NAACP Image Awards: Archie Panjabi and ‘The Good Wife' nominated

After nearly three incredible seasons, the successful CBS series, 'The Good Wife', is among the 2012 NAACP Image Awards nominees along with Emmy-award winner Archie Panjabi, who gives life to the show's mysterious investigator, Kalinda Sharma.

A multi-cultural awards ceremony, NAACP Image Awards honors the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts (television, motion picture, recording, literature, writing and directing), as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice through their creative accomplishments. Since September 2009, when The Good Wife pilot aired on CBS, the show has been recognized many times, earning nine awards – Emmy and Golden Globe included – and 50 nominations. The show brought on screens not just some of the most intriguing story lines and stellar performances, but, apparently, the highest number of non-Caucasians in the cast, with Panjabi featuring prominently. At her first job in American television, Panjabi stood out thanks to her outstanding portrayal of Lockhart/Gardner’s in-house private investigator, Kalinda Sharma, who also happens to be bisexual and awfully private. Hence, Panjabi’s first well-deserved Emmy nod and award in 2010 came as no surprise. Also, her character‘s personality fascinates to such a large extent that is now thoroughly studied at Harvard. Born in Edgware, Middlesex in England on May 31, 1972, Panjabi considers herself “Part Bombayite, part British.” She debuted in film in 1999 in the British hit East is East and continued to play in blockbusters films like Yasmin (2004) and A Mighty Heart (2007). Her role in Yasmin got her the Shooting Star Award at the 2005 Berlinale and Best Actress award at Reims Festival in 2006. NAACP Image Awards nominations add to The Good Wife’s recognition in the industry for the show’s racial diversity and for promoting minority talent like Panjabi, who has been named by the New York Times Magazine one of the “Eight Actors Who Turn Television into Art”. Panjabi will be also among the ceremony’s presenters alongside Samuel L. Jackson, Cicely Tyson, LL Cool J, Vanessa Williams, Diahann Carroll, and Hill Harper. The 43rd NAACP Image Awards air live in a two-hour special tonight at 8 on NBC.