Tara Deshpande is an Indian actress-turned-chef-turned-author. She is also a former model and has worked as an MTV Video Jockey (VJ). She started her career as a model for multiple brands and also ventured into acting on several Bollywood films. Tara is also an author and she published her first book, titled "Fifty and Done", at the age of 23. Since her marriage to an American citizen in 2000, Tara has been residing in Boston, United States (US), where she ran a catering agency.

Early Life of Tara Deshpande
Tara Deshpande was born on December 8, 1975, to Shankar Deshpande and Parvati Deshpande, and was raised in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in a Marathi family. She studied at Cathedral and John Connon School, where she was an avid competitive chess player, and then subsequently in St. Xavier"s College, from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics.

Career of Tara Deshpande
Tara Deshpande started her career as a model, and was a finalist at the Miss India beauty pageant held in the year 1994. She, however, was hospitalized with severe jaundice and hence could not make it to the finals. She modelled in brand endorsements for Pantene Pro-V Shampoo, Raymond, Wipro and Shikakai. She also worked as a VJ for the MTV Channel and was regular on the Mumbai stage. She later ventured into theatre. She acted in Alyque Padamsee`s stage play "Begum Sumroo", playing the titular role of Begum Sumroo.

She then made her foray into films and appeared in Sudhir Mishra`s 1996 Hindi thriller "Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin. She was next seen in the 1998 Bollywood film "Bada Din", in the pivotal role of Nandini Shom alongside Shabana Azmi and Marc Robinson. The same year, she appeared in another critically recognized movie "Bombay Boys", a comedy movie. Her portrayal of the character Dolly in the film was praised. She also appeared in the films "Tapish (2000) and "Style" (2001). She played the pivotal role of Kiran Jaywant in the 2002 Ajay Phansekar film "Encounter: The Killing", alongside actors Naseeruddin Shah and Dilip Prabhavalkar. She was also signed to act in David Dhawan"s "Kyo Kii... Main Jhuth Nahin Bolta", alongside Govinda and Sushmita Sen, but was replaced by Rambha as David Dhawan was unable to contact her due to her relocating to the US.

Post marriage in 2000, Tara Deshpande moved to the US, where she attended intensive classes at the French Culinary Institute in New York and the Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France. She started her own catering agency, Azalea Catering, in the US in 2004. She also taught at culinary schools in New York and Boston for 7 years. Her cooking show, "Great Chocolate Cooking", was featured on a PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) channel and her recipes and food stories have appeared in several newspapers of U.S.A.

Tara had begun her literary career at the age of 23, when she had her first book, a collection of short stories and verse titled "Fifty and Done", published in 1999 by Harper Collins in India. She has also authored "A Love of Any Kind", another collection of short stories. Her culinary book "A Sense for Spice: Recipes and Stories from a Konkan Kitchen" was published in 2012 by Westland Publishers, and became a best seller. Tara has also written an online article titled "Kagazi", for Lok Vani and has also authored an online suspense thriller "The Motive", which allows internet users to make their own contributions to the story, though she will use her discretion to edit the contributions and write the final chapter on her own.

Filmography of Tara Deshpande
Tara Deshpande has acted in several Bollywood films, which are enlisted below:


•"Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin" in 1997

•"Bada Din" in 1998

•"Bombay Boys" in 1998

•"Tapish" in 2000

•"Style" in 2001

•"Encounter: The Killing" in 2002

•"Danger" in 2002

Personal Life of Tara Deshpande
On April 29, 2000, Tara Deshpande got married to Boston-based American citizen Daniel Tennebaum in the traditional Jewish style. The traditional Hindu wedding took place at her Mumbai residence in January 2002.