Viveik Kalra () is an English actor. His breakout role came in 2019's ''

Blinded by the Light "Blinded by the Light" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, which first appeared on his 1973 debut album ''Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.'' A cover by British rock band Manfred Mann's Earth Band reached number one on the Billb ...

'', directed by

Gurinder Chadha Gurinder Kaur Chadha, (born 10 January 1960) is a Kenyan-born British film director of Indian origin. Most of her films explore the lives of Indians living in England. The common theme in her work showcases the trials of Indian women residing ...

Early life and education

Kalra was born in

Windsor and Maidenhead The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead is a unitary authority area with royal borough status in Berkshire, England. The borough is named after its two largest towns of Maidenhead (where the council is based) and Windsor. The borough also ...

,''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' Berkshire, England, to a British-born Indian father and Indian-born mother of

Punjabi Hindu Punjabi Hindus are adherents of Hinduism who identify ethnically, linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis and are natives of the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Punjabi Hindus are the third-largest religious g ...

descent. He was raised in Windsor, where he became a fan of

Indian films The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on pr ...

and American

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

. He was in his first year at the

Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama () is a conservatoire located in Cardiff, Wales. It has three theatres: the Richard Burton Theatre, the Bute Theatre, and the Caird Studio. It also includes one concert hall, the Dora Stoutzker Hall, and ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

in 2016 when he left after being cast in his first role.

Career

Kalra's first job was in the 2018

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

miniseries ''Next of Kin'', which came after he sent a video audition. In 2019, he also starred in another ITV miniseries,

's historical drama '' Beecham House''. He was cast as Javed Khan in ''

'', about a British-Pakistani teen inspired by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

in 1987, after singing "

Born to Run ''Born to Run'' is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on August 25, 1975, by Columbia Records. Co- produced by Springsteen with his manager Mike Appel and the producer Jon Landau, its recordin ...

" in the audition. For his role as Javed, Kalra was nominated as Best Actor at the 2019 SIFF. He stars as Peter in the science fiction film '' Voyagers'', along with

Tye Sheridan Tye Kayle Sheridan (born November 11, 1996) is an American actor. He made his feature film debut in Terrence Malick's experimental drama film ''The Tree of Life (film), The Tree of Life'' (2011) and had his first leading role in Jeff Nichols's ...

Fionn Whitehead Fionn Whitehead (; born 18 July 1997) is an English actor. He portrayed the lead role in the 2017 film ''Dunkirk'' and the 2018 film '' Black Mirror: Bandersnatch''. His first acting credit was in the 2016 ITV miniseries '' Him''. Life Whitehe ...

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and

Lily-Rose Depp Lily-Rose Melody Depp (born 27 May 1999) is a French and American actress. Born to actors Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, she began her acting career in film with a minor role in ''Tusk'' (2014) and pursued a career as a fashion model. She ap ...

. In 2022, he starred as

Troye Sivan Troye Sivan Mellet ( ; born 5 June 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actor. After gaining popularity as a singer on YouTube and in Australian talent competitions, Sivan signed with Universal Music Australia, EMI Australia in 2013 and ...

's love interest in the film ''Three Months.'' In 2023, he signed on to co-star with

Shruti Haasan Shruti Haasan (born 28 January 1986) is an Indian actress and singer who predominantly works in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi films. One of the highest paid actresses in South Indian cinema, Haasan is the recipient of various accolades, including t ...

in the cross-cultural romantic comedy film titled " Chennai Story," which is directed by Philip John.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalra, Viveik Living people 1998 births 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama English male film actors English male television actors English people of Indian descent Male actors from Berkshire Actors from the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead