Navin Chowdhry (born 22nd November 1971 ) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in ''

Teachers A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

'' and '' A Touch of Cloth'', and his role as Nish Panesar in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' (2022–2025).

Early life

Chowdhry is of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n origin. He was born and brought up in

Bristol, England Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. He is the son of Simi Chowdhry, a well-known female activist. In 1994, he graduated from

Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...

with an upper second class honours degree in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

Career

At age 16, Chowdhry made his acting debut in the 1988 film, ''

Madame Sousatzka ''Madame Sousatzka'' is a 1988 drama film directed by John Schlesinger, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. It is based upon the 1962 novel of the same name by Bernice Rubens. __TOC__ Plot Indian immigrant Sushila Sen (Shabana Azmi) ...

'' with

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Her career in the Hindi cinema, Hindi film industry has spanned Shabana Azmi filmography, over 160 films, mostly within independent and neorealist paral ...

and

Shirley MacLaine Shirley MacLaine (born Shirley MacLean Beaty; April 24, 1934) is an American actress and author. With a career spanning over 70 years, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Shirley MacLaine, numerous accolades, including a ...

. His next major role was as I.T. teacher Kurt McKenna in the successful comedy show ''

'' in 2001–2003, and is also well known for playing PC Sanjay Singh in ''

Dalziel and Pascoe Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill. Characterisation and style Dalziel is d ...

''. He also appeared as a possible rapist in '' Judge John Deed''. Chowdhry appeared in '' Waking The Dead'', Series 3, Episode 3, entitled "Breaking Glass", opposite

Trevor Eve Trevor John Eve (born 1 July 1951) is an English actor. In 1979, he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series '' Shoestring'' (1979-1980) and is also known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in the long-running B ...

and

Sue Johnston Sue Johnston (born Susan Wright; 7 December 1943) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Sheila Grant in the Channel 4 soap opera '' Brookside'' (1982–1990), Barbara Royle in the BBC comedy '' The Royle Family'' (1998–2012), G ...

. In the episode, he portrays the psychologically affected "Rainman". He then starred in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

drama series '' NY-LON'' as Raph. On 30 October 2005, he appeared on stage at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

theatre in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the one-night play ''

Night Sky The night sky is the nighttime appearance of celestial objects like stars, planets, and the Moon, which are visible in a clear sky between sunset and sunrise, when the Sun is below the horizon. Natural light sources in a night sky include moonlig ...

'' alongside

Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction, most notably the Ninth Doctor, ni ...

Bruno Langley Bruno Langley (born 21 March 1983) is an English musician and former actor. He is known for his roles as Todd Grimshaw in ''Coronation Street'' (over 700 episodes between 2001 and 2017) and Adam Mitchell in ''Doctor Who'' (2005). In October 2 ...

, David Warner,

Saffron Burrows Saffron Burrows (born 22 October 1972) is a British and American actress who has appeared in films such as '' Circle of Friends,'' '' Wing Commander,'' '' Deep Blue Sea,'' '' Gangster No. 1,'' '' Enigma,'' ''Troy,'' '' Reign Over Me'', and '' Th ...

and

David Baddiel David Lionel Baddiel (; born 28 May 1964) is an English comedian, presenter, screenwriter, author and singer. He became known for his early work alongside Rob Newman in '' The Mary Whitehouse Experience'' and later for his comedy partnership w ...

. In 2005 he made a guest appearance in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', then starring

The Doctor The Doctor, sometimes known as Doctor Who, is the protagonist of the long-running BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. An extraterrestrial Time Lord, the Doctor travels the universe in a time travelling spaceship called th ...

where he was strangled by a Slitheen in the episode Aliens of London. In 2006, he appeared in the BBC Three drama series '' Sinchronicity'', playing Mani. In 2009, he appeared in two episodes of the

series '' Free Agents'' and featured in '' Skellig''. In 2010, he starred in the BBC television pilot '' Reunited'', playing Danny. Chowdhry has also produced projects such as the award-winning short film "This Bastard Business" and a short play entitled ''Mashed''. He played Anwar in the critically acclaimed 2015

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...

series '' Doctor Foster'' and in 2016 he played Sonny Desai in Series 18's first episode of ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

''. Chowdhry portrayed Nodin Chavdri in the 2017 film '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi''. In 2019, he appeared in Sarah Rutherford's play "The Girl Who Fell" at Trafalgar Studios. In 2022, Chowdhry began playing the previously unseen and imprisoned Nish Panesar in ''EastEnders.'' Nish, a manipulative psychopath, first appeared during the final stages of his 20-year prison sentence and was released shortly thereafter.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
2006 Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chowdhry, Navin 1971 births Living people Alumni of Imperial College London 21st-century British male actors English male film actors English male television actors English people of Indian descent Male actors from Bristol