Preeti Desai is a British actress, model and former Miss Great Britain, of Gujarati Indian descent. She made history by becoming the first woman of Indian origin to win the title. Born in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England, to Hemlata and Jitendra Desai, who have a pyrotechnics company. Her father is Gujarati Indian from Kenya, Africa and her mother, who is from Uganda, is from a Gujarati Indian family. Her younger sibling Anjlee Desai, is a singer, songwriter. Preeti made her acting debut with acclaimed film Shor in the City and was nominated for Best Lead Actress at South Asian Rising Star Film Awards in New York City in October 2012 presented by SAIFF and HBO. Desai is listed as the Times of India's 50 Most Desirable Women and People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2011. Preeti resides between Los Angeles and London.
Preeti Desai was crowned Miss Cleveland and then went on to win Miss Great Britain in 2007. A British Indian, she was the first woman of Indian heritage to win the title. She was crowned Miss Great Britain after the previous winner was disqualified and the Country voted her to take over as the winner. Desai moved to London from the North East of England to carry out her role as ambassador of Great Britain. Desai supported organisations like Mind and Carers Week, which took her to 10 Downing Street to have tea with then Prime Minister Gordon Brown to highlight the work of the charities, and to the Houses of Parliament to get MP's to team up with her in support of Carers Week.
Modelling
Desai moved to Mumbai in 2008 and was represented by ace photographer Atul Kasbekar and started her career as a fashion model when she appeared on the cover of L'officiel magazine with super star Shahrukh Khan as her 1st assignment, following straight after with her 2nd assignment the Kingfisher calendar 2008. Desai was also selected to be solely on the cover of the Kingfisher Calendar special edition. In the same year Desai appeared on the October cover of Cosmopolitan magazine. Desai soon became a favourite in the Indian fashion industry and walked for all the big designers, fashion weeks and appeared on more magazine covers. In October 2009 Desai was announced as the new face of the retail apparel company Provogue, along with Indian actor Hrithik Roshan. Desai also featured with Italian designer Leonardo Ferragamo of Salvatore Ferragamo Italia S.p.A. for L'Officiel magazine, and walked for fashion designer Christopher Kane in a Fashion Week. Desai got herself a super model status in India in the short span of two years before she started filming for her first feature film and moved on to acting in 2011.
Film debut (2011)
Desai made her film debut in a feature film Shor in the City which was released in April 2011. It is directed by Raj Nidimoru and DK Krishna, and is produced by Balaji Films Ekta Kapoor. Desai plays the role of the female protagonist Sharmili, opposite Indian-American actor Sendhil Ramamurthy. The film is a thriller drama, set in contemporary Mumbai, with three separate but interrelated storylines, of which one is in English and two in Hindi. The film and Desai's performance got rave reviews by critics and the audience's with an average star rating of 4*s. Stating Desai had great screen presence. Desai is Nominated for Best Lead Actress at South Asian Rising Star Film Awards in New York in October 2012 presented by SAIFF and HBO. Shor in the City was officially selected for the Pusan International Film Festival and the Dubai International Film Festival in 2011. The film won the Best Director Award at MIAAC in New York. In 2014, Desai was seen in the lead role for the feature film titled One by Two directed by Devika Bhagat and produced by Amit Kapoor cynosure networkz music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. opposite Abhay Deol. In 2017 Desai appeared in the thriller "The Bachelor Next Door" Directed by Michael Feifer. Starring Michael Welch, Tyler Johnson and Haylie Duff. Playing the role of Jen Green. Additional credits include "The Work Wife" for Amazon prime, playing the role of Katie, and "Saving My Baby" for Lifetime. 2019 Preeti shot for the comedy pilot series "Woman Up" Written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones, for ABC and 20th Century Fox Television.Starring Mary Elizabeth Ellis and Tawny Newsome.
Public image
Desai was listed as one of Time's 50 Most Desirable Women and People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2011. Esquire magazine featured Desai as 'A Woman we love' and wrote "The first thing you notice about Preeti Desai are her slinky long legs, model physique and huge doe-like brown eyes. Then she opens her mouth and a strong Northern English accent burst out – a nostalgic flashback reminiscent of the old Boddingtons adverts that featured glamorous, sophisticated women but, humourously, with pronounced Manchester accents. The down-to-earth naughty humoured breath of fresh air walk's in and preambles." Top Indian designer Anita Dongre known for never using showstoppers in her runway shows, for the first time in August 2012 asked Desai to close the show at fashion week. Questioning Dongre on why she wanted Desai to don the final piece, Anita Dongre said "I saw no one else but Preeti in my showstopper design, she makes all my designs look beautiful, and she has the right elegance, confidence and poise."
