodyguard actress Anjli Mohindra takes centre stage in flowing gowns |url=https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/style/1016971/the-bodyguard-anji-mohinra-interview |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=Express.co.uk |language=en}}
Mohindra attended Jesse Gray Primary School and West Bridgford School. She later trained in acting at the Central Junior Television Workshop in Nottingham.{{cite web |title=James Pulford went to see the Central Drama Workshop perform Scary Play by Judith Johnson |url=http://www.leftlion.co.uk/articles.cfm/id/1738 |access-date=11 December 2009}}
Career
= 2005–2011: Early career =
Mohindra's television acting career began in an episode of ITV's long-running soap opera Coronation Street in 2005, where she played Dev Alahan's daughter Shareen after being turned down for another, larger role.{{Cite news |title=Bodyguard star Anjli Mohindra: I almost gave up after Corrie turned me down |language=en-GB |work=belfasttelegraph |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/bodyguard-star-anjli-mohindra-i-almost-gave-up-after-corrie-turned-me-down-37474019.html |access-date=17 September 2022 |issn=0307-1235}} This appearance was soon followed by small, one-episode parts in the medical soap opera Doctors (2006), teen sitcom The Inbetweeners (2008), police procedural Law & Order: UK (2009) and medical drama Holby City (2010). She also appeared in two episodes of the comedy drama Beaver Falls (2011).
Mohindra played her first regular role as aspiring journalist Rani Chandra in the Doctor Who spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures (2008–2011) on children's television channel CBBC. She was introduced in the second series as a replacement for Yasmin Paige,{{Cite web |last=Rawson-Jones |first=Ben |date=6 October 2008 |title=S02E03: 'The Day Of The Clown' - Part One |url=http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/cult/a131821/s02e03-the-day-of-the-clown-part-one-131821/ |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=Digital Spy |language=en-GB}} who left the series to complete her GCSEs. Mohindra continued to play the role in the subsequent three series until the last episode of the show, broadcast in October 2011.
= 2012–present: Post-''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' career =
In 2012, Mohindra appeared in an episode of the longest-running medical drama series in the world, Casualty. Soon after, she landed parts in two episodes of The Missing (2014), a BAFTA and Golden Globe-nominated child-abduction thriller starring Tchéky Karyo, and six episodes of Cucumber (2015), Russell T Davies's series about a middle-aged gay man from Manchester.{{Cite news |last=Raeside |first=Julia |date=13 March 2015 |title=Cucumber review – from misery to joy in a truly magnificent ending |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2015/mar/13/cucumber-review-russell-t-davies-doctor-who-magnificent |access-date=21 February 2023 |issn=0261-3077}}
Mohindra played a leading role in four 15-minute episodes of the BBC iPlayer romcom My Jihad (2014–2015),{{Cite web |title='My Jihad': Finding the perfect partner |url=https://www.asianimage.co.uk/news/11103366.my-jihad-finding-the-perfect-partner/ |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=Asian Image |date=26 March 2014 |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=30 June 2015 |title=My Jihad: a romcom that merits more exposure than BBC3's online future |url=http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2015/jun/30/my-jihad-a-romcom-that-merits-more-exposure-than-bbc3s-online-future |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} described as "a tender and funny love story exploring the unfolding relationship between a young Muslim couple".{{Cite web |title=My Jihad |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/scripts/tv-drama/my-jihad/bbc.com/writersroom/scripts/tv-drama/my-jihad/ |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=www.bbc.co.uk |language=en}} She then made her feature film debut in Miss You Already (2015), starring Toni Collette and Drew Barrymore, followed by supporting roles in two ITV shows, Paranoid (2016){{Cite web |date=8 November 2016 |title='Paranoid' episode guide: What happens next? |url=https://cultbox.co.uk/spoilers/episode-guides/paranoid-itv-2016-season-1-episode-guide-what-happens-next |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=CultBox |language=en-US}} and Bancroft (2017).{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=13 October 2018 |title=Anjli Mohindra Interview {{!}} Netflix's Bodyguard |url=https://www.crookesmagazine.com/television/anjli-mohindra/ |access-date=21 February 2023 |website=CROOKES Magazine |language=en-GB}}
In 2018, Mohindra played Nadia Ali in Jed Mercurio's political thriller Bodyguard (2018).{{Cite web |date=7 October 2019 |title=Anjli Mohindra |url=https://www.bafta.org/supporting-talent/elevate/anjli-mohindra |access-date=17 September 2022 |website=www.bafta.org |language=en}} The series received multiple BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations; its finale was reported to be the most-watched BBC drama in 10 years.{{Cite news |date=25 September 2018 |title=Bodyguard most watched BBC drama since 2008 |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-45622655 |access-date=18 September 2022}} Mohindra initially declined the role until she learned there would be more depth to her character than she assumed.{{cite news |last1=Bond |first1=Kimberley |date=28 September 2018 |title=Why I turned down the role of Nadia in Bodyguard |language=en |work=Radio Times |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-09-28/bodyguard-anjli-mohindra-turned-down-nadia/ |url-status=dead |access-date=20 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929015052/https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2018-09-28/bodyguard-anjli-mohindra-turned-down-nadia/ |archive-date=29 September 2018}} The same year, she starred alongside Tom Riley in the ITV crime drama Dark Heart and guested in DC's Legends of Tomorrow as magical shapeshifter Charlie. Mohindra starred as an ambitious radio producer in Mark Gatiss's take on the classic Christmas ghost story, The Dead Room (2018), alongside Simon Callow.{{Cite web |date=30 December 2018 |title=The week in TV: The ABC Murders; Watership Down; You; The Dead Room; Mrs Brown's Boys |url=http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/dec/30/abc-murders-watership-down-you-dead-room-mrs-browns-boys-review |access-date=17 September 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}
From 2006 to 2019, she played in 11 theatrical productions.{{Cite web |title=Profile {{!}} Spotlight |url=https://www.spotlight.com/0459-1203-1215 |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=www.spotlight.com}} Her stage work includes David Hare's Behind the Beautiful Forevers (2014){{Cite web |date=19 November 2014 |title=Behind the Beautiful Forevers review – a triumph for David Hare and Meera Syal |url=http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/nov/19/behind-the-beautiful-forevers-review-stage-david-hare-katherine-boo |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} and Shahid Nadeem's Dara (2015), both professionally recorded and broadcast through National Theatre Live, as well as Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (2012){{Cite news |last=Marlowe |first=Sam |title=The Importance of Being Earnest at the Nottingham Playhouse |newspaper=The Times |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-importance-of-being-earnest-at-the-nottingham-playhouse-72q5q5bffqr |access-date=18 September 2022 |issn=0140-0460}} and Michael Frayn's Noises Off (2019).{{Cite web |last=Darvill |first=Josh |date=8 September 2019 |title=Noises Off cast confirmed for 2019 West End production |url=https://stagechat.co.uk/news/west-end/4173-noises-off-cast-confirmed-for-2019-west-end-production.html |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=Stage Chat |language=en}}
In 2019, Mohindra appeared as a regular lead in the ITV drama Wild Bill.{{Cite web |last=Gorman |first=Rachel |date=8 November 2018 |title=Nottingham's Bodyguard actress to star alongside Rob Lowe in new ITV drama |url=https://www.nottinghampost.com/whats-on/whats-on-news/nottinghams-bodyguard-dark-heart-actress-2196132 |access-date=17 September 2022 |website=NottinghamshireLive |language=en}} She later played the Queen of the Skithra{{Cite web |title=Skithra {{!}} Doctor Who {{!}} Doctor Who |url=https://www.doctorwho.tv/characters/skithra |access-date=17 September 2022 |website=www.doctorwho.tv |language=en}} in the Doctor Who episode "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror" (2020).[https://cultbox.co.uk/general/doctor-who-series-12-new-director-actor-character-discovered Doctor Who Series 12: new director, actor, character discovered] Andrea Laford, cultbox.com, 10 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019. Since 2022, Mohindra has also reprised her role of Rani from The Sarah Jane Adventures in several Doctor Who audio drama spin-offs from Big Finish Productions, as well as in three episodes of Doctor Who: Redacted (2022), a ten-part podcast drama from BBC Sounds featuring the Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker.{{Cite web |date=29 April 2022 |title='Very gay, very trans': the incredible Doctor Who spin-off that's breathing new life into the franchise |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/apr/29/doctor-who-redacted-transgender-podcast |access-date=17 September 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} Mohindra has played other characters in audio dramas featuring the Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Doctors over the years.
Mohindra won a place on the Royal Court's Young Writers' Programme in 2016. During COVID-19 pandemic, she made her writing debut with a short film called The People Under the Moon (2020), produced entirely during lockdown and starring Gwilym Lee as a medic who joins a dating app.{{Cite web |title=Doctor Who's Anjli Mohindra makes writing debut with short film produced in lockdown |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/anjli-mohindra-short-film-coronavirus/ |access-date=17 September 2022 |website=Radio Times |language=en}}
In 2021, she appeared alongside Suranne Jones in Tom Edge's Vigil, playing Tiffany Docherty, the medical officer on board a nuclear submarine which becomes the subject of a murder investigation. The series quickly became the BBC's most-watched new drama of the year.{{Cite web |last=Manning |first=Charlotte |date=6 September 2021 |title=Vigil becomes BBC's most watched new drama of 2021 |url=https://metro.co.uk/2021/09/06/vigil-becomes-bbcs-most-watched-new-drama-of-2021-15216252/ |access-date=22 September 2021 |website=Metro |language=en}} The following year, she appeared in the Netflix period spy thriller Munich – The Edge of War as a British diplomatic secretary embroiled in the negotiations at the 1938 Munich conference{{Cite web |title=Anjli Mohindra |url=https://anthearepresents.com/artist/anjli-mohindra |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=Voiceover Agency London - Anthea Represents |language=en}} and then had the lead role in the Sky science fiction drama The Lazarus Project, described as a "gripping exploration of memory, fate and the limits of love".{{Cite web |last=Kanter |first=Jake |date=25 January 2021 |title='I May Destroy You' Star Paapa Essiedu To Lead Sky 'Groundhog Day'-Style Action Thriller 'Extinction' |url=https://deadline.com/2021/01/paapa-essiedu-tom-burke-sky-joe-barton-extinction-1234678301/ |access-date=17 September 2022 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}} In the series she played Archie, who recruits Paapa Essiedu's character George into a secret organisation that has the power to turn back time if the world is threatened by extinction.{{Cite web |last=James |first=Liz Skone |date=1 June 2022 |title=Exclusive Interview: Anjli Mohindra |url=https://www.fabricmagazine.co.uk/people/exclusive-interview-anjli-mohindra/ |access-date=18 September 2022 |website=Fabric Magazine |language=en-GB}}
Personal life
Mohindra is in a relationship with actor Sacha Dhawan.
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ {{Screen reader-only|Film roles of Anjli Mohindra}} ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
| scope="row" | 2011
|Swagger Wars |Girl's Friend | rowspan="3" |Short film |
| scope="row" | 2012
|The Black Scholes Conspiracy |Dee |
| scope="row" | 2013
|The Painter and the Thief |Sally |
| scope="row" | 2015
| Kira | |
| scope="row" | 2018
|Process |Anaya |Short film |
| scope="row" | 2020
| The People Under the Moon | Dating App (voice) | Short film; also writer |
| scope="row" | 2021
| Joan Menzies | |
| scope="row" | 2023
| Alliz Amano (voice) | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ {{Screen reader-only|Television roles of Anjli Mohindra}} ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes | |
| scope="row" | 2005–2006
| Shareen | 2 episodes | |
| scope="row" | 2006
| Doctors | Gemma Fox | Episode: "Goodbye Mrs Chips" | |
| scope="row" | 2008
| Charlotte's Friend | Episode: "Will Gets a Girlfriend" | |
| scope="row" | 2008–2011
| Main role in series 2–5; 41 episodes and a Comic Relief special | |
| scope="row" | 2009
| Sophie Martin | Episode: "Love and Loss" | |
| rowspan="2" scope="row" | 2010
| Mindy Kapoor | Episode: "The Butterfly Effect: Part Two" | |
| Sarah Jane's Alien Files
| Rani Chandra | Episode #1.2 | |
| scope="row" | 2011
| Saima | 2 episodes | |
| rowspan="2" scope="row" |2012
| Doctors | Meera Singh | Episode: "Firestarter" | |
| Casualty
| Meera Hussein | Episode: "Teenage Dreams" | |
| scope="row" | 2013
| Roxy | Episode: "Doughnuts" | |
| scope="row" | 2014–2015
| My Jihad | Fahmida | Main role; 4 episodes | |
| scope="row" | 2014
| Amara Suri | 2 episodes |
| rowspan="2" scope="row" | 2015
| Cucumber | Veronica Chandra |6 episodes | |
| Cuffs
| Nasreen Iqbal | Episode: "Bringing a Knife to a Gunfight" | |
| scope="row" | 2016
| Paranoid | PC Megan Waters | Main role; 8 episodes | |
| scope="row" | 2016–2018
| DC Josie Chancellor | Main role; 6 episodes | |
| rowspan="3" scope="row" | 2017
| Zaynab | Episode #1.1 | |
| The Boy with the Topknot
| Bindi | TV film | |
| Bancroft
| Zaheera Kamara | Main role in series 1; 4 episodes | |
| rowspan="5" scope="row" | 2018
| Faiza Jindal | Episode: "The Ghost of Causton Abbey" | |
| Bodyguard
| Nadia Ali | 4 episodes | |
| The Bisexual
| Katie | Episode #1.1 | |
| Legends of Tomorrow
| Charlie | Episode: "Dancing Queen" | |
| The Dead Room
| Tara Lohia | TV film | |
| scope="row" | 2019
| DCC Lydia Price | Main role; 6 episodes | |
| rowspan="2" scope="row" | 2020
| Queen Skithra | Episode: "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror" | |
| Daleks!
| Mechanoid Queen (voice) | Animated series released on YouTube; 3 episodes | |
| scope="row" | 2021
| Vigil | Surgeon Lieutenant Tiffany Docherty | 6 episodes | |
| scope="row" | 2022–2023
| Archie | Main role; 8 episodes (Series 1) and 8 episodes (Series 2) | |
| rowspan="2" scope="row" | 2022
| DS Riya Devi | 5 episodes | |
| The Peripheral
| Beatrice | 3 episodes | |
| rowspan="2"|2024
|Grace Narayan | |
| Get Millie Black
| Meera Thakur | 3 episodes{{cite news |last1=Guyoncourt |first1=Sally |title=Get Millie Black plot, cast, filming locations and episode guide |url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/get-millie-black-cast-filming-locations-episodes-3569425?srsltid=AfmBOophq9zKUhOUmSoNfP1XkwZPpshjlyZ4JPWE70HI0EglW7VXL-Q7 |access-date=6 March 2025 |work=The i Paper |date=6 March 2025}} | |
| 2025
| Fear | Rebecca | Lead role{{cite news |last1=Hibbs |first1=James |title=Fear cast: Martin Compston and Anjli Mohindra star in the Prime Video thriller |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/drama/fear-prime-video-cast/ |access-date=6 March 2025 |work=Radio Times |date=4 March 2025}} |
= Theatre =
| class="wikitable"
|+ {{Screen reader-only|Theatre roles of Anjli Mohindra}} ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" | Venue ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Ref heading|multi=no}} |
| 2025
|Lead role |Adapted and directed by Eline Arbo |
= Audio and radio dramas =
= Audiobook narration =
= Video games =
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ {{Screen reader-only|Video game roles of Anjli Mohindra}} ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes |
| rowspan="4" scope="row" |2011
|Plants | rowspan="4" |Rani Chandra (voice) | |
| Plant and Animal Habitats
| |
| Teeth and Eating
| |
| Rocks and Soils
| |
| scope="row" | 2015
|Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below | rowspan="2" |Maya Mahabala (voice) | rowspan="2" |English version |
| scope="row" | 2016 |
| scope="row" | 2022
|Millicent (voice) |Demo Only |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- {{IMDb name}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohindra, Anjli}}
Category:21st-century English actresses
Category:21st-century English women writers
Category:21st-century English writers
Category:Actresses from Nottinghamshire
Category:English people of Indian descent
Category:English people of Punjabi descent
Category:English television actresses
Category:English voice actresses
Category:People educated at West Bridgford School
Category:Actors from the London Borough of Barnet
Category:People from West Bridgford