Nikesh Patel
Nikesh Patel (born 1985) is a British actor, best known for his role as Aafrin Dalal in the TV series Indian Summers and Tom Kapoor in the sitcom Starstruck.
Nikesh Patel | |
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![]() Patel in June 2021 | |
Born | 1985 (age 36–37) Wembley, London, England |
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 2012–present |
Early life
Patel was born in Wembley, London.[1] His parents are pharmacists. He completed his secondary education at the City of London School.[2] He initially wanted to become a journalist but turned to acting while at university.[1]
Career
Patel started acting during his time reading English at the University of Warwick, where he played Othello in a student production.[3][2] After graduating with a BA in English Literature, Patel went on to train at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.[3] He graduated from Guildhall in 2010 and was awarded the school's gold medal for Acting that year.[4][5]
Theatre
Patel got his professional start in the theatre, appearing in Anupama Chandrasekhar's play Disconnect at the Royal Court Theatre in 2010.[6] In 2011, Patel was part of the ensemble of the Royal Shakespeare Company's 50th birthday season[7] and appeared in The Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio), Macbeth (Donalbain) and The Merchant of Venice (Balthasar).[8][9] He had a role in Rona Munro's play Donny's Brain at the Hampstead Theatre in 2012[10] and returned to the Royal Court Theatre in 2013 to appear in Abhishek Majumdar's play The Djinns of Eidgah.[11] Also in 2013, Patel had a role in Howard Brenton's play Drawing the Line at the Hampstead Theatre.[12] He appeared in Man, a production of three one-act plays by Tennessee Williams, at the Young Vic in 2015.[13]
Television, film and radio
Patel's first television credit was playing the character Dan in the second series of the Sky Living series Bedlam. This was followed by roles in single episodes of Midsomer Murders and Law and Order: UK.[14] In 2015, he played Tanvir in the film Honour. He then had a leading role in the TV series Indian Summers, which ran for two seasons. In 2016, he played Raghdan Aziz in the film Halal Daddy and Pradhan in London Has Fallen. He played the lead role in BBC Radio 4's 2017 adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children.[15] In 2019 he played Arcite, one of the two title characters in the BBC Radio 3 production of William Shakespeare's Two Noble Kinsmen.[16]
2019 saw Patel take on roles in two high-profile television shows: He played Mitch in the Doctor Who New Year's Day special episode, Resolution[17] as well as Kash Khan, one of the seven lead characters in Mindy Kaling's 2019 miniseries adaptation of Four Weddings and a Funeral.[18]
Patel appeared in the 2020 fantasy film Artemis Fowl, playing tech expert centaur Foaly.[19][20] The final stage of the audition process was a screen-test in which he had to perform on stilts to realistically emulate being half man, half horse.[21]
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | Bedlam | Dan | TV series |
2013 | Jadoo | Dee | Film |
2013 | Midsomer Murders | Dev Kardek | TV series |
2014 | Law and Order: UK | Tom | TV series |
2015 | Honour | Tanvir | Film |
2015–2016 | Indian Summers | Aafrin Dalal | TV series |
2016 | London Has Fallen | Pradhan | Film |
2017 | Halal Daddy | Raghdan Aziz | Film |
2019 | Doctor Who | Mitch | 1 episode, "Resolution" |
2019 | Four Weddings and a Funeral | Kash Khan | TV series |
2020 | Man Like Mobeen | Naveed | TV series |
2020 | Artemis Fowl | Foaly | Film |
2021 | Starstruck | Tom | TV Series |
2021 | A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Mezzotint | Nisbet | TV short[22] |
TBA | The Devil's Hour | Ravi Dhillon | Upcoming series |
References
- Nosheen M (16 January 2019). "#RepresentAsian with Nikesh Patel". Burnt Roti. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Butter, Susannah (13 February 2015). "'Everything seemed different out there — until we found Waitrose': Jemima West and Nikesh Patel on filming Indian Summers". Evening Standard. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Sanghani, Radhika (15 May 2016). "Nikesh Patel: 'Indian Summers was my Poldark moment - but I'm no exhibitionist'". The Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 18 February 2022.(subscription required)
- "No Quills | Nikesh Patel". Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- "Winners of Gold Medal in Drama and Technical Theatre announced". Guildhall School of Music and Drama. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- "Disconnect". Royal Court Theatre. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Shenton, Mark (31 January 2011). "Royal Shakespeare Company's 50th Birthday Season to Feature Patrick Stewart, Pippa Nixon and More". Playbill. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- "Nikesh Patel". British Black and Asian Shakespeare Performance Database. University of Warwick. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- "NIKESH PATEL". Royal Court Theatre. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- "Donny's Brain: Full Casting Confirmed". Hampstead Theatre. 30 August 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- "Cast Announced for The Djinns of Eidgah_at the Royal Court Theatre". Royal Court Theatre. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Orr, Jake (10 December 2013). "REVIEW: DRAWING THE LINE, HAMPSTEAD THEATRE". A Younger Theatre. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- "MAN | THREE PLAYS BY TENNESSEE WILLIAMS". Young Vic. Archived from the original on 23 September 2019.
- Eramo, Steve (24 September 2015). "Shades of Grey: Interview with Indian Summers' Nikesh Patel". The Morton Report. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021.
- "Nikesh Patel calls for multicultural education on Partition of India anniversary". The Irish News. 14 August 2017. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- "Drama on 3 | The Two Noble Kinsmen". BBC Radio 3. 28 April 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Fullerton, Huw (6 December 2018). "Doctor Who New Year's special casts Charlotte Ritchie, Nikesh Patel and Daniel Adegboyega". Radio Times. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Mittal, Pavni; Rothman, Mori; Regan, Michael D (8 September 2019). "'Four Weddings and a Funeral' star Nikesh Patel on reimagining the rom-com". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- "Disney | Artemis Fowl". Disney+. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Trumbore, Dave (12 March 2018). "Disney's 'Artemis Fowl' Officially Starts Production for Director Kenneth Branagh". Collider. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Punter, Jessica (1 May 2019). "The Young British Actors to Watch in 2019". Mr Porter. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
- Fullerton, Huw (24 December 2021). "Mark Gatiss on his three ghost stories of Christmas and whether he'd return to Doctor Who". Radio Times. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
External links
- Nikesh Patel at IMDb