Raj Ghatak

Raj Ghatak (born 4 July 1973) is a British actor and singer. He is known for diverse roles across stage and screen, notably as Sweetie in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Bollywood musical Bombay Dreams and, as Grayson in the E4 and Channel 4 BAFTA-winning drama Dead Set written by Emmy-winning Charlie Brooker. In 2018 Ghatak won the Eastern Eye ACTA Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Amir in The Kite Runner on stage.

Early life

Ghatak was born and raised in London, the son of a doctor and a research chemist. He attended the prestigious City of London School for Boys (1982–1989), whose alumni include Daniel Radcliffe, Booker Prize-winning author Kingsley Amis and former prime minister H. H. Asquith. It was during this time that Ghatak found his calling for acting, and he attended Boden's Performing Arts. Here he made his respective stage and television debuts. Ghatak moved to Epsom College to continue his A-levels, whose alumni have included the journalist and presenter Jeremy Vine, luxury property developers Nick and Christian Candy and actor Benjamin Stone. Ghatak concluded his studies at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and Queen Mary University graduating in 1998.

Career

Stage

Ghatak has worked extensively on stage, and in many original ground-breaking productions. His first professional job was at the award-winning Tara Arts in a production directed by artistic director Jatinder Verma MBE. Ghatak appeared in East is East (Oldham Coliseum), West Side Story (Prince of Wales Theatre, London), and Hijra (The Bush Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse) where he received rave reviews.

In 2002 Ghatak landed a leading role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's production of A. R. Rahman's Bombay Dreams[1] at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, London, directed by Steven Pimlott, where he was cast alongside Raza Jaffrey and Preeya Kalidas. Ghatak was nominated for Best Actor, and Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for his portrayal of Sweetie and scored unanimous rave reviews;[2] "Raj Ghatak steals the show" (Roger Foss, What's On).

In 2007 Ghatak appeared at the world-famous Royal Court Theatre in Anupama Chandrasekhar's play Free Outgoing, where once again he critically triumphed. Charles Spencer of The Telegraph wrote: "Raj Ghatak is outstanding as a friend in need who might not be what he seems."[3] The play was performed twice at the Royal Court, and once at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. Ghatak's other notable performances at the Royal Court Theatre include Shades/Unheard Voices, The Spiral, Rough Cuts and the ground-breaking The Low Road by Pulitzer Prize-winning Bruce Norris and multi Olivier Award-winning director Dominic Cooke.

Further stage highlights include performances in Soho Cinders, nominated for Best New Musical, directed by Jonathan Buttrell who also directed Ghatak in the award-winning musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. This production went on to the Apollo Theatre in London and has since been adapted into a film.

In 2017 Ghatak was cast as the lead of Miss Meena in Miss Meena and the Masala Queens,[4] a role that was written specifically with Ghatak in mind. The show toured the UK and was nominated for Best Stage Production.

In 2018 Ghatak was invited to play the lead role of Amir in The Kite Runner the page-to-stage adaptation of the multimillion bestseller by Khaled Hosseini. Both Ghatak's portrayal of Amir and the production earned standing ovations and sensational reviews, with Chris High reviewing[5] "Raj Ghatak's performance of Amir, the story's narrator, is breathtakingly bold and vibrant. A powerful and tumultuous mix of touching self-awareness and pig-headed selfishness, Amir both warms and chills the heart whilst searching for acceptance and Ghatak's prowess truly shines from the very first moment he steps on stage; a platform he does not leave until the final light goes out, having delivered a performance that can only be described as energy-sapping as it is glorious." For his portrayal of Amir, Ghatak won the Eastern Eye ACTA Award for Best Actor.

Following on from the runaway success of The Kite Runner, Ghatak joined the original cast in the first stage version of Yann Martell’s Booker Prize-winning novel Life of Pi at the Sheffield Crucible. Lolita Chakrabharti’s adaptation, featuring the puppetry of Gyre and Gimble and directed by Max Webster, was an immediate smash hit, scooping five-star reviews across the board, and winning Best New Play, Best Director, Best Design and a Best Actor award in the UK Theatre Awards 2019.[6] This production will be coming to the Wyndhams Theatre in London in 2020.

Screen

Ghatak has appeared on a number television shows in the United Kingdom; as Ranjeev in All About Me, guest lead as Jemima in Synchronicity, Doctors for the BBC, BAFTA-nominated The 7.39, BAFTA-nominated Hetty Feather and the BAFTA-winning Taboo, with Tom Hardy, directed by Ridley Scott.

He was a series regular Grayson in the cult horror, the BAFTA-winning Dead Set, written by multi BAFTA and Emmy award-winning Charlie Brooker (of Black Mirror and Bandersnatch fame) and directed by Yann Demange. The cast included Riz Ahmed, Jaime Winstone, Warren Brown and Chizzy Akudolu.

More recently Ghatak has been seen as Dr Suresh in the flagship BAFTA-winning BBC drama EastEnders. His storyline was crucial in establishing whether or not autism was affecting Mick (played by Danny Dyer) and Linda Carter’s (played by Kellie Bright) baby.

In film, Ghatak has appeared in a wide variety of projects, including Birthday Girl with Nicole Kidman, seminal British comedy Starter for 10 with James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Gatiss, Rebecca Hall and Dominic Cooper. Ghatak played the lead in the short film Diary of a Thagee, which achieved a Best Thriller Nomination, the short film Karma Magnet, with Gary Kemp and the award-winning Defrosted.

In 2013, Ghatak was asked to play Rab Patel in Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie, the film version of the multi BAFTA award-winning television show, where he worked closely with the cast of the show. He also appeared in Disney’s 2018 Christopher Robin with Ewan McGregor in the titular role.

Audio

In parallel to his appearances on stage and screen, Ghatak has an extensive voice-over career, in commercials, radio dramas and audiobooks. Radio dramas include Memsahib Emma, Tommies, and The Unquenchable Thirst of Dracula for the BBC. He has appeared in numerous recordings for Big Finish, including the Dr Who, Torchwood and Dorian Grey franchises. Ghatak has narrated several audiobooks which can be found on www.audible.co.uk ; highlights include the Booker Prize nominee The Lives of Others, International Booker Prize Nominee Flood of Fire, The Shiva Trilogy, Night Theatre and Contender: The Chosen. In 2018, Ghatak was the "voice of God" for Take That's Wonderland tour.

gollark: The one I use does! It's from dateutil or something.
gollark: I could support negatives I guess.
gollark: It's a timedelta thing.
gollark: Well, you'll never* know who set it.
gollark: At about 3.7 years.

References
  1. ""BOMBAY DREAMS" FULL CAST ANNOUNCED | LondonTheatre.co.uk". London Theatre Guide. 2016-06-08. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  2. Wolf, Matt; Wolf, Matt (2002-06-23). "Bombay Dreams". Variety. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  3. Spencer, Charles (2007-11-14). "Free Outgoing: Caught in the glare of celebrity and scandal". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  4. "Rifco Theatre Company". www.rifcotheatre.com. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  5. "REVIEW: The Kite Runner at The Liverpool Playhouse | chrishighreviews.com". Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  6. Limited, London Theatre Direct (2019-10-28). "Winners announced for 2019 UK Theatre Awards". www.londontheatredirect.com. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
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