Rajit Kapur (born 22 May 1963) is an Indian film and theatre actor and director. He is known for his portrayal of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

in the 1996 film, '' The Making of the Mahatma'' for which he won the National Film Award for Best Actor. Other notable roles are as the protagonist Unni in the

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

film '' Agnisakshi'', and the fictional detective

Byomkesh Bakshi Byomkesh Bakshi is a fictional detective created by Bengali author Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. A self-proclaimed "satyanweshi" (literally seeker of truth), Bakshi is known for his keen observation, logical thinking, and knowledge of forensic sc ...

in the eponymous ''

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'', directed by

Basu Chatterjee Basu Chatterjee (10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter in Hindi Cinema. Through the 1970s and 1980s, he became associated with what came to be known as middle cinema or middle-of-the-road cinema filmmaker ...

and broadcast on

Doordarshan Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's State-owned enterprise, state-owned public broadcasting, public television broadcaster. Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and B ...

. His debut film was '' Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda'' (1992), directed by

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (14 December 1934 – 23 December 2024) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. H ...

Life

Rajit Kapur was born in

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

, India on 22 May 1963 in a Punjabi family. He received his

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

degree from

Sydenham College Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics is a college located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is affiliated to the Dr. Homi Bhabha State University. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in management. It was awarded a ...

. Kapur is unmarried and has no children.

Career

When Rajit Kapur was 12 years old, he acted in a children's TV drama on

. After 10 years, while working as a stage manager, he acted in the TV series ''Ghar Jamai'', which was his first acting role in a TV series. The 1992 film titled '' Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda'' directed by

was his debut film. Kapur played the role of the famous Bengali detective

in the eponymously named TV series, ''

'' (1993). Byomkesh Bakshi is a fictitious character created by the popular Bengali writer

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay (30 March 1899 – 22 September 1970) was an Indian Bengali language, Bengali-language writer. He was actively involved with Cinema of West Bengal, Bengali cinema as well as Bollywood. The creator of the Bengali dete ...

directed a TV show based on the stories of Bandyopadhyay, and Rajit Kapur played the lead role. The show was very popular and Rajit Kapur achieved his first media recognition through this show. Kapur is also a very prominent theatre actor and director in India. He acted in Malayalam film '' Agnisakshi'' in 1999 which won numerous acclodes including

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam The National Film Award for Best Malayalam Feature Film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India. It is one of several awards presented for feature films and awarded with Rajat ...

, and he was awarded

Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor is an award, begun in 1969, presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India to an actor for best performance in a Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film. Until 1997, the awards were managed direct ...

. He has also acted in several commercially successful movies like ''

Kick A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of ...

'', '' Uri: The Surgical Strike'' and '' Raazi''. His latest work is ''The Threshold''. Kapur starred in Deepti Naval's film titled ''

Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish ''Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish'' is a 2009 Indian film written and directed by Deepti Naval, starring Manisha Koirala, Rajit Kapur and Sanaj Naval. Plot Juhi is an aging prostitute whose son Kaku requires a wheelchair. She finds it ...

'' which was supposed to release in 2012 in India but was released on

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 ...

in 2019. In 2022, Kapur acted in his first

Punjabi language Punjabi, sometimes spelled Panjabi, is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Punjab region of Pakistan and India. It is one of the most widely spoken native languages in the world, with approximately 150 million native sp ...

film ''Birha – The Journey Back Home''. The short won the ‘Best film award’ at Amsterdam International Film Festival, Hollywood Shorts FEST, Los Angeles Film Awards (LAFA), New York Indian Film Festival, Calcutta International Cult Film Festival and at the Gangtok International Film Festival. 2023 saw the release of '' Mission Majnu'' and '' Mujib: The Making of a Nation'' and in both films he played the role of Pakistan's Prime Minister

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...

Filmography

Plays

* ''Love Letters'' * ''Class of '84'' * ''Larins Sahib'' * ''Are There Tigers in the Congo?'' * ''Mr. Behram'' * ''Six Degrees of Separation'' * ''Pune Highway'' * ''Me Kash and Cruise'' * ''Flowers'' * ''A Walk In The Woods'' * ''One on One Part 2'' * ''The Siddhus of Upper Juhu'' * ''Mahua'' (as director)

Television series

Awards

*1996: National Film Award for Best Actor - '' The Making of the Mahatma'' *1998:

- '' Agnisakshi'' *2010: Imagine India Film Festival, Spain, Award for Best Actor - ''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapur, Rajit 1963 births Living people Punjabi Hindus Male actors from Amritsar Male actors in Hindi cinema Indian male film actors Best Actor National Film Award winners University of Mumbai alumni