Melinda Leanna Shankar (born February 18, 1992) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

actress. She is best known for starring as

Alli Bhandari '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Linda Schuyler and Yan Moore. The series is now considered the first incarnation and premiered on CTV on October 14, 2001, and then ended on MTV Canada and ...

in the television series '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' (2008-2015) and as Indira "Indie" Mehta in the YTV series ''How To Be Indie'' (2009-2011), for which she won several awards, including a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series ...

in 2013.

Early life

Melinda Shankar was born on February 18, 1992, in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Canada to

parents of

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Indo-Guyanese Indo-Guyanese or Indian-Guyanese, are people of Indian origin who are Guyanese nationals tracing their ancestry to India and the wider subcontinent. They are the descendants of indentured servants and settlers who migrated from India beginnin ...

descent who immigrated to Canada. She has two older sisters and a brother, who is also an actor. She was raised in

Orleans, Ontario Orleans (; French: ; officially and in French OrléansThe suburb is called ''Orléans'' (with an accent) in French, but is commonly called ''Orleans'' (no accent) in English. The official name in English was changed from ''Orleans'' to ''Orléan ...

, a suburban section of Ottawa. She began studying

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and karate at the age of three. Shankar currently has a black belt in karate. She attended Sir Wilfrid Laurier Secondary School in Ottawa until grade 11 before moving to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

when she was sixteen, following her casting in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' in 2008.

Career

Acting

Shankar began her career as a

child model {{unsourced, date=August 2020 A child model refers to a child who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art, such as photography, painting and sculpture. Practice Artists have used ...

and appeared in numerous print

advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

, including a

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

billboard in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. Shankar's mother was an actress and her paternal grandfather was a director in Guyana. Shankar's father would often drive up to five hours from Ottawa to Toronto for her auditions. In 2008, she debuted as an actress in the popular CTV television series ''Degrassi'', joining the cast as an incoming 9th grade student. Shankar left the show in 2015, after seven seasons. Melinda Shankar and Andra Fuller at 2013 Canadian Screen Awards Nominee Reception

Melinda Shankar and Andra Fuller at 2013 Canadian Screen Awards Nominee Reception

In 2009, she starred in a television series on YTV called ''

How To Be Indie ''How to Be Indie'' is a Canadian television sitcom that aired on YTV from 2009 to 2011 and Disney Channel until 2012. The main character is a 13-year-old Indian-Canadian teenager named Indira "Indie" Mehta. The program is a single-camera seri ...

''. She played the lead role of Indira "Indie" Metha for two seasons. The series aired its final episode in October 24, 2011. For her role, Shankar won a Gemini Award in 2011 and a

in 2013. Shankar was cast in her first feature film, '' Festival of Lights'' in 2010. The movie was filmed on location in New York City and Georgetown, Guyana. Her father served as

production manager In the cinema of the United States, a unit production manager (UPM) is the Directors Guild of America–approved title for the top below-the-line staff position, responsible for the administration of a feature film or television production. Non- ...

for the film due to his familiarity with the locations in Guyana.

Other work

In 2013, Shankar and a longtime childhood friend began working on an image consulting business. On February 22, 2014, Shankar launched ''Miss Conception'', a professional styling and image agency based in Toronto.

Personal life

In 2008, Shankar and her family moved to Toronto when she was cast in ''Degrassi''. She currently resides in North York, a district in Toronto.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Miss Conception Image Agency
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shankar, Melinda 1992 births Living people Actresses from Ottawa Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian child actresses Canadian actresses of Indian descent Canadian people of Indo-Guyanese descent Canadian people of Guyanese descent 21st-century Canadian actresses