Early life

Preeya was born to Gujarati parents. Born in Isleworth, she was raised in Twickenham, south-west London, the daughter of an independent financial adviser father, and mother who works for British Airways. She started ballet classes at the age of three, and tap at five. She then trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London. She also trained at Songtime Theatre Arts.heritage.

Career

1998-2010

Kalidas first appeared on screen in the drama Googleyes. She went on to play Usha in a short film called Jump Boy in 1998, directed by Menhaj Huda and written by Harsha Patel. After a number of parts in films and on television, including East is East, Bollywood Queen, My Family and Casualty, in 2002 she appeared as Monica in Gurinder Chadha's film Bend It Like Beckham. She then played the female lead Priya in the Andrew Lloyd Webber-produced show Bombay Dreams, written by A.R. Rahman, Meera Syal and Don Black. She also appeared in the BBC Television series Bodies as Dr. Maya Dutta.

In 2007, Kalidas landed the female lead in a West End revival of Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Appearing as the narrator, she performed with Lee Mead, who won the title role of Joseph in BBC One's Any Dream Will Do talent search series. The same year, she appeared in the multi-award-winning Channel 4 miniseries Britz. In 2009, Kalidas appeared in the second series of BBC One's Mistresses, and joined EastEnders in April of that year as Amira Shah, the girlfriend, and later wife of Syed Masood. In January 2010, she decided to quit EastEnders to pursue a pop career. Her final episode was broadcast on 26 April 2010. In July 2011, Kalidas revealed that she would be returning to EastEnders in the latter part of 2011. Kalidas, then left the show in March 2012. In September 2012, it was announced that Kalidas was returning to EastEnders briefly to conclude with the departures of Marc Elliott and John Partridge who play Syed Masood and Christian Clarke respectively.

Kalidas appeared in Hotel Babylon as Aisha Chaudhri, the daughter of a rich Indian hotel owner. She also appeared in the music video "Love Is Blind" by Ramzi featuring Ash King. In December 2009, she played the part of Leanne in ITV comedy drama Mister Eleven. She starred in the 2010 Chris Morris feature film Four Lions playing Sofia, the wife of protagonist Omar (played by Riz Ahmed). The film was released on 7 May.

After leaving EastEnders, Kalidas began to pursue a career in music, and managed to sign a record deal with Universal Records. Her debut single, "Shimmy", featuring Mumzy Stranger, was released on 26 July 2010. Kalidas appeared on several programmes including the National Lottery Results and Loose Women in promotion of the single. The single received mixed reviews, including BBC Newsround, who only awarded the song three stars, giving it a negative review. Ruth Harrison from FemaleFirst stated that she 'liked the single' but is not keen on the genre of music.

Kalidas stated in an interview with Digital Spy that her album will consist of a variety of genres. She also confirmed that the album would include collaborations with Bashy, Skepta, Schorcer, Ramzi and Mumzy Stranger. Kalidas' collaboration with Skepta, "Cross My Heart", was released in October 2010 as the lead single from Skepta's second studio album, Doin' It Again, however, at the time of release, Kalidas firmly stated its inclusion on her debut album.

2011-present

In 2011, it was announced that due to poor sales of "Shimmy", Kalidas would no longer be releasing an album with Universal Records. In the same month Kalidas was awarded the Best Female Act award at the UK Asian Music Awards, where she performed a new song, "I Like You", alongside "Shimmy" and her collaboration with Skepta, "Cross My Heart". In July 2011, Kalidas signed a new record deal with All Around The World. In September 2011, Kalidas' second single, "It's A Problem", premiered on YouTube. The single features vocals from rapper Scorcher, who had previously been rumoured to appear on the album. The music video for "It's A Problem" premiered on 3 October 2011. The digital package of the single was released on 10 October, containing "I Like You", as well as a further new song, "Dirty Kissin'". Kalidas announced the album's third single, "A Woman Scorn" during an interview on Lorraine in November 2011. However it was never released. In June 2012, Kalidas eventually released her third single titled; "Love Between Us" which featured British producer, DaVinChe, on backing vocals. Her debut album is due for release in 2013.

In March 2014, Kalidas released the single Don't Give Up and is currently in the studio for the release of her upcoming debut studio album in 2015. In April 2014 she released a new single called Can't Live Without You. Both singles will appear on the album. She has also covered a variety of tracks including Beyonce's track Blue.

In June 2015, Kalidas will begin playing the role of Pinky, in the new West End musical Bend It Like Beckham. She previously played the role of Monica in the film version.

Discography

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions	Album
		UK
2002	"Shakalaka Baby"	38	Bombay Dreams OST
2010	"Shimmy"	85	Constant Craving
2011	"It's A Problem"	-
2012	"Love Between Us"	197

Featured singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions	Album
		UK
2010	"Fantasy"	88	The Great Escape
	"Cross My Heart"	31	Doin' It Again

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Metrosexuality	Flora
2001	The Bill	Nadia
2001	My Family	Miranda
2001	Casualty	Sherilyn Tilson
2003	Bedtime	Mumtaz
2004	England Expects	Assma
2004	Bodies	Dr. Maya Dutta
2005	Broken News	Anita Ratchathani
2006	Green Wing	Newsagent
2007	Britz	Shaz
2009	Mistresses	Carrie
2009	Hotel Babylon	Aisha Chaudhri
2009	Mister Eleven	Leanne
2009-12	EastEnders	Amira Masood	Regular role
2013	Bollywood Carmen Live	Carmen
2014	Casualty	Sonja Egan

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Virtual Sexuality	Charlotte
1999	East Is East	Nazir's Bride
2002	Bend It Like Beckham	Monica
2003	Bollywood Queen	Geena
2004	Bombay Dreams	Priya
2010	It's a Wonderful Afterlife	Karishma
2010	Four Lions	Sofia

Awards and nominations

Television

Awards	Year	Category	Result	Production	Role
British Soap Awards	2010	Sexiest Female	Nominated	EastEnders	Amira Masood
	2012	Sexiest Female	Shortlisted
Inside Soap Awards	2009	Best Family (for Masood family)	Longlisted
	2010	Best Wedding (with Marc Elliott)	Won
All About Soap Awards	2010	Bride and Doom	Nominated

Music

Awards	Year	Category	Result	Role
UK Asian Music Awards	2011	Best Female Act	Won	Herself
	2012	Best Female Act	Won	Herself

[ Source: Wikipedia ]