Avika Gor who won hearts with her role as Anandi in Balika Vadhu is one of the television industry's most popular actresses today. Avika, who is 25-years-old now, was only 11 when she joined the cast of Balika Vadhu. Her claim to fame was playing the child bride, but she quit the show after it took a five-year leap in 2010 and Pratyusha Banerjee was brought in as grown-up Anandi. (All photos/Avika Gor's official Instagram account and mid-day archives)

Avika Gor hails from a Gujarati-speaking family and has finished her education in Mumbai. She has been modelling from an early age

Avika Gor excelled in her studies and has done a course in filmmaking. She is also fond of dancing and singing as well

After Balika Vadhu, the very next year Avika Gor joined the cast of the popular TV show Sasural Simar Ka. Avika was barely 15 years old then, but she played an 18-year-old married woman in the show

Avika Gor won several awards for her role in Balika Vadhu and gained fame internationally as well

Avika Gor had a small role in Shahid Kapoor starrer Paathshaala in 2010. She played one of the school students in the movie

Avika Gor entered Telugu filmdom with Uyyala Jampala in 2013 and bagged the Best Debut Actress Award at the South Indian International Movie Awards

Avika Gor went on to act in several Telugu films after this which include, Lakshmi Raave Maa Intiki, Cinema Choopistha Mava, Maanja, Ekkadiki Pothavu Chinnavada and Raju Gari Gadhi 3. Avika also acted in the Kannada film Care of Footpath 2

Avika Gor was presented with the Face of the Year Award at an awards event in Vietnam. She is the first Indian actress to have received this accolade

Avika Gor has achieved success at an early age and has been part of several successful campaigns such as the one against child marriage

Apart from acting, Avika Gor enjoys going behind the camera. She was quoted saying, 'This (directing short films) started because of Manish Raisinghania's and my fans. Back then in 'Sasural...', there were no romantic scenes between me and Manish. Fans wanted us to see us together. So, we wrote a five-minute script and put it on YouTube. People really liked it.'

Avika Gor collaborated with Manish Raisinghania for a short film titled Ankahee Baatein. Talking about her collaboration, Avika told IANS, "Manish was always into photography. I was also learning with him. It was interesting then we thought to do something from the heart, and then we started making films. Now, our film is travelling to different parts of the world."

They launched the poster of their short movie Ankahee Baatein at the 69th Cannes Film Festival's Short Film Corner. But the news of the two dating kept popping up. Was she affected? 'Absolutely not. I was 13 when all of this (dating rumours) started. He was 32. So there was no point of even thinking about stupid stuff like this. Whenever those articles came, we laughed it off.'

Avika Gor essayed the lead in 'Laado - Veerpur Ki Mardaani' which was the second season of the show 'Na Aana Is Des Laado' which ran from 2009 to 2012. The second season ran from 2017 to 2018

Avika Gor, who played a law student in 'Laado - Veerpur Ki Mardaani', is in favour of children watching cartoons as she finds them educative

It is interesting to note that Avika Gor's co-star Palak Jain, who played Avika's younger sister in 'Laado - Veerpur Ki Mardaani' is older than her in real life. Palak is 26 while Avika is 22.

Avika Gor likes to experiment with new looks especially her hair which she keeps styling

Avika Gor participated in Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 9. However, she got eliminated in Week 2 itself. She has also been part of reality shows like Kitchen Champion 5 and Khatra Khatra Khatra

Avika Gor also featured on Vahbiz Dorabjee's chat show 'Showbiz with Vahbiz'

Avika Gor says there was a time when she wanted to focus on directing films and quit acting. She took a break for some time but not because she wasn't getting offers. 'There were a few (shows that I turned down) because I was not ready to come back to TV. That was the biggest reason and not because the stories were bad. I had taken a break for a reason... to focus on filmmaking studies and making films. I was also travelling for festivals. I wanted to find out whether I wanted to act or not,' Avika told IANS

Avika Gor is very active on her Instagram and other social media platforms. As of today she has close to 1.2 million followers on Instagram

Avika Gor has certainly come a long way! We wish the pretty lady a very happy birthday!