Roshan Seth

Roshan Seth (born 2 April 1942) is a British-Indian actor, writer and theatre director who has worked in the United Kingdom, United States and India. 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. In the 1980s, he rose to prominence for his comeback performance as Jawaharlal Nehru in Richard Attenborough's Academy Award-winning film Gandhi, which brought him a BAFTA Award 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, Amit Rao in A Passage to India, Papa Hussein in My Beautiful Laundrette, patriarch Jay in Mississippi Masala and Dhalsim 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, Not Without My Daughter, The Buddha of Suburbia, Vertical Limit, Monsoon Wedding, Proof, Ek Tha Tiger, Indian Summers and Dumbo.

Early life Seth was born in Patna, Bihar on 2 April 1942 during the British Raj, to T. N. Seth and Venetia Seth. His father was a biochemistry professor at Patna Medical College. He was educated at The Doon School, then did graduate studies in history at St Stephen's College. There, he honed his theatrical skills at the Shakespeare 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, 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. Seth subsequently also played Jawaharlal Nehru in Bharat Ek Khoj, a 53-episode series on Doordarshan 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. His brother is the retired Indian diplomat Aftab Seth.

Filmography Film

Television

Selected theatre credits A Midsummer Night's Dream A Map of the World (Victor Mehta) King Lear (The Fool) The Millionairess (The Doctor) Amadeus (Antonio Salieri)