Mahesh Jadu (born 26 October 1982) is an Australian actor. He is best known for the role of Dr. Doug Harris in the soap opera ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'' and the role of Ahmad in

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

original series ''

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

''. He also portrayed the supporting role of Shanmugum in the miniseries '' Better Man'' and Vilgefortz in '' The Witcher''.

Early life

Mahesh Jadu was born in Carlton, Victoria, Australia. His parents are from

Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...

and his Indo Mauritian ancestry originates from

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

. He was raised in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

and spent his high school years in a cricket scholarship before he veered into film and television.

Career

He started off as a composer for an Australian show, ''Byte Me''. He auditioned for a small role in an Indian film, '' Sorry Bhai!'' and was subsequently cast. He was later cast in one of Australia's longest running soaps, ''

'' as Doug Harris. He played poker to cover rent and living expenses until he was called for an audition by the casting director, Lou Mitchell. In 2011, he was cast in an Australian drama, ''Taj'', which was presented at the 16th Busan International Film Festival. He then worked on ''The Three Ages of Sasha''. He got his big break when he was cast in

Roland Joffé Roland Joffé (; born 17 November 1945) is an English film and television film director, director, Film producer, producer and screenwriter. He is known for directing the critically-acclaimed films ''The Killing Fields (film), The Killing Field ...

's periodic drama, ''Singularity'', which was later renamed '' The Lovers''. In 2015, he was cast in

's ''

'' as

Ahmad Fanakati Ahmad Fanākatī, alternatively rendered as Ahmad Banākatī (; ; before 1242 — 10 April 1282) was a Persian Muslim from the Qara Khitai (Western Liao dynasty) who served as chancellor and finance minister of the Yuan dynasty during Kublai's ...

. and had a role in '' I, Frankenstein''. In 2019 he played Vilgefortz of Roggeveen in the Netflix's TV series '' The Witcher''. He started a production company, Ākaasha Media, with producer Nikit Doshi and is slowly carving a path as a filmmaker also.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jadu, Mahesh 1982 births Living people Australian male film actors Australian male television actors Australian people of Indian descent 21st-century Australian male actors Australian people of Mauritian descent Australian people of Kashmiri descent Male actors from Melbourne People of Bihari descent