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Tara Deshpande

Tara Deshpande(1)
Tara Deshpande(1) Image: Wikimedia Commons. SmilingBudhaa / CC BY-SA 4.0

Tara Deshpande is an Indian actress, writer, former model, and MTV VJ. She began her career in the early 1990s as a television presenter and stage actor in Mumbai, before transitioning to Hindi films in the mid-1990s and, subsequently, to writing on food and culture.

Key facts

Name Tara Deshpande
Occupation Actress, writer, former model, MTV VJ
Notable films Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin, Bombay Boys
Notable stage role Begum Sumroo in Alyque Padamsee's play of the same name
First book Fifty and Done (HarperCollins)
Residence Divides time between New York City and Mumbai

Background

Before entering films, Deshpande worked as a model, an MTV VJ, and was a regular performer on the Mumbai stage. On stage, she played the title role of Begum Sumroo in a production directed by Alyque Padamsee.

Television and film career

In the early 1990s, Deshpande hosted the Zee TV programme Kab Kyon Kahaan, initially alongside Parth and later with Vinay Jain. She moved into Hindi cinema with roles in acclaimed films including Sudhir Mishra's Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin and Kaizad Gustad's Bombay Boys.

Writing

Deshpande published her first book, Fifty and Done, with HarperCollins at the age of 23. She subsequently turned to food writing. A Sense for Spice: Recipes and Stories from a Konkan Kitchen was published by Westland Publishers in 2012, drawing on the culinary traditions of the Konkan coast. This was followed by Indian Sense of Salad in 2018.

Personal life

Deshpande married an American citizen and moved to Boston in 2001. Her husband works in finance and is a graduate of Harvard Business School. She divides her time between New York City and Mumbai.

Significance

Deshpande was among the wave of young presenters who shaped Indian music television in the early 1990s, and went on to feature in films associated with the parallel and independent strand of Hindi cinema in the late 1990s. Her later career as a food writer has contributed to the documentation of Konkan regional cuisine in English-language publishing.

References