[2] In 1997, she earned her MFA at New York University in its Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting Program.

[1] Desai has performed in many Off-Broadway productions, including The Winter’s Tale (2003), playing opposite David Strathairn,[3] and The Tempest (2008), starring Mandy Patinkin.

[4] Her Broadway debut was playing Marta in the Tony Award winning 2006 revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company,[1] in which her rendition of the show-stopping “Another Hundred People” met with critical praise.

[5] Other stage performances include David Schulner's An Infinite Ache in New Haven, Connecticut[6] and as part of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, a benefit production performing "Four Black Dragons" and "Next" from Pacific Overtures by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman.

[7] The 2001 comedy feature film Black Knight starring Martin Lawrence was Desai’s cinema debut.