Priyanka Chopra to Kabir Bedi: A History of Indian Stars on International TV

Priyanka Chopra, Quantico The world is Priyanka Chopra's oyster as she breaks new ground in American TV. Priyanka, who will debut as FBI trainee Alex Parrish in ABC Network's drama series Quantico, is the first Indian actor to play the lead in an American television series.

This image was posted on Twitter by Priyanka Chopra

Tina Desai, Sense8 But she has company in Tina Desai, who plays one of the eight main characters in the new Wachowski-produced Netflix series Sense8, a show about eight strangers across the world who find themselves suddenly connected psychically. Tena's character Kala Dandekar lives in Mumbai and has a fiance she doesn't love.

Naveen Andrews, Sense8 Also among the main cast of Sense8 is British-Indian actor Naveen Andrews, who plays a Sensate from a different group of eight.

More Indian Actors in Sense8 Secondary characters in Sense8 are played by Anupam Kher (Kala's father), Purab Kohli (her fiance), and Darshan Jariwala and Mita Vashisht who play Purab's parents.

Shabana Azmi, Capital Veteran actress Shabana Azmi will appear in BBC's miniseries Capital. The television adaptation of John Lanchaster's bestselling novel tracks the transformation of a street in South London with time.

This image was posted on Twitter by Shabana Azmi

Nimrat Kaur, Homeland Actress Nimrat Kaur played ISI agent Tasneem Qureshi on season four of Homeland. The series was nominated in the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Drama Series category at the SAG Aawards this year.

Suraj Sharma, Homeland Life of Pi star Suraj Sharma played medical student Aayan Ibrahim, nephew of a terrorist, on the fourth season of Homeland.

Kunal Nayyar, The Big Bang Theory Actor Kunal Nayyar plays astrophysicist Raj Koothrappali, one of the four young scientists who form the main cast of in the sitcom. Raj's family also appear in some episodes - his parents with who he video chats and his sister Priya who has a brief romance with physicist Leonard Hofstadter.

Mindy Kaling, The Mindy Project Mindy Kaling has her own show now, after starting off as a recurring cast member on the American version of The Office. Her character Kelly Kapoor became part of the main cast from seasons two to eight. The Mindy Project stars the actress as an ob/gyn juggling her personal and professional lives.

Archie Punjabi, The Good Wife British-Indian actress Archie Panjabi has a high-profile role as Kalinda Sharma, the in-house investigator in the law firm that is the setting for The Good Wife. As Kalinda, Archie is inscrutable, fiercely private and occasionally physically violent, but exceptionally good at her job as a private investigator. Archie, whose earliest roles were in East is East and Bend it Like Beckham, also starred in crime drama The Fall till last year.

Indira Varma, Game of Thrones British actress of Indian origin Indira Varma joined the cast of the wildly popular Game of Thrones last year as Ellaria Sand, the paramour of Prince Oberyn Martell of the House Martell. Her character gained prominence after the death of Prince Oberyn, who she avenged by killing Cersei Lannister's daughter Myrcella, betrothed to a Martell.

Aziz Ansari, Parks and Recreation Indian American actor Aziz Ansari started his career as a stand-up comedian in New York. He is best known for playing the role of sarcastic government official Tom Haverford in Parks and Recreation from 2009 to February 2015.

Anil Kapoor, 24 Priyanka's Dil Dhadakne Do co-star Anil Kapoor appeared as a series regular in season eight of the wildly popular 24, playing Kamistan President Omar Hassan. In the Indian adaptation of the series, the actor played the part of Jai Singh Rathod, who is torn between saving his family and country.

Kal Penn, How I Met Your Mother Indian-origin actor Kal Penn appeared in 10 episodes in the seventh season of How I Met your Mother as Robin Scherbatsky's (Cobie Smulders) boyfriend. The actor played the role of a psychologist, who had very interesting insights on the various relationships of Robin's friends.

Dev Patel, The Newsroom Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel was one of the nine main characters of the drama series The Newroom. He portrayed the role of Neal Sampat, writer of Will McAvoy's (Jeff Daniels) blog and electronic media expert.

Sendhil Ramamurthy, Heroes Sendhil Ramamurthy created a stir as genetics professor Mohinder Suresh on Heroes from 2006 to 2010. Sendhil has just reprised the role on Heroes Reborn this year.

The Kumars at 42 Seven-season long TV show The Kumars at 42 was a British sitcom based on a British Indian family and won Emmys in 2002 and 2003. Its cast mainly featured Indian-origin actors including Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal and Indira Joshi.

Irrfan Khan, In Treatment Piku actor Irrfan Khan made a guest appearance in the American drama series In Treatment which was aired on HBO for three seasons, starting the year 2008.

Shilpa Shetty, Celebrity Big Brother In 2007, Shilpa Shetty found herself in the middle of a race row as a participant in the British Celebrity Big Brother 5. She emerged as the big winner, bagging 63 percent of the public vote.

Padma Lakshmi, Ten Commandments The American actress of Indian origin, shared screen space with Naveen Andrews in ABC's 2006 miniseries Ten Commandments. In the 2004-2005 British TV series Sharpe's Challenge , the actress portrayed the role of Madhuvanthi.

Saeed Jaffrey, Tandooori Nights Way back in 1985, Indian actor Saeed Jaffrey led a cast of ethnic-origin actors in the series Tandoori Nights. The Gandhi actor also featured in several other series like Little Napoleons and The Jewel in The Crown in the '80s and '90s.

Kabir Bedi Octopussy villain Kabir Bedi was really the first crossover TV star appearing in American soaps Dynasty, General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful. He became a superstar in Italy in '70s show Sandokan. He also had roles in Knight Rider, Magnum PI and Murder, She Wrote.