Indian origin British actress Archie Panjabi (Archana Kaur Punjabi) has won her first Emmy award -- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series -- for her portrayal of Kalinda Sharma, a bisexual private investigator in the The Good Wife.

Dressed in a black off-shoulder gown by Tadashi Shoji, the 38-year-old actress described the win as a "dream come true", at the 62nd Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.

"When I started in the business in England, just getting a job was a dream. And to receive an Emmy now is just
beyond my wildest dreams...working on The Good Wife for me is like a dream come true," she said.

Panjabi beat off competition from Mad Men's Christina Hendricks and Elisabeth Moss, Rose Byrne of Damages and
Sharon Gless from the Burn Notice to win the top award in the category.

The actress who was born to Sikh parents in West London, began her career with the Om-Puri starrer East is East and went on to star in films like Bend It Like Beckham and Academy award nominated The Constant Gardener.

Panjabi is one of the few performers of Asian descent to have won an Emmy, and is the first visible minority to win the category since Mary Alice won for I'll Fly Away' in 1993.

The actress who is married to fellow British actor Raj Nihlipandi, had appeared alongside Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart where she played the role of former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Nomani.

Her performance earned her The Chopard Trophy for a Breakout Performance at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007.