Kavi Shastri
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Kavi Shastri (born 19 February 1986 in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
) is a British film and television actor.


Early life and education

Kavi Shastri was born into a Gujarati family in London, England."Kavi Shastri turns ‘chai-wala’"
''The Indian Express''.
His family, including parents Kaushik, Geeta and his older brother Ravi, later moved to
South Woodford South Woodford is an area of east London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It adjoins Woodford Green to the north, Walthamstow to the west, Snaresbrook and Wanstead to the south and Redbridge to the east, and is north-east of ...
, London. Shastri attended George Tomlinson Primary school in
Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, S ...
, East London, and studied at local dance and drama clubs. At the age of nine, he was enrolled into The Padmini Kolhapure School of Acting in London, and throughout his primary years performed at venues across London. In 1997, Shastri started his studies at the
Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England. It was founded in 1911 by Italia Conti, an actress. The first production at Italia Conti Academy was the play ''Where the Rainbow Ends''. For ...
. As well as academic studies, he trained in Ballet, Tap Dancing, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre and Drama. Whilst at school, Shastri had small roles in
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
's '' This Morning'' and
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
's ''
Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...
''. Kavi graduated into the Academy's College on a government scholarship in 2003. While attending college, he acted in three seasons of
CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
's hit drama show ''
UGetMe ''UGetMe'' was an interactive comedy/drama series centering on three best friends Joe, Kit and Carly and the radio station they run called "UGetMe". Written by Adrian Hewitt, Stuart Kenworthy and Steve Turner, directed by Otto Bathurst and Maddy ...
'' and the British feature Film ''It Could Be You''. As part of his work on the film, Shastri flew to India. Shastri graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts, and was presented with an award from the Academy for his achievement in Drama.


Personal life

Shastri married Australian Indian Sherryl Wiltshire in January 2012 in Mumbai, and they currently live in Mumbai, India.


Career

After leaving College, Shastri appeared on
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
's ''
The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...
'', and in British feature film ''
Popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...
''. In 2009 he moved to India and enrolled in Anupam Kher's ''Actor Prepares''. After graduation, he acted in Imtiaz Ali's Hindi film '' Love Aaj Kal'', where he met
Vir Das Vir Das (born 31 May 1979) is an Indian comedian, actor and musician. After beginning a career in standup comedy, Das moved to Hindi cinema starring in films like ''Badmaash Company'' (2010), '' Delhi Belly'' (2011), and ''Go Goa Gone'' (2013) ...
. The pair returned to Mumbai to create India's first Comedy Company 'Weirdass Comedy',"Kavi Shastri wants to do a romantic film"
''The Indian Express''.
which presented stand up comedy shows and performance across India and worldwide, and wrote scripts for the
Filmfare ''Filmfare'' is an Indian English language, English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, r ...
Awards,
Zee Cine Awards The Zee Cine Award (ZCA) is an Indian awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. They were instituted in November 1997 to award "Excellence in cinema - the democratic way". They were first held in Mumbai until 2004, when the ZCA went internat ...
and
Stardust Awards The Stardust Awards was an award ceremony for Hindi movies, which was sponsored by '' Stardust'' magazine. Here is a list of the award winners and the films for which they won. The first ceremony was held in 2004 for films released in 2003. The ...
. In 2008, Shastri played the part of Rohan Mehra on the Indian television show
YRF Television YRF Television was a TV production company, based in Mumbai, India, and promoted by Aditya Chopra. YRF Television has produced a small number of programmes. It was owned by Yash Raj Films (YRF) It entered into an exclusive agreement with So ...
's Rishta.com which debuted on 3 January 2010 on
Sony Entertainment Television Sony Entertainment Television (SET) is an Indian Hindi-language general entertainment pay television channel, that was launched on 30 September 1995, and is owned by Culver Max Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese Sony. SET India's You ...
. After four nominations at award shows, Shastri was named the best newcomer at the 10th
Indian Telly Awards The Indian Telly Awards is an annual award for excellence both on-screen and behind-the-scenes of Hindi-language television. Conceptualised and created by Anil Wanvari, the founder, CEO of media and services group, indiantelevision.com, they a ...
. Shastri then took on a role with
YRF Television YRF Television was a TV production company, based in Mumbai, India, and promoted by Aditya Chopra. YRF Television has produced a small number of programmes. It was owned by Yash Raj Films (YRF) It entered into an exclusive agreement with So ...
's '' Kismat'', an adaptation of ''Kane and Able''. Shastri and Das performed together at Sophia Auditorium in late 2011, in the stand up comedy show ''Ashvin Gidwani's History of India''."History of India -Vritten review"
''Mumbai Theatre Guide''. Shastri shot his first two films ''Amit Sahni Ki List'' and ''Main aur Mr Riight'' back to back. Later, he took on a role in the 2013
Yash Raj Films Yash Raj Films (YRF) is an Indian film production and distribution company founded by veteran filmmaker Yash Chopra in 1970. It mainly produces and distributes Hindi and Punjabi films. The company has grown to be one of the largest film studios ...
' ''
Aurangzeb Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...
''. In 2014, Shastri returned to London to shoot for
Ameet Chana Ameet Chana (born 12 September 1975 in Epsom, Surrey, England) is a British-Indian actor. His most notable role is Adi Ferreira in ''EastEnders''. In May 2006 he took over presenting the Breakdown Show (Bhangra Music) on BBC Asian Network (a N ...
's directorial feature debut ''Jayden''.


Filmography


Television


Films


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shastri, Kavi 1986 births Living people British male film actors Male actors in Hindi cinema British male television actors Gujarati people British male actors of Indian descent British Hindus People from Woodford, London