May 7, 1993, born Erica Fernandes became a household name with her characters, Dr. Sonakshi Bose, in Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi and Prerna Sharma in Kasautii Zindagii Kay. But did you know before making her television debut, she has already worked in multiple regional films? In fact, EJF (as she christens herself) has also made her Bollywood debut before making it big in the series. All pictures/Erica Jennifer Fernandes' Instagram account

Born to Ralph Fernandes and Lavina Fernandes, Erica is a true blue Mumbaikar. The actress, who belongs to a Konkani Mangalorean Catholic family, completed her schooling at Holy Cross High School, Kurla and later pursued her pre-degree course at SIES College, Sion. She had enrolled for a BA degree from St Andrew's College, Bandra; however, she discontinued her studies to pursue modelling.

After taking part in various pageants since 2010, Erica won the Pantaloons Femina Miss Maharashtra 2011 amongst others. Her career as a model kickstarted, there was no turning back for EJF. The actress was also selected to play the lead role in the bilingual Virattu/Dega, featuring newcomer Sujiv, son of the director Kumar.

Though Erica Fernandes made her television debut with Sony TV's Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi, her acting debut was the Tamil film Ainthu Ainthu Ainthu. Well, for the unversed, in KRPKAB, she portrayed the character of Dr. Sonakshi Bose opposite Shaheer Sheikh in 2016, Her pairing with Sheikh was appreciated. She won the Asian Viewers Television Award for Female Actor Of The Year and the Lions Gold Award for Best Onscreen Jodi for the same.

In 2018, she played the character, Prerna Sharma, in Star Plus' Kasautii Zindagii Kay opposite rumoured beau Parth Samthaan. She won multiple titles for her character Prerna. Some of them were - Kalakar Award for Most Popular Actress, the Indian Telly Award for Best Onscreen Jodi Popular, the Gold Award for Best Actor Female Critics and the Asian Viewers Television Award for Female Actor Of The Year.

Speaking about her acting debut, director Sasi had seen pictures of her at Meera Kathiravan's office, with whom she was shooting another film when he was casting for Ainthu Ainthu Ainthu. Sasi offered her the role of a software engineer in the film alongside Bharath, who plays her love interest.

In 2014, she made her Kannada debut with the film Ninnindale featuring alongside Puneeth Rajkumar, which was followed by her Hindi debut Babloo Happy Hai, directed by Nila Madhab Panda. In February 2014, Virattu was eventually released. Its Telugu version, however, was pushed to late 2014 and Galipatam became her first Telugu release.

The film received decent reviews from critics, who also noted that Fernandes "does a good job" and "shows maturity". Her delayed film with Kathiravan, Vizhithiru released on 6 October 2017 and sees her feature amongst an ensemble cast including Krishna, Venkat Prabhu and Sara Arjun.

Apart from her regional movie appearances, Erica Fernandes said in an old interview with mid-day, "I am very excited as 'Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi' is my first show on television and I am thrilled about this new adventure in my career. It is an honour to be associated with such a fantastic team."

"As a child I have always wanted to have my fingers in many pies and working on television was always on my checklist," she added. Talking about her co-star Shaheer, Erica said: "He is a really cheerful and sweet person. We hit it off instantly. But don’t fall for his innocent face as he is very naughty and loves every bit of being a brat."

Taking a cue from the a track on her show (Kasautii Zindagii Kay) Erica Fernandes took the opportunity to appreciate all the women who believe to be strong, independent and took the liberty to work even during their pregnancy.

In fact, she also shared how her character Prerna, from Kasautii Zindagii Kay has inspired her to work during and after pregnancy. "Firstly, no one has the right to limit or restrict anyone's ambitions or dreams. Personally, I believe that there is no wrong if you are taking care of yourself and then you are putting a few hours towards your ambitions or dreams."

"There are so many women like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Neha Dhupia and Kalki Koechlin who have beautifully balanced their personal as well as professional life and have been an inspiration to us," Erica Fernandez further added.

The makers of Kasautii Zindagii Kay have released #AnuNePreKoKyonMaara! on social media, leaving the fans in a frenzy. Anurag killing Prerna truly signifies the death of love and betrayal at its peak. Anurag's sister Nivedita Basu, played by Pooja Banerjee and many other co-stars have shared multiple videos about the same. Is this the death of Anurag and Prerna as a couple on television or this just another bend in the road? Only time will tell what's in store for the viewers of Kasautii Zindagii Kay.

Speaking of Erica Fernandes' personal life, the actress made a confession in a media interaction lately. She said how she has been dating someone who does not belong to the industry.

In a live chat on Instagram, Erica opened up about her relationship status. "I am not single. I am in a relationship and he's not from the industry. It's been over three years now. We are very good friends. We speak about all kinds of nonsense..he doesn't like watching me romance any other guy on screen."

Erica Fernandes also mentioned how her linking rumours with Parth and her previous co-star Shaheer Sheikh forced her to speak about her love life in public. "Kahin na kahin toh effect hota hai ..(somewhere it does have an effect) and that's why I wanted to come out and talk about it," the actress concluded.