Kalden "Kelly" Sonam Dorji (born 4 January 1971) is a

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

ese actor, model, and artist who works primarily in Indian movies.

Early life

Dorji's father is Lynpo

Paljor Dorji Dasho Paljor Jigme Dorji, commonly known as Dasho Benji, is a Bhutanese environmentalist, judge and diplomat. Career Environmentalism Often referred to as Bhutan's "Godfather of Conservation", he established Bhutan's first non-governmental orga ...

, widely known as Dasho Benji, the permanent advisor to Bhutan's National Environment Commission. His mother is Louise Dorji, an author of children's books and a founding member of

Bhutan Broadcasting Service The Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS, dz, འབྲུག་རྒྱང་བསྒྲགས་ལས་འཛིན) is the state-owned radio and television service in Bhutan. A public service corporation which is fully funded by the state and ...

(BBS). Dorji attended St. Paul's School in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nep ...

and

Sherubtse College Sherubtse College is the first accredited college in Bhutan, founded in 1966 by a group of Jesuits under the leadership of Father William Mackey. The college was affiliated to the University of Delhi by a special act of the Indian parliament. ...

in eastern Bhutan. He earned an honors degree in history at St. Xavier's College in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. Dorji's grandfather was Bhutanese Prime Minister

Jigme Palden Dorji Dasho Jigme Palden Dorji (14 December 1919 – 6 April 1964) was a Bhutanese politician and member of the Dorji family. By marriage, he was also a member of the House of Wangchuck. The brother-in-law of Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, Dorji was clos ...

. Dorji is a member of the

Dorji Family The Dorji family (Dzongkha: རྡོ་རྗེ་; Wylie: ''Rdo-rje'') of Bhutan has been a prominent and powerful political family in the kingdom since the 12th century AD. The family has produced monarchs, Prime Minister of Bhutan, Prime Mi ...

of Bhutan and descendant of the Sikkim Royal Family.

Career

Modeling

Kelly Dorji rose to prominence as a fashion model in the late-1990s and early 2000s in India. He worked as a runway model in India for designers such as Shahab Durazi,

JJ Valaya JJ Valaya (born 8 October 1967) is an Indian fashion designer and couturier from New Delhi, India. He founded the House of Valaya, a luxury fashion and lifestyle house in 1992, along with his brother TJ Singh. A founding member of Fashion Desi ...

, Arun Khanna, Rohit Bal, and

Tarun Tahiliani Tarun Tahiliani is a noted Indian fashion designer. With his wife Sailaja 'Sal' Tahiliani, he co-founded Ensemble, India’s first multi-designer boutique in 1987, followed by Tahiliani Design studio in 1990. Based in Delhi, he is best known for ...

and as a print model in London for Models Out of Town. Dorji hosted English television show 'Star Biz' for Star TV with co-anchor

Lisa Ray Lisa Rani Ray (born 4 April 1972) is a Canadian actress and model who has also worked internationally. Ray began her modelling career in India in the early 1990s, appearing for leading Indian brands like Bombay Dyeing and Lakmé. She made her ...

Acting

Kelly Dorji has acted in almost 30 films over the course of his career. He made his acting debut in 2005 as the main antagonist opposite Ajay Devgan and Bobby Deol in Mani Shankar's '' Tango Charlie''. In 2008, Dorji moved to the Telugu film industry where he gained recognition for films such as the 2007 action hit '' Don'' opposite Nagarjuna and '' Ek Ka Dum'' opposite Mahesh Babu. Dorji has also been influential in boosting the popularity of Bhutanese films in his own country with the release of his Dzongkha film Sem Gawai Tasha in 2011. Dorji is well known for his own film stunts, much of which were self-choreographed. He also designed sequences for pageants, and assisted choreographer Lubna Adam. After a near death accident in 2013, Dorji limits his stunt work in films but continues to act.

Art

Kelly Dorji is a painter and photographer. He has studied painting with a number of artists including Elsie Evans, Sidharth, and Karma Wangdi. He studied photography with fashion photographer Chien-Wien Lee. Dorji exhibits his work at contemporary art gallery Gray Area in Thimphu, Bhutan.

Personal life

Dorji dated Bollywood actress

Lara Dutta Lara Dutta (born 16 April 1978) is an Indian actress, entrepreneur and the winner of the Miss Universe 2000 pageant. She was previously crowned as Miss Intercontinental 1997. In her career, she has primarily worked in Hindi films. She is the ...

for 9 years before their relationship came to an end in 2007 He currently lives in Thimphu, Bhutan. He owns a luxury travel company, Terton Travel Bhutan.

Service

Dorji supports the Bhutanese contemporary art sector more broadly as an advisor on the board of the Voluntary Artist's Studio of Thimphu (VAST). Dorji serves an executive board member for the Tarayana Foundation. An avid enduro motorcyclist, Dorji rides for charity with the Tarayana Dragons.

Filmography

References

External links

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Kelly Dorji
at

Penguin India Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorji, Kelly Bhutanese male actors Bhutanese expatriates in India Living people Bhutanese Buddhists People from Thimphu Male actors from Mumbai Male actors in Hindi cinema Male actors in Tamil cinema St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni St. Paul's School, Darjeeling alumni 1971 births