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Luke Kenny is an Indian actor, film director, producer, music director, composer, and former VJ. He began his career as a DJ, followed by a successful stint as the first male VJ on Channel V. He gained widespread recognition for his role in the 2008 rock musical drama ''
Rock On!! ''Rock On!!'' is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film written and directed by Abhishek Kapoor, produced by Farhan Akhtar, and with music by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy. The film marks the successful Bollywood debut of Akhtar and Prac ...
'' In 2018, Kenny came back into prominence for his role as the hired mercenary Malcolm Murad in the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
series '' Sacred Games''.


Early life

Kenny was born in Kolkata. His
Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
grandfather was originally from
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, but moved to India after
WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and married Kenny's British grandmother. The actor's father, Robert Kenny, was born in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
and was a musician. He later moved to
Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
and married Kenny's mother, who was
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
. Kenny's parents divorced when he was very young and he grew up 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 second- ...
with his father and grandfather, both musicians, prompting his interest in music from a young age. He was a student at
Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...
in Mumbai, but left the school early to pursue a career in music.


Career

Kenny began his career as a dancer, influenced by
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
. He was spotted and later recruited by
Arshad Warsi Arshad Warsi (born 19 April 1968) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several awards including a Filmfare Award from five nominations and is noted for acting in varied film genres. Before making his acting deb ...
's dance crew. In 1991, he joined the rock band Greek as a vocalist. Between 1993 and 1995, he had a small stint as a DJ. In 1995, he joined the newly launched
Channel V Channel '' ("V" standing for the letter, not the Roman numeral "5") is a Chinese and former Asian pay television musical network originally launched by Star TV Hong Kong (now Fox Networks Group Asia Pacific). It was part of the unit of Disney ...
as their first male VJ. He became popular and had a long-term association with the channel. Kenny got his first acting break in the 1997 film ''Bombay Boys'' alongside
Naveen Andrews Naveen William Sidney Andrews (born 17 January 1969) is a British-American actor. He is best known for his role as Sayid Jarrah in the television series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime ...
, albeit in a small role. After this, he went back to Channel V and served as their head of music programming until 2008. In 2005, Kenny tried his hand at directing and producing, with the film ''13th Floor'', starring
Purab Kohli Purab Kohli is an Indian television and film actor, model and former video jockey. Career Television Kohli started his career as an actor with the 1998 television show '' Hip Hip Hurray'' on Zee TV and earned recognition through video jockey ...
and
Sandhya Mridul Sandhya Mridul (born 28 March 1975) is an Indian actress who appears in Bollywood films and television. She is most known for her roles in films like '' Saathiya'' (2002) and ''Page 3'' (2005) and was first runner up on the reality dance show '' ...
. The production was India's first digitally-released film and received recognition at film festivals. Kenny returned to acting with his breakthrough role in the 2008 film ''
Rock On!! ''Rock On!!'' is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film written and directed by Abhishek Kapoor, produced by Farhan Akhtar, and with music by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy. The film marks the successful Bollywood debut of Akhtar and Prac ...
''. Portraying keyboardist Rob Nancy, the cult film made the actor a household name. Kenny has also been a contributor to various news columns. He used to write "If I May Say So" for the ''
Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...
'' and "LukeBox" for ''Rolling Stone India''. In 2011 he became the channel head of 9XO, a 24/7 international music channel owned by
9X Media 9X Media is the largest Indian music broadcaster operating 4 music television channels and a Bollywood news portal – www.spotboye.com. The four music channels are 9XM (Latest Bollywood), 9X Jalwa (Evergreen Hindi), 9X Jhakaas (Marathi) and ...
. In 2013, he produced and starred in India's first zombie film, ''Rise of the Zombie''. Kenny recently regained public attention with his acclaimed portrayal of Malcolm Murad, a hired mercenary, in the first Netflix India original series, '' Sacred Games''. Kenny was part of the cast in both seasons of the show. He next appeared as GDPA official Wolfgang Hummels (inspired by WADA) in the second season of the
Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...
show '' Inside Edge''. The same year, he also appeared in the film ''
Tanhaji ''Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior'' is a 2020 Indian historical action film, co-written and directed by Om Raut and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and Ajay Devgn under T-Series Films and Ajay Devgn FFilms. Tracing the life of Maratha w ...
'', portraying the Mughal emperor
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 2022, Kenny appeared in the
Disney+ Hotstar The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
series '' Rudra: The Edge of Darkness''. The same year, he was added to the upcoming web series ''Parth aur Jugnu''.


Filmography


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenny, Luke Living people Male actors from Kolkata Indian male film actors Male actors in Hindi cinema Indian male television actors Male actors in Hindi television Indian people of Italian descent Indian people of Irish descent Anglo-Indian people Indian people of Anglo-Burmese descent Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian film directors 21st-century Indian composers