Padma Lakshmi is an Indian born actress and model. She is an American cook-book writer, actress, model, television host and executive producer. Padma Lakshmi is a well known name in American television world also.

Early Life of Padma Lakshmi
Padma Lakshmi was born in New Delhi. She is belonging from Iyer Brahmin family. Her father was a Pfizer executive, and her mother, Vijaya, the first wife of her father was a nurse who specialized in oncology. She grew up shuttling between her grandparents in Chennai and her mother in New York. Padma Lakshmi is her parents` only child from this marriage. Her parents separated when she was age one. Both parents later remarried, and Lakshmi has a younger paternal half-brother and half-sister. Padma Lakshmi graduated from Workman High School, home of the Lobos and the giant rock in the City of Industry, California. She is a 1992 graduate of Clark University, in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she received a BA, with Honours, in Theatre Arts.

Early Career of Padma Lakshmi
The career of Padma Lakshmi began at the age of 21. There she was discovered while studying abroad by a modelling agent in Madrid, Spain. The debut cookbook by Padma Lakshmi is Easy Exotic won her the "Best First Book" award at the 1999 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. Padma Lakshmi has been the host of the US reality television program Top Chef since season two in 2006, for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program. In 2010, Top Chef won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program. Padma Lakshmi has modelled for top designers such as Emanuel Ungaro, Giorgio Armani, Gianni Versace, Ralph Lauren, and Alberta Ferretti and appeared in ad campaigns for Roberto Cavalli and Versus.

Television Career of Padma Lakshmi
The first role of Padma Lakshmi was in an Italian murder mystery Il figlio di Sandokan and her subsequent role in Caraibi (Pirates: Blood Brothers), a costume drama about 17th-century pirates got Padma Lakshmi hooked on acting in 1999. She had a comical supporting role as the lip synching disco singer Sylk in the 2001 American movie Glitter with Mariah Carey. She starred in the 2003 film Boom as Shiela Bardez, one of a trio of super models accused of stealing diamonds. She played the role of Geeta in Paul Mayeda Berges` 2005 film The Mistress of Spices. Padma Lakshmi served as hostess of Domenica In, Italy`s top-rated television show in 1997. She made a 2002 guest appearance as alien princess Kaitaama in "Precious Cargo", the 37th episode of the science fiction TV series Star Trek: Enterprise. Padma Lakshmi portrayed nemesis of Sean Bean, Madhuvanthi in the 2004-2005 TV series Sharpe`s Challenge. In 2006, Padma Lakshmi appeared in ABC`s TV series The Ten Commandments with Dougray Scott, Naveen Andrews, and Omar Sharif. Padma Lakshmi serves as lead host and judge on the television show Top Chef, joining in 2006 during its second season, and was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program as co-host in 2007. Lakshmi was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program in 2009 for Top Chef. The show won the Emmy for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program in 2010. She is also an Executive Producer of the show.

Writing Career of Padma Lakshmi
Padma Lakshmi had a syndicated column in "The New York Times" and has written articles on style for the American edition of Vogue magazine, at Anna Win tour"s request. She also wrote a column on style in Harper`s Bazaar, following a commission from Editor Glenda Bailey.

Personal Life of Padma Lakshmi
Padma Lakshmi married the novelist Salman Rushdie on 17th April 2004, to whom she was introduced at a party in 1999 hosted by the journalist and editor Tina Brown. Later both of them divorced.