Mumbai, Dec 20 (IANS): As she turned 40 on Friday, actress Sanjeeda Shaikh said that she needs a lot of love and prayers.

Sanjeeda took to her Instagram, where she shared a string of pictures of herself posing with her homemade sponge cake.

For the caption, she wrote: “Ok Start wishing #happybirthday… Bahut saari #duas aur #pyaar chahiye (Need a lot of prayers and love.)”

Sanjeeda made her acting debut as Nimmo in the 2005 TV series Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa. After that, she appeared as a vamp in the 2007 series Kayamath. In the same year, she participated in a dancing competition show named Nach Baliye 3, with her former husband Aamir Ali. They took home the trophy.

In 2008, she appeared in the serial Kya Dill Main Hai opposite Aamir Ali. In 2014, Sheikh appeared as Durga Thakur, an ambitious and confident young woman, who is seeking justice for her sister, in Ek Hasina Thi and was tagged as the breakthrough of her career.

She appeared in “Ishq Ka Rang Safed”, which was the first time she played an onscreen mother of a 5-year-old child. The actress was then seen in shows such as Gehraiyaan and Love Ka Hai Intezaar.

Sanjeeda made her Hindi film debut with Taish, playing Jahaan opposite Harshvardhan Rane in 2020. She was then seen as the character of Priya in the horror film Kaali Khuhi, opposite Shabana Azmi, Hrithik Roshan-starrer “Fighter” and gained critical acclaim for playing a courtesan named Waheeda in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's series “Heeramandi: : The Diamond Bazaar.”

Talking about “Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar”,the series is about the lives of tawaifs in the red-light district of Heera Mandi in Lahore during the Indian independence movement against the British Empire.

Along with Sanjeeda, the show also stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Richa Chadha, Sharmin Segal Mehta, Taha Shah Badussha, Shekhar Suman and Adhyayan Suman.