Padma Lakshmi is an Indian-born American author, actress, model, television host, and executive producer. She is the host of the international cooking competition show Top Chef. Lakshmi has appeared in films such as Boom and The Mistress of Spices, where she appeared alongside Aishwarya Rai Bachan, and in the television series Star Trek: Enterprise. She also had a role in the series The Ten Commandments alongside Omar Sharif. Lakshmi has contributed to the daytime talk show The View, hosted cooking shows, and published cookbooks. She has also produced the series Taste the Nation With Padma Lakshmi.