Roshan Seth
Roshan Seth OBE[1] (Hindi: रोशन सेठ; born April 2, 1942) is a British-Indian actor, writer, and stage director who has worked in the United Kingdom, Hollywood, and India.[2] He began his acting career in the early 1960s in the UK, but left acting the following decade and moved to India to work as a journalist. In the 1980s, he rose to prominence for his comeback performance as Jawaharlal Nehru in Richard Attenborough's Academy Award-winning film Gandhi, which brought him a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and reignited his interest in acting.
Roshan Seth | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 April 1942 |
| Alma mater | The Doon School London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actor, journalist, print editor, theatre director |
| Years active | 1972–present |
He has since appeared in numerous British and American feature films and television programmes, with roles ranging from Chattar Lal in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Amit Rao in A Passage to India, Papa Hussein in My Beautiful Laundrette, patriarch Jay in Mississippi Masala, and Dhalsim in Street Fighter: The Movie. He won the Genie Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the Canadian film Such a Long Journey. Other projects he has appeared include Bharat Ek Khoj, Not Without My Daughter, The Buddha of Suburbia, Vertical Limit, Monsoon Wedding, Proof, Ek Tha Tiger, Indian Summers, and Dumbo.
Early life
Seth was born in Patna, Bihar, India, to a Muslim Anglo-Indian mother and a Hindu father.[3][4] His father was a biochemistry professor at Patna Medical College.[5] He was educated at The Doon School, then did graduate studies in History at St Stephen's College. There, he honed his theatrical skills at the Shakespeare Society, before moving to England for further training.[6] He attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in British repertory theatre.[7]
Career
Seth's first break came in Peter Brook's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which toured in 1972. Seth entered feature films in Richard Lester's Juggernaut (1974), but because subsequent filmmakers only wanted Seth for ethnic roles, his career abruptly stalled.
Discouraged, he abandoned acting and returned to India, where he worked as an editor and journalist until the early 1980s, when Richard Attenborough asked Seth to play Jawaharlal Nehru in Gandhi (1982). Seth was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in the film.[8] Seth also played Jawaharlal Nehru in Bharat Ek Khoj, a 53-episode series on Doordarshan in 1988.
Also in 1982, Seth played Indian author Victor Mehta in David Hare's biographical play, A Map of the World, which toured for several years in Australia, London, and New York. After the release of the multi-award-winning movie Gandhi (1982), Seth was much in demand, and when A Map of the World's Broadway run finished, his movie career took off. His work in 1984 included major roles in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and David Lean's A Passage to India. Following that he played a lead in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), and he played Pancks in Little Dorrit (1988).
Seth's film credits in the 1990s included roles in Not Without My Daughter (1991), Mississippi Masala (1991), Street Fighter (1994), and Harish Saluja's The Journey (1997). In 1993, he played the role of Haroon Amir in the television miniseries The Buddha of Suburbia, for which he was nominated a Royal Television Society award for "Best Actor – Male". In 1995, he played the role of Baba in Flight, for which he won the "Best Actor" award at the Sochi International Film Festival. In 1998, he played the leading role of Gustad Noble in the film Such a Long Journey, for which he won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.[8]
In 2001, Seth appeared in Monsoon Wedding, and he has continued working steadily in British and American films. In 2003 he played the lead in the American film Cosmopolitan, which was broadcast nationally on PBS. He also recently returned to mainstream Indian cinema with his role in the 2012 film, Ek Tha Tiger.
Personal life
Seth was married to author Pepita Seth, but they separated in the late 1980s and divorced in 2004.[9][10] His brother is the retired Indian diplomat Aftab Seth.[11]
Filmography
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Crossroads | Dr. Ahmed | |
| 1966 | Public Eye | Soondra | Episode: "Tell Me About the Crab" |
| 1967 | No Hiding Place | Kuldip Mahal | Episode: "The Game" |
| Theatre 625 | Vinay | Episode: "55 Columns" | |
| 1968-69 | The Wednesday Play | Ben Scalfe / Student | 2 episodes |
| 1969 | Strange Report | Jamal | Episode: "Report 3424: Epidemic - A Most Curious Crime" |
| 1971 | The Doctors | Bingi Singh | Episode 1.88 |
| 1972 | To Encourage the Others | Jazwon | Television film |
| 1973 | The Protectors | Persuer | Episode: "...With a Little Help From My Friends" |
| 1975 | Six Days of Justice | Mr. Wood | Episode: "Belonging" |
| General Hospital | Dr. Narasjee | Episode: "The White Rajah" | |
| 1976 | Play for Today | Dr. Milma | Episode: "The Peddler" |
| Centre Play | Anil Roy | Episode: "Commonwealth Season: India - Apply, Apply, No Reply" | |
| Crown Court | Farooq Rana | Episode: "A Matter of Honour: Part 1" | |
| 1987 | The Happy Valley | Defense Solicitor | Television film |
| Emmerdale | Howard | 2 episodes | |
| 1988 | First Born | Dr. Antony Graham | Episode 1.2 |
| Deadline | The Emir of Hawa | Television film | |
| Bharat Ek Khoj | Jawaharlal Nehru | Main cast; Series 1 | |
| 1989 | In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones | Y.D. Billimoria / Yamdoot | Television film |
| 1992 | Casualty | Sujit Pratkash | Episode: "Rates of Exchange" |
| Screen One | Mr. Humphrey | Episode: "Running Late" | |
| Stalin | Lavrentiy Beria | Television film | |
| 1993 | The Buddha of Suburbia | Haroon Amir | Television film |
| 1994 | Siren Spirits | Ajoy | Miniseries; 2 episodes |
| 1996 | The Bill | Ahmed Seth | Episode: "Blood Brothers" |
| Dangerfield | Aslam Choudhury | Episode: "Treasure" | |
| Die Flughafenklinik | Dr. Tenshin Sharafi | Episode: "Fluchthilfe" | |
| 1997 | Turning World | Dr. Khan | 3 episodes |
| Flight | Baba | Television film | |
| Food for Ravens | Nehru | ||
| Grandpa Chatterjee | Grandpa Chatterjee | ||
| 1998 | Iqbal | Ulla Khasi | |
| 1999 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | Sheikh Khamal | Episode: "Tales of Innocence" |
| 2001 | Holby City | Kushara Bandara | Episode: "Tip of the Iceburg" |
| 2003 | Spooks | Fazul Azzam | Episode: "Nest of Angels" |
| Second Generation | Mohan | Television film | |
| Silent Witness | Afzal Khan | Episode: Answering Fire | |
| Cosmopolitan | Gopal | Television film | |
| 2004 | Blue Murder | Jameel Khan | Episode: "Fragile Relations" |
| 2005 | The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag | Pundit | Television film |
| 2007 | The Last Days of the Raj | Jawaharlal Nehru | Television film |
| 2008 | The Cheetah Girls: One World | Uncle Kamal Bhatia | |
| 2015-16 | Indian Summers | Darius Dalal | Main cast; Series 1-2 |
| 2017 | Diana and I | Uncle Zaheer | Television film |
| 2019 | Beecham House | Emperor Shah Alam | Main cast; Series 1 |
Selected theatre credits
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- A Map of the World (Victor Mehta)
- King Lear (The Fool)
- The Millionairess (The Doctor)
- Amadeus (Antonio Salieri)
References
- "Stanton Davidson Associates". www.stantondavidson.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
- Audio interview with Seth on NPR's All Things Considered, 3 June 2004
- Lumley, Elizabeth (2001). Canadian Who's Who 2001. p. 1166. ISBN 0-8020-4958-3.
- Levin, Eric (28 October 1985). "By Deliberately Seeking Obscurity Indian Actor Roshan Seth Ensures His Magnetism Onstage". People. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016.
- Carole Zucker (2002). Conversations with actors on film, television, and stage performance. Heinemann. p. 157. ISBN 0325003726.
He came to Patna as a professor of biochemistry at the Patna Medical College.
- Requiem for a rainbow: a Fijian Indian story – Satendra Pratap Nandan – Google Books
- BFI Screenonline: Seth, Roshan (1942–) Biography
- "Awards for Roshan Seth". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 24 January 2009.
- Manmadhan, Prema (6 December 2008). "A Malayali in spirit". The Hindu.
- De, Shobhaa (14 March 2004). "Stories around my dining table". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013.
- Requiem for a rainbow: a Fijian Indian story – Satendra Pratap Nandan – Google Books
External links
- Roshan Seth on IMDb
- Roshan Seth at Filmreference.com
- Roshan Seth at ScreenOnline
- Roshan Seth interview on NPR's All Things Considered, 3 June 2004
Authority control  |
|
|---|