Shibani Dandekar is an Indian model-turned-actress, anchor, and singer who primarily works in the Hindi film industry. Shibani’s career began on American television, where she initially worked as an anchor. Following her return to India, Shibani hosted several TV shows and eventually appeared in films: making her debut with the Marathi film Timepass (2014) - she performed a dance number in the movie. The actress has also starred in the films Roy (2015) Shandaar (2015), and Noor (2017). In 2017, she made a special appearance in the song “Baby Besharam” in the movie Naam Shabana.
Early Life
Shibani was born in a Maharashtrian chitpavan family in Pune, Maharashtra, India, and is the eldest amongst her siblings - Anushka Dandekar, who is a Bollywood actress and singer, and Apeksha Dandekar, who is a singer. Her majority of childhood was spent growing up in London, Australia, and Africa, and it was in 2001 that the actress moved to New York, USA.
Television Career
Shibani started her career in the USA by hosting several television shows viz. Namaste America, Asian Variety Show, and V Desi. While she was in America, she also hosted An Evening with Shah Rukh Khan in Atlantic City. Upon returning to India, the actress took up modeling and began working as an anchor. She hosted several major events for brands such as Nike, Mercedes. Rolls Royce, Toyota, JBL, and Puma. She also anchored the Sony launch of the tribute to Michael Jackson - This is it.
2010 saw her hosting Men 2.0 on AXN and a couple of years later she appeared as a contestant on the fifth season of Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, a dance reality competition. In 2011, she also started co-hosting ‘Extra Innings’ - a cricket talk show aired during the Indian Premier League. Shibani also received a nomination for Best Anchor Game/Quiz Show at the 11th Indian Television Academy Awards.
Movie Career
Shibani made her feature debut in 2014 with the Marathi movie Timepass appearing in the song Hi Poli Saajuk - which became an instant hit amongst the audience. In the same year, she was seen in another dance number in the Marathi movie Sangharsh. The following year she made her Bollywood debut with the movie Roy (2015) essaying the role of Zoya. She followed this up with the movie Shaandar (2015) portraying the role of Sonia.
In 2017, Shibani made a special appearance in the song “Baby Besharam” in the movie Naam Shabana that stars Taapsee Pannu in the lead role. Her other release of 2017 includes the movie Noor directed by Sunhil Sippy.