Career
Sheikh moved to acting from dance early in her career and made her film debut in the Amitabh Bachchan-starrer family drama, ‘Baghban’ in 2003. Two years later, she acted in the Tamil film, ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ (2005).
In 2006, she made her television debut in the Bajaj Telefilm comedy, ‘Kya Hoga Nimmo Ka,’ where she played the role of ‘Nimmo.’ This role established Sheikh’s comedic screen presence. The character also incorporated elements of drama and romance alongside comedy.
In 2007, she played the antagonist in the Star Plus series ‘Kayamath.’ Her role as a prototypical vamp gained much acclaim and the series grew very popular, eventually becoming one of Star Plus’ top ten shows of all time.
In the same year, Sheikh ventured back into dance with her partner, Aamir Ali. The couple participated together in ‘Nach Baliye 3’, a dance reality show that pits celebrity couples against each other. Despite stiff opposition from noted Indian reality TV personality, Rakhi Sawant, and her then-partner, Abhishek Awasthi, Sheikh and Ali won the competition.
After ‘Nach Baliye,’ the partners continued to work together, starring together next in the 9X series ‘Kya Dill Mein Hain,’ where they played each other’s love-interest.
As previous winners of ‘Nach Baliye’, Sheikh and Ali were also given the opportunity to host ‘Nach Baliye 4’ in 2008 (broadcast simultaneously in India and the United States). As the season progressed, they were replaced by Sara Khan and Ali Merchant, and later, Hiten Tejwani and Gauri Pradhan Tejwani.
In 2010, she returned to ‘Star One’ to star in ‘Jaane Pehchane Se Yeh Ajnabi,’ where she played a woman who survives a murder attempt, and returns to seek revenge on her attackers.
Later that year, she participated in another dance competition– ‘Zara Nachke Dikha’– which, like ‘Nach Baliye,’ allowed film and television celebrities to showcase their dance skills (albeit unaccompanied by their real-life partners). Sanjeeda won this competition.
In 2011, Sheikh appeared as the female protagonist in ‘Hi! Padosi…Kaun Hain Doshi?” which began as a comedy, but later turned into a drama series named ‘Piya La Ghar Pyaara Lage’.
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Next, she appeared in Zee’s remake of the Bengali hit ‘Khela’ in Hindi. The new adaptation was named ‘Badalte Rishton Ki Dastaan’ and aired in 2013.
The year 2014 brought her much critical acclaim and recognition as she returned to ‘Star Plus’ to star in the crime-thriller ‘Ek Hasina Thi’ (loosely based on ABC drama ‘Revenge’). The show became Star Plus’ most popular show during its airtime and garnered several awards for its cast.
After ‘Ek Hasina Thi,’ Sheikh and Ali returned to reality television for Sony’s ‘Power Couple’ in 2015. Unfortunately, the couple, who were married by now, did not win and were eliminated.
In 2016, she made her Colors debut with ‘Ishq Ka Rang Safed,’ playing a mother for the first time.
She was reunited with ‘Ek Hasina Thi’ co-star Vatsal Sheth in ‘Gehraiyaan,’ a supernatural-focused web-series. Sheikh played the lead role here.
She currently plays a fictional actress, Kamini Mathur, in the Star Plus romantic drama ‘Love Ka Hai Intezaar’ opposite model and actor Keith Sequeira.
Sheikh’s scene-stealing role as vamp, Ayesha, in Star Plus series ‘Kayamath’ (2007–2009) propelled the show to much success and critical acclaim.
Her great dance skills were on display in the dance competitions ‘Nach Baliye 3’ and ‘Zara Nachke Dikha,’ and she won both the shows.
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Her most successful role to date has been of ‘Durga Thakur’ in ‘Ek Hasina Thi,’ where she attempts to bring a prominent family to justice for the rape and torture of her sister.
Sheikh’s performance in ‘Kayamath’ won her popular support as well as two awards– the ‘Star Parivaar Award’ for ‘Favorite Saut’ (2007) and the ‘Zee Gold Award’ for ‘Best Actress in a Negative Role’ (2008). She was also nominated for an ‘Indian Telly Award’ for ‘Best Actress in a Negative Role’ (2008) but did not win.
In 2009, Sheikh and Ali won the ‘Dishiest Couple’ award from the DNA ‘After Hours Food Awards.’
Sheikh won a second ‘Zee Gold Award’ for ‘Most Stylish Actress’ in 2011.
Her work on ‘Ek Hasina Thi’ also gained much critical acclaim, resulting in five award nominations, two of which she won– the ‘Star Parivaar Award’ for ‘Most Stylish Female Sadasya’ (2014) and the ‘Indian Television Academy Award’ for ‘Gr8 Performer of the Year’ (2014).
Sheikh married her longtime boyfriend and professional partner on shows such as ‘Nach Baliye,’ Aamir Ali, on March 2, 2012.
On the May 29, 2017, her brother, Anas’ wife, Zakerabanu Zakir Hussain Bagban, alleged that Sheikh, Anas and their mother had assaulted her in their Mumbai home while she spoke to another family member on the phone. In response to the FIR lodged by Bagban, Sheikh sought to prove that she had been working elsewhere on the day in question. The Ahmedabad High Court granted her interim relief and waived the service of notice. Sheikh’s lawyer later called the claims ‘baseless’ and a ploy to ‘harass’ the actress.
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The actress has stated that she is unwilling to kiss anyone on screen, even her husband. Although she denies that a no-kissing clause is present in her contract, she admits to discussing the matter with producers.
In 2007, the runners up of ‘Nach Baliye 3’, Rakhi Sawant and Abhishek Awasthi alleged that the network was biased toward Sheikh and Ali and helped them win in an unfair way.
Sheikh owns a pet dog called ‘Bravo.’
She has over 2.2 million Instagram followers.
Her hobbies include dancing and cooking and her favorite foods are vanilla ice-cream, tandoori chicken, pizza, and pasta.
