Isha Sharvani is an Indian-Australian contemporary dancer and actress. She is known for her stylistic Indian contemporary and

aerial dance Aerial modern dance is a subgenre of modern dance first recognized in the United States in the 1970s. The choreography incorporates an apparatus that is often attached to the ceiling, allowing performers to explore space in three dimensions. ...

performances. She has also starred in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

movies.

Early life

Isha was born in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India as the eldest daughter of acclaimed danseuse Daksha Sheth and Australian musician father Dev Issaro from Perth. She lived in Ahmedabad, from where she moved to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

Vrindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance in Hinduism as Krishna spent most of his childho ...

and

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

, before settling down in

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populatio ...

. She has a younger brother named Tao Issaro, who is a noted percussionist. Isha's parents founded an arts school called Academy for Art Research, Training and Innovation (AARTI) in Trivandrum,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

, where she lived for 13 or 14 years. At the age of thirteen, she began formal learning in dance from her mother Daksha Sheth at her dance school and learned Kalaripayattu,

Kathak Kathak ( hi, कथक; ur, کتھک) is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance. It is the classical dance from of Uttar Pradesh. The origin of Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern Ind ...

and

Chhau dance Chhau dance, also spelled Chhou dance, is a semi classical Indian dance with martial and folk traditions. It is found in three styles named after the location where they are performed, i.e. the ''Purulia Chhau'' of West Bengal, the ''Seraikell ...

as well as giving performances in 22 countries over last seven years. According to an interview with India Daily, Isha stated she "lived a different life poles apart from the film industry. For 11 years I have been training eight to 10 hours a day in a very disciplined atmosphere where there is no distinction between boys and girls. I was not supposed to cry over a clipped nail. Beyond stage even my wardrobe has mostly unisexual dresses, jeans and T-shirts". She is a trained Malkam dancer, a type of folk dance.

Career

Isha Sharwani, Salman Khan on the sets of 'Jhalak Dikhhlaa Jaa 5'(8)

Isha never gave acting in films much priority, until she was spotted by filmmaker Subhash Ghai, who required someone with dancing skills to perform in his movie ''

Kisna ''Kisna: The Warrior Poet'' is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language period romance film written, edited, produced and directed by Subhash Ghai and starring Vivek Oberoi (who plays the title role), Antonia Bernath, and Isha Sharvani. The musical film ...

'' (2005). He offered her a main role in the film opposite

Vivek Oberoi Vivek Anand Oberoi (born 3 September 1976) is an Indian actor who mainly works in Hindi cinema, in addition to working in few Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil films. Early life Vivek Oberoi was born in Hyderabad, Telangana, to a Pu ...

. The film did not do well. She was also the dancer opposite Hritik Roshan in the Parle Hide & Seek commercial, performing a much appreciated dance duet with Hrithik Roshan. Since then she has continued her dance performances on stage, as well as signing for several movies which were released in 2006 and 2007. She appeared as a female lead in the Hindi comedy ''

Darwaza Bandh Rakho ''Darwaza Bandh Rakho'' ( ''Keep the Door Shut'') is an Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by J. D. Chakravarthy, cinematography by Chota K. Naidu and released in 2006. The film was remade in Telugu in 2011 as '' Money Money, More Mone ...

'' in 2006. She is currently the lead dancer in the Daksha Sheth Dance Company, and has performed in front of live audiences throughout the world, including Mumbai, London, Perth and Muscat. In 2012, Isha was a participant in the dance reality show, '' Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'' Season 5, which was aired on Colors TV and earned acclaim for her dance performances in the show. In 2013, she played the titular role as a housebreaker in the

short film ''Esha'', a part of the anthology ''

5 Sundarikal ''5 Sundarikal'' ( en, 5 Beautiful Women) is a Malayalam romantic anthology film. It contains five short stories on love about five types of women. The stories are directed by Shyju Khalid, Sameer Thahir, Aashiq Abu, Amal Neerad and Anwar Rashee ...

''. In 2014, Sharvani played the lead role in the Malayalam film ''Iyobinte Pustakam'', as an

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The '' Oxford English ...

illegitimate child of a British landlord and an ethnic tribal Indian mother. In 2015, Sharvani played the titular role in the Malayalam movie

Double Barrel "Double Barrel" is a 1970 reggae single by Dave and Ansell Collins (though credited in both the UK and the U.S. to 'Dave and Ansil Collins'). It was the second reggae tune to top the UK charts, two years after Desmond Dekker's number 1 breakth ...

Filmography

Reality television

;As contestant

References

External links