Kabir Bedi ( pa, ਕਬੀਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਬੇਦੀ; born 16 January 1946) is an Indian actor. His career has spanned three continents covering India, the United States and especially Italy among other European countries in three media: film, television and theatre. He is noted for his role as
Emperor Shah Jahan
Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...
Khoon Bhari Maang
''Khoon Bhari Maang'' () is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan. Based on the Australian mini-series ''Return to Eden'' (1983), it stars Rekha as a wealthy widow who is almost killed by her sec ...
''. He is best known in Italy and Europe for playing the pirate '' Sandokan'' in the popular Italian TV miniseries and for his role as the villainous Gobinda in the 1983
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film '' Octopussy''. Bedi is based in India and lives in
Mumbai
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
.
He is 17th Descendant of
Guru Nanak Dev Ji
Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also referred to as ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated wo ...
, Founder Of
Sikhism
Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...
Early life and education
Kabir Bedi was born in
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
(now in
Punjab, Pakistan
Punjab (; , ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in central-eastern region of the country, Punjab is the second-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the largest province by population. It shares land borders with the ...
Khatri
Khatri is a caste of the Indian subcontinent that is predominantly found in India, but also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the subcontinent, they were mostly engaged in mercantilistic professions such as banking and trade, they were the d ...
Sikh family of the Bedi clan that had devoted itself to India's fight for independence from British
colonial rule
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colony, colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose the ...
. He was one of three children. His father, Baba Pyare Lal Singh Bedi, was an author and philosopher. His mother,
Freda Bedi
Freda Bedi (born Freda Marie Houlston; 5 February 1911 – 26 March 1977), also known as Sister Palmo or Gelongma Karma Kechog Palmo, was a British woman who was jailed in India as a supporter of Indian nationalism and was the first Western wom ...
, was a British woman born in Derby, England, who became famous as the first Western woman to take ordination in Tibetan Buddhism. He was educated at
Sherwood College
Sherwood College is a co-educational residential school in Nainital, Uttrakhand , India. It was established in 1869 and is affiliated to CISCE and IGCSE.
History
Sherwood was founded on 5 June 1869. It was the brain-child of Dr. Condon, H.S. ...
,
Nainital
Nainital ( Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a city and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the High Court of the state being located there and is the headquarters o ...
Bedi began his career in Indian theatre and then moved on to Hindi films. He remains one of the first international actors from India who started out in Hindi films, worked in Hollywood films and became a star in Europe.
Stage acting
As a stage actor, Bedi has performed
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 natio ...
's '' Othello'' as well as portrayed a historical Indian king in ''Tughlaq'', and a self-destructive alcoholic in ''The Vultures''. In London he starred in ''
The Far Pavilions
''The Far Pavilions'' is an epic novel of British-Indian history by M. M. Kaye, published in 1978, which tells the story of an English officer during the British Raj. There are many parallels between this novel and Rudyard Kipling's '' Kim'' th ...
'', the West End musical adaptation of M. M. Kaye's novel, at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
In 2011 Bedi played Emperor Shah Jahan in ''Taj'', a play written by John Murrell, a Canadian playwright for the
Luminato Festival
Luminato Festival, Toronto's International Festival of Arts and Ideas, is an annual celebration of the arts in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, launched in 2007. In its first decade, Luminato presented over 3,000 performances featuring 11,000 artists fr ...
in Toronto. In 2013, this play was recommissioned and went on an eight-week multi-city tour of Canada.
Film career
In the
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
film '' Octopussy'', Bedi played the villain's aide Gobinda.
He has acted in over 60 Indian films. In the historical epic '' Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story'', he starred as the
Emperor Shah Jahan
Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...
. Other starring Hindi film roles include
Raj Khosla
Raj Khosla (31 May 1925 – 9 June 1991) was one of the top director, producer and screenwriter in Hindi film industry from the 1950s to the 1980s. He was known for bringing in "neo-noir" and style in Indian cinema, and also as a "women's direc ...
's ''Kacche Dhaage'',
Rakesh Roshan
Rakesh Roshan (born 6 September 1949) is an Indian film producer, director, screenwriter, and actor who works in Hindi films. He is the son of Indian music director Roshan and Indian Bengali singer Ira Roshan. He had appeared in 84 films thr ...
's ''
Khoon Bhari Maang
''Khoon Bhari Maang'' () is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and produced by Rakesh Roshan. Based on the Australian mini-series ''Return to Eden'' (1983), it stars Rekha as a wealthy widow who is almost killed by her sec ...
'' and
Farah Khan
Farah Khan Kunder (born 9 January 1965) is an Indian film director, film producer, actress, dancer and choreographer who works predominantly in Hindi films. Khan has choreographed dance routines for more than a hundred songs in over 80 films, w ...
's ''
Main Hoon Na
''Main Hoon Na'' () is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language masala film written and directed by Farah Khan in her directorial debut. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Sunil Shetty, Amrita Rao and Zayed Khan, and follows Major Ram Sharma, ...
''.
Bedi shot a movie with
Hrithik Roshan
Hrithik Roshan (; born 10 January 1974) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. He has portrayed a variety of characters and is known for his dancing skills. One of the highest-paid actors in India, he has won many awards, including six ...
(''
Kites
A kite is a tethered heavier-than-air or lighter-than-air craft with wing surfaces that react against the air to create lift and drag forces. A kite consists of wings, tethers and anchors. Kites often have a bridle and tail to guide the face ...
''),
Govinda
Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...
(''Showman''), and
Akshay Kumar
Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...
(''
Blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
John Abraham
John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor, film producer, writer and former model working in Hindi films. He has won a National Film Award and received five Filmfare nominations.
After modelling for advertisements and companies, ...
. He acted in the Tamil film ''
Aravaan
''Aravaan'' () is a 2012 Indian Tamil language epic historical film directed by Vasanthabalan, based on Su. Venkatesan's novel ''Kaaval Kottam''. It was released in 2012 and stars Aadhi, Dhansika, Archana Kavi and Pasupathy. Kabir Bedi has ...
'', directed by
Vasanthabalan
Vasanthabalan (sometimes credited as Vasantha Balan) is an Indian Tamil film director and screenwriter, known for his Tragedy Films in Tamil Cinema. He has made critically acclaimed films including '' Veyil'' (2006), '' Angadi Theru'' (2010) and ...
.
Bedi played roles in
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
' ''
The Beast of War
''The Beast'' (also known as ''The Beast of War'') is a 1988 American war film directed by Kevin Reynolds and written by William Mastrosimone, based on his play ''Nanawatai''. The film follows the crew of a Soviet T-62 tank who became lost durin ...
Marco Ponti
Marco Ponti (born 25 July 1967, in Avigliana, Piedmont) is an Italian film director.
Life and career
He graduated in Modern Letters at the University of Turin and started working as a copywriter and as an assistant at the Faculty of Semiotics a ...
, winner of the David di Donatello Award.
In 2017, he acted in the Telugu historical movie '' Gautamiputra Satakarni'', as Nahapana, an important ruler of the Western Kshatrapas.
Television career
Bedi has appeared on American television, in Hallmark's African epic ''Forbidden Territory'', and
Ken Follett
Kenneth Martin Follett, (born 5 June 1949) is a British author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works.
Many of his books have achieved high ranking on best seller lists. For example, in the ...
's ''On Wings of Eagles'' and ''Red Eagle''. He played Friar Sands in '' The Lost Empire'', for
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
. He also acted in ''
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...
Magnum, P.I.
''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...
Knight Rider
''Knight Rider'' is an American entertainment franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The core of ''Knight Rider'' is its three television series: the original ''Knight Rider'' (1982–1986) and sequel series '' Team Knight Rider'' (1997–1998) ...
'' and '' Highlander: The Series''.
In Europe, his greatest success was '' Sandokan'', the saga of a romantic Southeast Asian pirate during British colonial times, an Italian-German-French TV series which broke viewership records across Europe. He recently starred in a prime-time Italian television series, ''Un Medico in Famiglia'', on
RAI
RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...
TV.
For over a year, Bedi starred in ''
The Bold and the Beautiful
''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...
'', the second most-watched television show in the world, seen by over a billion people in 149 countries.
He had his own cinematic talk show on Indian TV, ''Director's Cut'', a 13-part special series interviewing the country's leading directors. His success on television continued in 2013 with award-winning prime-time shows ''Guns and Glory: The Indian Soldier'' and ''Vandemataram'', for India's news channels Headlines Today and
Aaj Tak
''Aaj Tak'' () is an Indian Hindi-language news channel owned by TV Today Network, part of the New Delhi-based media conglomerate Living Media group (India Today Group)
Aaj Tak HD
On 14 December 2018, Aaj Tak launched India's first Hindi h ...
.
In the Indian Biblical television series ' Bible Ki Kahaniya', Bedi played both the young and aged Abraham.
Radio career
In 2007 he starred in ''Chat'', a radio show aired by RAI Radio2, in the role of Sandokan. In 2012, he did a series of Radio One programmes titled ''Women of Gold'' and ''Men of Steel'' in honour of industry champions in India. In 2017 he did another series in English for Radio One, ''Ten on Ten'', celebrating the top ten innovations out of India. He also did the year-end special series, ''Best of 2017''.
Writing
Bedi is a regular contributor to Indian publications including the ''Times of India'' and ''Tehelka'' on political and social issues affecting the country. He is also seen debating such topics on Indian national television.
Charity
In February 2017, Bedi was announced as the new 'brand ambassador' for international development organisation, Sightsavers, saying on his appointment, "Today there is immense awareness and attempt towards eye health and care in India and Sightsavers have shown way to people at large in the country with their achievements in the area of eye care."
Bedi is the honorary brand ambassador for Italian Charity Care and Share Italia, which educates and looks after street children, from school to university, in Andhra Pradesh and Telegana.
Awards and achievements
Since 1982 Bedi has been a voting member of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...
(who are responsible for presenting the
Oscar awards
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 ...
). He is also a voting member of the
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...
.
He has won numerous film, advertising and popularity awards across Europe and India.
By decree of the President of the Italian Republic of 2 June 2010, Bedi was officially knighted. He received the highest ranking civilian honour of the Italian Republic and was bestowed the title of "Cavaliere" (Knight) of the
Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi.
The highest-ranking ...
. He has recently received Honorary Degree from Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
Personal life
Bedi married four times and had three children, Pooja, Siddharth (deceased) and Adam. He was married to
Protima Bedi
Protima Gauri Bedi
(12 October 1948 – 18 August 1998) was an Indian model turned Odissi exponent. In 1990, she established Nrityagram, a dance school in hesarghatta Bangalore.
Early life
Protima was born in Delhi,''Time Pass: The Me ...
, an
Odissi
Odissi (), also referred to as Orissi in old literature, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India.Carnegie Mellon University, was diagnosed with
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social wit ...
and died by suicide in 1997 at the age of 26.
As his marriage with Protima began to break down he famously started a relationship with
Parveen Babi
Parveen Babi (4 April 1954 – 20 January 2005) was an Indian actress and model. Recognized for her roles in Hindi films throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Babi was known for her "glamorous" acting style, and was one of the highest-paid ...
. They never married. He later married British-born fashion designer Susan Humphreys. Their son, Adam Bedi, is an international model who made his Hindi film debut with the thriller ''Hello? Kaun Hai!'' This marriage ended in divorce.
In the early 1990s, Bedi married TV and radio presenter Nikki Bedi. They had no children and divorced in 2005. After that, Bedi has been in a relationship with British-born Parveen Dusanj, whom he married a day before his 70th birthday.
Bedi supports the anti-Government struggle in
Myanmar
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 ...
, and is an official ambassador of the Burma Campaign UK. He is the brand ambassador for Rotary International South Asia for their Teach Programme and the Total Literacy Mission in India and South Asia.