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With a name that means ‘eyes that see beautiful things’ Sunetra jumped at the opportunity to support Sightsavers.

The actress, who is currently playing Dr Zoe Hanna on the BBC’s Casualty, explained why she decided to get involved:

“My family originally comes from Kolkata and on my visits to India I am always aware of the huge differences between the standard of living here in the UK and in India, especially in poor urban communities. So many people in India live in unimaginable poverty but life is particularly hard for people with a disability such as blindness.

I count myself as fortunate to have good vision. I cannot think of anything worse than losing my sight and not being able to see my son as he grows up.

To me, being able to give someone their sight back is miraculous! Without such miracles performed by charities like Sightsavers, those in India who lose their sight are also likely to lose their livelihoods, forcing them and their family into greater poverty.”

In October 2009, to mark World Sight Day, and the fact that women are twice as likely as men to be blind, Sunetra spent the day blindfolded to try and understand the plight of the 20 million women around the world who are needlessly blind.

Sunetra, who has a degree in Business and French from Brunel University, has enjoyed playing a wide variety of roles. Her initial success came when she was cast as Nisha Batra in the Channel 4 soap Brookside. She played this character from 1988 to 1990, returning between 2000 until 2003. She also starred in the short-lived regional soap London Bridge.

This was followed by one of her best-known roles, Anji Mittel in medical drama No Angels from 2004 to 2006. Her next big part was that of Clare Burns in BBC drama The Chase. After which she joined the cast of Casualty.

Sunetra currently lives in Bristol with her husband Nick, and four year old son, Noah.