Ranjit Chowdhry

Ranjit Chowdhry (19 September 1955 – 15 April 2020[1]) was an Indian actor, known for his roles in television, movies, and theatre.[2] He appeared in two episodes of The Office, as Vikram, a telemarketer who worked with Michael, and was briefly hired for The Michael Scott Paper Company.

Ranjit Chowdhry
Born19 September 1955
Mumbai, India
Died15 April 2020 (aged 64)
Mumbai, India
Other namesRanjit Chowdhary
Ranjit Chowdhury
RelativesPearl Padamsee (mother)

For his role as Rocky in Deepa Mehta's 2002 film Bollywood/Hollywood, he was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role at the 23rd Genie Awards[3][4] His other most noted role was in Last Holiday (2006), starring Queen Latifah.[5]

Life and career

Ranjit was born and raised in Mumbai in a family with a theatre background, where he received his early education at Campion School, Mumbai, and started his acting career. His father is from a Gujjar background, while his mother, Pearl Padamsee, was of partial Jewish descent on her mother's side, but remained Christian during her life. He made his film debut in Basu Chatterjee's Khatta Meetha, following which he played prominent parts in Bollywood comedy classics such as Basu Chatterjee's Baton Baton Mein (1979) and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Khubsoorat (1980). Thereafter, he moved to the United States in the early 1980s. He wrote the screenplay and acted in Sam & Me (directed by Deepa Mehta), which won an honorable mention at Cannes in 1991.[6]

He was a guest star in Law and Order SVU, and had appeared in two seasons of The Office and Prison Break.[7][8][9]

Sanjay Gupta (director), who worked with Chowdhry on the Kaante, tweeted that his performances were a joy and "KHATTA MEETHA is my favourite."[8]

Personal life

His mother, Pearl Padamsee, was a well-known theatre personality, drama teacher and actress on stage and film. His stepfather, Alyque Padamsee, was a theatre actor and director who also headed an advertising company in Mumbai. He had one older sister named Rohini (c. 1951 – 26 September 1961), who died from nephritis.[10][11][12]

Chowdhry was admitted into Breach Candy Hospital, in Mumbai, on 14 April 2020 for a ruptured ulcer in the intestine, and underwent emergency surgery. He died on 15 April 2020.[13] He was in Mumbai for a dental procedure, and was delayed there due to the spread of COVID-19.[7][9]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1978Khatta MeethaRussie Mistry
1979Baton Baton MeinSabhi Perreira
1980KhubsooratJagan Gupta
1981ChakraBenwa
1981KaaliaBoot Polish Boy
1990Lonely in AmericaArun
1991Sam & MeNikhil 'Shwartza' Parikh
1991Mississippi MasalaAnil
1993The Night We Never MetCabbie
1994It Could Happen to YouMr. Patel
1994Bandit QueenShiv Narain
1994CamillaOfficer Kapur
1994The MesmeristDamodar
1994BoozecanSnake
1995The Perez FamilyIndian immigration official
1996Girl 6Indian Shopkeeper
1996FireMundu
1996Kama Sutra: A Tale of LoveBabu
1996I'm Not RappaportKamir
1997His & HersTaxi Driver
1998Such a Long JourneyPavement Artist
1999Coming SoonAfshin
2000Autumn in New YorkFakir
2000King of the JungleMr. Sith
2002Bollywood/HollywoodRocky
2002KaanteDet. Constable
2005Building GirlMr. Singh
2006Last HolidayDr. Gupta
2006American BlendYogi
2006Kettle of FishDoorman
2006Prison BreakDr. Marvin Gudat2 episodes
2006Hope & a Little SugarGhosh
2007, 2009The OfficeVikram2 episodes
2009Today's SpecialRegular #1
2010God's LandRaja Chatterjee
2011BreakawayMr. Patel Senior
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References
  1. "Khubsoorat actor Ranjit Chowdhry passes away at the age of 65". PINKVILLA. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  2. Slowly, With Love Rafta Rafta, Theatre Review, 3 May 2008.
  3. Bollywood Hollywood gets 5 Genie nominations Times of India, 3 January 2003,
  4. Article describing a movie with Ranjit nominated for an award Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine 3 January 2003.
  5. Interview with Ranjit Chowdhry including a photograph Rediff.com, 13 January 2006.
  6. Melnyk, George (1 May 2014). Film and the City: The Urban Imaginary in Canadian Cinema. Athabasca University Press. ISBN 978-1-927356-59-3.
  7. Haring, Bruce (17 April 2020). "Ranjit Chowdhry Dies: 'The Office' And 'Prison Break' Star Was 64". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 18 April 2020 – via Yahoo!.
  8. Boucher, Ashley (17 April 2020). "The Office Actor Ranjit Chowdhry Dies at 65, Remembered as 'a True Original'". People. Retrieved 18 April 2020 – via Yahoo!.
  9. O'Connor, Roisin (18 April 2020). "Ranjit Chowdhry death: The Office star and 'towering icon' of Bollywood dies aged". The Independent. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  10. Singh, Sangeetha (9 November 2002). "The Alyque Padamsee brand of life". Times of India. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  11. Roy Mitra, Indrani (4 October 2006). "'A great ad is an ad that generates great sales'". Rediff. Archived from the original on 22 January 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  12. SenGupta, Anuradha (3 August 2008). "Being Alyque Padamsee: India's dream merchant". CNN-IBN. Archived from the original on 25 January 2010. Retrieved 9 February 2010.
  13. Joshi, Namrata (16 April 2020). "Film, TV and theatre actor Ranjit Chowdhry dead at 65". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
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