Roshan Seth (born 2 April 1942) is a British-Indian actor, writer and theatre director who has worked in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. 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 A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. In the 1980s, he rose to prominence for his comeback performance as

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, filmmaker, and entrepreneur. He was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Academy of Film and Televisio ...

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning film ''

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

'', which brought him a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and reignited his interest in acting. 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 ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' is a 1984 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the ''Indiana Jones'' franchise, and a prequel to the 1981 film ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'', fea ...

'', Amit Rao in ''

A Passage to India ''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English liter ...

'', Papa Hussein in ''

My Beautiful Laundrette ''My Beautiful Laundrette'' is a 1985 British romantic comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi. The film was also one of the first films released by Working Title Films. The story is set in London dur ...

'', patriarch Jay in ''

Mississippi Masala ''Mississippi Masala'' is a 1991 romantic drama film directed by Mira Nair, based upon a screenplay by Sooni Taraporevala, starring Denzel Washington, Sarita Choudhury, and Roshan Seth. Set primarily in rural Mississippi, the film explores ...

'' and

Dhalsim is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series. He made his first appearance in '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' in 1991. He sometimes goes by the alias "long-arm" and his fighting ability includes stretching his limbs. I ...

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 ''Bharat Ek Khoj'' () is a 53-episode Indian historical drama based on the book '' The Discovery of India'' (1946) by Jawaharlal Nehru that covers a 5,000-year history of India from its beginnings to independence from the British in 1947. The ...

'', '' Not Without My Daughter'', '' The Buddha of Suburbia'', ''

Vertical Limit ''Vertical Limit'' is a 2000 American survival thriller film directed by Martin Campbell, written by Robert King, and starring Chris O'Donnell, Bill Paxton, Robin Tunney, and Scott Glenn. The film was released on December 8, 2000, in the United ...

Monsoon Wedding ''Monsoon Wedding'' is a 2001 Indian comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair and written by Sabrina Dhawan. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah and Vasundhara Das. The story depicts romantic entanglements during a tradi ...

, Proof,

Ek Tha Tiger ''Ek Tha Tiger'' () is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language espionage action thriller film directed by Kabir Khan and co-written by Khan and Neelesh Misra, from a story by and produced by Aditya Chopra. It is the first installment in the ''Tiger'' fr ...

Indian Summers ''Indian Summers'' is a British drama television series that began airing on Channel 4 on 15 February 2015. The show details the events of summers spent at Simla, in the foothills of the Himalayas, by a group of the British governing and tradi ...

'' and ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, a ...

''.

Early life

Seth was born in

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

on 2 April 1942 during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, to a Hindu father and a Muslim mother. His father was a biochemistry professor at Patna Medical College. He was educated at

The Doon School The Doon School (informally Doon School or Doon) is a selective all-boys boarding school in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, which was established in 1935. It was envisioned by Satish Ranjan Das, a lawyer from Calcutta, who prevised a school mod ...

, then did graduate studies in history at St Stephen's College. There, he honed his theatrical skills at the

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Society, before moving to England for further training. He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1965 and started working in British television and repertory theatre.

Career

Seth first appeared in Peter Brook's production of ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'', which toured in 1972. Seth entered feature films in Richard Lester's '' Juggernaut'' (1974). However, subsequent filmmakers only wanted Seth for limited ethnic roles, so that his career stalled. Discouraged, Seth abandoned acting and returned to India in 1977, where he worked as a journalist and editor of the quarterly journal published by the India International Centre,

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 ...

. He took leave from this job after

asked Seth to play

in ''

'' (1982). Seth was nominated for the

BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film. Actors of all n ...

for his performance in the film. Seth subsequently also played Jawaharlal Nehru in ''

'', a 53-episode series on

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

in 1988. David Hare met Seth in Delhi in 1982, and asked him to play author Victor Mehta in Hare's biographical play ''A Map of the World''. Seth left his editing job and returned to acting. ''A Map of the World'' toured for several years in Australia, London, and New York. After the release of the multi-award-winning movie ''

'' (1982), Seth was much in demand, and when ''A Map of the Worlds Broadway run finished, his movie career took off. His work in 1984 included major roles in ''

'' and

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...

's ''

''. Following that he played a lead in ''

'' (1985), and he played Pancks in ''

Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Cl ...

'' (1988). Seth's film credits in the 1990s included roles in '' Not Without My Daughter'' (1991), ''

'' (1991), ''

Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...

'' (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 The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

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 Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

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 The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television presents an annual award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role to the best performance by a lead actor in a Canadian film.Maria Topalovich, ''And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years o ...

. In 2001, Seth appeared in ''

'' and he has continued working steadily in British and American films. In 2003 he played the lead in the American film ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'', which was broadcast nationally on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

. He also recently returned to mainstream Indian cinema with his role in the 2012 film, ''

''.

Personal life

Seth was married to author Pepita Seth, but they separated in the late 1980s and divorced in 2004. His brother is the retired Indian diplomat Aftab Seth.

Filmography

Film

Television

Selected theatre credits

* ''

'' * ''A Map of the World'' (Victor Mehta) * ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'' (The Fool) * ''The Millionairess'' (The Doctor) * ''Amadeus'' (

Antonio Salieri Antonio Salieri (18 August 17507 May 1825) was an Italian classical composer, conductor, and teacher. He was born in Legnago, south of Verona, in the Republic of Venice, and spent his adult life and career as a subject of the Habsburg monarchy ...

)

References

External links

*
Roshan Seth at Filmreference.comRoshan Seth interview
on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

'', 3 June 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Seth, Roshan 1942 births Living people 20th-century British male actors 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century British male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Best Actor Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners British male film actors British male stage actors British male television actors British people of Indian descent Delhi University alumni Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom Indian male film actors Indian male stage actors Indian male television actors Male actors from London Male actors from Patna Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Bihar St. Xavier's Patna alumni The Doon School alumni