Karishma Kotak is a British Indian model, actress and television presenter, best known for her work as the Kingfisher Girl in the Kingfisher Calendar, which was shot in Australia in 2006 by Atul Kasbekar. She has endorsed a vast range of national and international brands, including the likes of Tanishq, Toni & Guy, Vogue, Elle, Ralph Lauren and FCUK, appearing in a number of their commercial ads and magazines. Karishma has also worked in a few music videos and also participated in the Indian television reality show "Bigg Boss Season 6". She has also hosted a few events such as the 2013 Indian Premier League auction and TV shows such as "Extraaa Innings", a post match analysis of the 2013 Indian Premier League (Season 6), alongside co-hosts Rochelle Maria Rao, Samir Kochhar and Gaurav Kapoor. Besides, Karishma has featured in Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Punjabi films. She was last seen in &TV`s show "Darr Sabko Lagta Hai", as Archana in its thirteenth episode and as the presenter in Life OK"s Hindi comedy talent hunt show "Mazak Mazak Mein", which was judged by cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Harbhajan Singh.
Early Life and Education of Karishma Kotak
Karishma Kotak was born on May 26, 1982 in North West London, England. She did a part of her schooling in a boarding school. She later pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in Advertising and Marketing. Initially, she wanted to become a teacher and had enrolled herself for a course in teaching.
Modelling Career of Karishma Kotak in United Kingdom
Karishma Kotak began her modelling career at the age of 16 in England, working for magazines like Just Seventeen and other projects. When she was around 20, she visited India and realized the huge potential that the Indian fashion and film industry had to offer. In the meantime, she continued doing projects and fashion shows in the UK and Europe, including regional campaigns. She did catalogue work for brands like Toni & Guy and FCUK. In 2004, she walked the ramp for the London Fashion Week. She was also a presenter for a UK television show "The Karisma Show", which dealt with entertainment, movies and lifestyle.
Modelling Career of Karishma Kotak in India
Karishma Kotak moved to Mumbai, India in September 2005. Within two months of her moving, she got the opportunity to work with a calendar published by the United Breweries Group, the 2006 Kingfisher Calendar, which was shot in Australia by Atul Kasbekar. The project shot her to limelight in Indian fashion, opening doors for many offers. She ended up accepting several offers for television commercials and promotional campaigns for prominent Indian brands such as Dove, Pond`s, Wella Hair Color, Titan Xylus, Diesel, Tanishq, Saffola, Sagar Sarees, Rang Sarees, Alapatt Jewels, Kalyan Silks, Elmore, Achakottil Jewels, CMR Grand and Sobha Wedding Galaxy. As a brand ambassador for Dove, she was featured on huge billboards and hoardings in major cities across the country. In April 2012, she featured in two TV commercials for Idea Cellular with Abhishek Bachchan. Karishma was next hired by VVF Limited for the television advertisement of their bathing soap bar, Jo, which got released in May 2012. In July the same year, she featured in another TV commercial for Relaxo Footwear, alongside Salman Khan.
Karishma has also appeared in several magazines, including as the cover girl, such as Vogue, FHM, Asian Woman, Maxim, OK!, Hello!, Elle and Snoop. The March-April 2008 issue of Time n Style beauty magazine featured Karishma on its cover page with the title "Eye, Me & Myself - Let your eyes speak". She also appeared as the cover girl on FHM (India) magazine, in the April 2013 issue that captioned "IPL"s hottest presenter - Karishma Kotak". She has also modelled for brands like FCUK and Ralph Lauren. She has walked the ramp for the Lakme Fashion Week 2006, Asiana Bridal Show, M.A.C. Cosmetics, Provogue, Titan Xylus launch 2006, India Fashion Street - Fashion Tour 2012 and Kochi International Fashion Week Season 2. She walked the ramp as a show stopper displaying Manali Jagtap"s collection at a fashion show held in Mumbai in March 2013.
Karishma Kotak has also acted in a few music videos, the prominent of which is the 2004 music video "Me Against Myself", by British singer and songwriter Jay Sean. She also appeared in the music video for Sonu Nigam and Sapna Mukherjee"s track “Madbhariâ€, which was released in 2006. In 2007, she worked in an English-Hindi music video titled "Belly Dancing", by reggae DJ Apache Indian.
Television Career of Karishma Kotak
Karishma Kotak has also been a television presenter. After getting some initial exposure in London presenting "The Karisma Show", she worked as a presenter for India-related TV show called "Spa Diaries", targeted at high-end international audiences. She next worked with a travel show called "It"s In". In November 2010, she participated in a Telugu dance reality show, "Naacho Rrey" that aired on Zee Telugu. Later in October 2012, she participated in the popular Indian reality show "Bigg Boss Season 6" that aired on the Colors channel. However, she had to make an emergency exit from the Bigg Boss house after spending nearly four weeks, due to her father"s demise. After about 15 days of her exit, Karishma re-entered the show on day 42, before eventually getting evicted in December 2012, surviving for 80 days. She made a special appearance on the show later as a presenter, on the day before the finale in January 2013. She said about the recognition she received from the show, putting that the opportunities coming her way increased.
In February 2013, Karishma presented the 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) auction, held at Chennai and broadcast live by Sony SIX. She went on to host "Extraaa Innings", the televised show focussing on the post and pre match analysis of IPL Season 6, in April-May 2013 broadcast on SET Max. In 2015, Karishma appeared in the 13th episode of Season 1 of "Darr Sabko Lagta Hai", an anthology horror fiction series hosted by Bipasha Basu on &TV. She also presented Life OK"s Hindi comedy talent hunt show "Mazak Mazak Mein".
Filmography of Karishma Kotak
Karishma Kotak has also acted in a few multilingual films, highlighted hereunder alongside her roles and years of release.
| Year | Film | Role | Language |
| 2007 | Shankar Dada Zindabad (alongside Chiranjeevi) | Jahnavi | Telugu |
| 2010 | In Ghost House Inn | Dorothy Fernandez | Malayalam |
| 2014 | Joe B. Carvalho | Neena | Hindi |
| 2015 | Luckhnowi Ishq | Sunaina | Hindi |
| 2015 | Love Affair | Hindi | |
| 2016 | Kaptaan | Sam | Punjabi |
