Cyrus Broacha is an Indian TV anchor, theatre personality, comedian, political satirist, columnist, podcaster and author. He is also a prankster, best known for his show ''Bakra'' on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

and his show ''

The Week That Wasn't ''The Week That Wasn't'' is an Indian satirical late night television programme hosted by Cyrus Broacha and shown on the ''CNN-IBN'' (now CNN News18) channel. Started in 2006, cast includes Kaneez Surka, Gopal Datt, Ambika Vas and Kunal Vija ...

'' on

CNN-News18 CNN-News18 (originally CNN-IBN) is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides internatio ...

(formerly CNN-IBN). He also provided the voiceover as Angada in the cartoon film ''Ramayana''.

Early years

Broacha was born on 7 August 1971, to a Parsi father and Catholic mother. He started acting at the age of five in a school play, ''

The Emperor's New Clothes "The Emperor's New Clothes" ( da, Kejserens nye klæder ) is a literary folktale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, about a vain emperor who gets exposed before his subjects. The tale has been translated into over 100 languages. ...

''. Every year he performed and wrote for the school magazine, winning prizes for English and drama. Cyrus's family hails from modern day

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, moving from

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

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 secon ...

after the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

Career

When Broacha was 12, he acted in his first Hindi film, ''

Jalwa ''Jalwa'' is a 1987 Indian Hindi-language action film directed by Pankaj Parashar and produced by Gul Anand. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah and Archana Puran Singh in the title roles. The film is set in Goa, where it was mostly shot. The fil ...

'', with

Pankaj Parashar Pankuj Parashar is an Indian film and television director. Among his most-known are police-thriller ''Jalwa'' (1987) starring Naseeruddin Shah, the Sridevi hit, ''ChaalBaaz'' (1989), and television detective series ''Karamchand'' (1985). He als ...

, starring alongside

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare ...

. The next year, he did his first professional play, ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'', under

Pearl Padamsee Pearl Padamsee (1931 – 24 April 2000) was an Indian theatre personality as a stage actress, director and producer of English language theatre in Mumbai active in 1950s–1990s. She acted a few Hindi and English language films, including ''Kh ...

. The press hailed him as a child prodigy, and his career in acting took off. He continued acting in plays. He also came into the limelight during his college's Malhar festival. When he was in college, FM radio took off in

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 ...

, and he gained a reputation as a radio jockey. After graduation, Broacha went to the

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Street, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

where he studied acting for theatre. After returning to

, he acted in many commercials, television serials and plays. He also hosted shows and corporate events, while pursuing his passion of theatre with over 20 commercial theatre productions.

MTV

His popularity had

seeking him. As an anchor with them, his reputation grew as he became MTV's main face. He has interviewed Hindi film industry stars including

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; born as Amitabh Shrivastav; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor, film producer, television host, occasional playback singer and former politician known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of the most succe ...

and

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" ...

. His candid-camera show is ''MTV Bakra''.

Host

Broacha has hosted many cricket shows including the popular Chevrolet Cricket Show on Ten Sports, and has interviewed nearly every cricketer from every generation. He anchors a news satire and comedy show, ''The Week That Wasn't'' on

CNN-IBN CNN-News18 (originally CNN-IBN) is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides interna ...

, co-written and directed by friend

Kunal Vijaykar Kunal Vijaykar (born 19 May 1964) is a broadcaster, food writer, author, actor and television personality. A whole generation have watched him eat his way into the hearts of hundreds and thousands of Indians. He is India’s most recognisable fo ...

. He presents the show ''Faking News'' on

IBN 7 News18 India is an Indian Media television channel owned by Network 18. It was launched in 2005 as Channel 7 by Jagran Prakashan Limited and acquired in 2006 by Network 18 and rebranded IBN7. In 2016 it took its current name. In 2013, News18 ...

, directed by his friend Vijayakar. He led India's "Rock the Vote" campaign and represented MTV at the UNAIDS conference in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. He moderated the Indian segment of ''Be Heard - A Global Discussion With Colin Powell'' in February 2002. He appeared on Sony Entertainment Television's hit show ''

Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa ''Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'' is an Indian Hindi-language reality television show and the Indian version of BBC's ''Strictly Come Dancing'' and ''Dancing with the Stars''. The show pairs celebrities with professional dancers. Each couple performs pred ...

'', India's version of ''Dancing with the Stars'', and ''

Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi Level 3 ''Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi'' (''Fear Factor: Players of Danger'') also known as (Khatron Ke Khiladi) is an Indian Hindi-language stunt based reality television series based on the American series ''Fear Factor''. First launched as ''Fea ...

'' on

Colors TV Colors TV is an Indian general entertainment broadcast network owned by Viacom18. The network's programming consists of family dramas, comedies, youth-oriented reality shows, shows on crime and television films. History It was launched on ...

. He is also a

columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short ess ...

who writes for two leading national papers and two magazines. He hosts an annual show called ''Greenathon'' on

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching ...

. He is currently the editor and host of a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

analysis series called ''

ESPNcricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

Runorder'', a bi-weekly show featuring former cricketers like Agarkar, Tait, and Hogg.

Actor

Broacha has acted in the following Hindi movies: * ''

'' * '' 99'' * ''

Little Zizou ''Little Zizou'' is a 2008 Indian drama film written and directed by Sooni Taraporevala. ''Little Zizou'' is a comedy about how two battling Mumbai families finally come to terms. ''Little Zizou'' won the "Rajat Kamal" of ' National Film Awar ...

'' * ''

Fruit and Nut Cadbury Dairy Milk is a British brand of milk chocolate manufactured by Cadbury. It was introduced in the United Kingdom in 1905 and now consists of a number of products. Every product in the Dairy Milk line is made with exclusively milk chocol ...

'' * ''Mumbai Chakachak'' * ''

The Shaukeens ''The Shaukeens'' is a 2014 Indian comedy film directed by Abhishek Sharma. The film features Anupam Kher, Annu Kapoor, Piyush Mishra, and Lisa Haydon in the lead roles, and Akshay Kumar in an extended cameo as a fictionalized version of himse ...

'' * '' Roy''

Author

In January 2010, he released his book ''Karl, Aaj aur Kal'', a semi-autobiographical comedy about celebrities,

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

and politics. In 2011, he released another book, ''The Average Indian Male'', which is a riotous account of the Indian male commonly referred to as the "aam aadmi".

Podcaster

In 2015, he started hosting a podcast called Cyrus says which got renamed to ''C& Bull'', produced by IVM network. This is a show on life in urban India, politics, sports, civic sense and current affairs.

Personal life

Cyrus Broacha is married to Ayesha, a photographer. The couple have a son Mikhaail and a daughter Maya.

References

External links

*
''Cyrus Says'' podcast
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broacha, Cyrus Indian VJs (media personalities) Indian television presenters Indian male comedians 1971 births Living people St. Xavier's College, Mumbai alumni Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni Male actors in Hindi cinema Male actors from Mumbai Parsi people Parsi people from Mumbai Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi participants