Shikha Swaroop (born 23 October 1968) is an Indian actress, and a former

Miss India International Miss India International or Miss International India is a title given to the Indian woman who represents India in the Miss International Pageant, an annual, international beauty pageant held in Japan. Glamanand Supermodel India chooses the India ...

winner. While still in college, she tied Miss India International in 1988 with Shabnam Patel and continued to wear this crown until 1991 when she relinquished it to Preeti Mankotia. No beauty contests were held during 1989 and 1990 due to the demise of the sponsor, Eve's Weekly. The contests resumed after a new sponsor, Femina, took over in 1991. Apart from being crowned Miss India 1988, she won a gold medal in the All India Pistol Shooting Championship in 1988 itself. In addition to modeling and being the brand ambassador for many products she was a fashion model for over 400 shows in India and abroad. She also played

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

on a national level. At 5 feet 11 inches tall, she was the tallest actress at that time. Her career catapulted, but she suffered major setbacks when she became seriously ill.

Career

She appeared in several 1990s

Hindi Films 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 ...

, and on television in '' Chandrakanta'' which was a huge hit. In the 1980s and early 1990s Shikha was considered one of the most desirable women in India. She appeared as a lead in 11 movies, some of which were multi starrers: Anil Sharma's ''

Tahalka ''Tahalka '' () is a 1992 Indian Hindi-language action adventure film directed by Anil Sharma, featuring an ensemble cast including Dharmendra, Naseeruddin Shah, Aditya Pancholi, Javed Jaffrey, Amrish Puri, Mukesh Khanna, Ekta Sohini, Pallavi ...

'', ''

Policewala Gunda Policewala Gunda (Hindi: पुलिसवाला गुण्डा) is a 1995 Indian Hindi-language crime film, which stars Dharmendra, Reena Roy in lead roles. The film turned out to be successful. Plot This movie revolves around a polic ...

'', Pranlal Mehta's ''

Police Public ''Police Public'' is a 1990 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller film, directed by Esmayeel Shroff. The film stars Raaj Kumar, Raj Kiran (Bollywood actor), Raj Kiran, Poonam Dhillon, Naseeruddin Shah, Kabir Bedi and Prem Chopra. The film is a re ...

'', Gulshan Kumar's '' Naag Mani'', ''

Kayda Kanoon Kayda Kanoon (transl. Rules and Regulations) is a 1993 Indian action film directed by Pradeep Mani and produced by Suresh Sharma. It stars Akshay Kumar, Ashwini Bhave, Sudesh Berry, Paresh Rawal and Kader Khan. Cast *Akshay Kumar as Inspecto ...

'', '' Pyar Hua Chori Chori'', ''Cheetah'', '' Thanedarni'' and '' Awaaz De Kahan Hai''. Her other popular TV shows are Himesh Reshammiya's ''Andaaz'', ''Amarprem'', ''Anupama'',

Sunil Agnihotri Sunil Agnihotri is a Bollywood film and TV producer and director. He has been described as the "king of television costume dramas". Work Sunil Agnihotri started as an assistant director and did many films. His last as an assistant was with Lat ...

's ''Yug'' and Siddhant Vision's ''Kahan Se Kahan tak''. She made a comeback with TV serial ''

Kahani Chandrakanta Ki ''Kahani Chandrakanta Ki'' is an Indian fantasy television series based on Devaki Nandan Khatri's second novel ''Chandrakanta Santati''. The series premiered on Sahara One on June 6, 2011, and is produced by known television producer Sunil Agni ...

''. She also played the role of

Kaikeyi Kaikeyi (Sanskrit: कैकेयी, IAST: Kaikeyī) is the second consort of King Dasharatha, and a queen of Ayodhya in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Out of Dasharatha's three wives, Kaikeyi exerts the most influence. Formerly the princess of Kek ...

in the

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 2 October 1992, as the first privately owned TV channel in the country. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Zee TV also ...

show '' Ramayan''.

Personal life

Shikha was married to Army pilot Rajiv Lal, but later they separated.

References

External links

Living people Femina Miss India winners Indian television actresses Female models from Delhi St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Delhi University alumni 1970 births {{India-tv-actor-stub