Rajit Kapur (born 27 August 1963) is an Indian film and theatre actor and director. He is known for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi 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 film Agnisakshi, and the fictional detective Byomkesh Bakshi in the eponymous television series, directed by Basu Chatterjee and broadcast on Doordarshan. His debut film was Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda (1992), directed by Shyam Benegal.
Life Rajit Kapur was born in Amritsar, India on 27 August 1963 in a Punjabi family. He received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from Sydenham College. Kapur is unmarried and has no children.
Career When Rajit Kapur was 12 years old, he acted in a children's TV drama on Doordarshan. 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 Shyam Benegal was his debut film. Kapur played the role of the famous Bengali detective Byomkesh Bakshi in the eponymously named TV series, Byomkesh Bakshi (1993). Byomkesh Bakshi is a fictitious character created by the popular Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Basu Chatterjee 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, and he was awarded Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor.
He has also acted in several commercially successful movies like Kick, 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 which was supposed to release in 2012 in India but was released on Netflix in 2019. In 2022, Kapur acted in his first Punjabi language 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.
Filmography YearTitleRoleNotes1989JazeereRaul1992Suraj Ka Satvan GhodaManik Mulla1994MammoRiyaz (Adult)First film in "Shyam Benegal's Muslim Trilogy"CharacharLakhinder1995Limited ManuskiSadanand BorseMarathi film1996The Making of the MahatmaMohandas Karamchand GandhiWon National Film Award for Best ActorSardari BegumSadiq MoosviSecond film in "Shyam Benegal's Muslim Trilogy"1998Train to PakistanIqbalGhulamJai1999SamarAgnisakshiUnniMalayalam film, Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor2000Hari-BhariKhurshid2001DattakSunilCensorZubeidaaRiyaz MasudThird film in "Shyam Benegal's Muslim Trilogy"2002OctaveDr. GujaralNishadDr. Gopi GujaralZindagi Khoobsoorat HaiPrakashAbaidhaBengali film2003Ek Alag MausamGeorge2004Rok Sako To Rok LoSweety's husband2005Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten HeroAbid HasanMaine Gandhi Ko Nahin MaraRonu Chaudhary2006Deadline: Sirf 24 GhanteDr. Viren Goenka2007Dahek - A Restless MindAjay Mathur2008Welcome to SajjanpurCollector2009Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki BaarishDebuPremiered at 2009 Cannes Film Festival Direct-to-videoGulmoharDevenYeh Mera IndiaArun TalrejaBlue OrangesNileshMorning WalkIndraMarega SalaaRahul Awasthi2010GuzaarishPublic Prosecutor, Vipin PatelWell Done AbbaInspector Rishab Reddy2011ShaitanAmy's FatherDam 999ShankaranUAE–Indian co-production filmMonicaRaj Jaitley2013Singh Saab the GreatIqbalMishawr RawhoshyoAl MamunBengali film2014DishkiyaoonViki's DadKickDr. Jayant Verma2015UvaaPrincipalRoyDetective Wadia2016Anna: Kisan Baburao HazareBaar Baar DekhoPanditjiSpecial appearanceKi & KaMr. Kumar Bansal2017A GentlemanKavya's fatherThe Wishing TreeFatima's FatherBegum JaanIlias Khan2018RaaziHidayat KhanPhir Se...KrishMehramIkhlaque SiddiquiShort film released on ZEE52019Bypass RoadPratap22 YardsUri: The Surgical StrikePrime Minister of IndiaDo Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki BaarishDebu2020FitratShort film2021Nail PolishJudge Kishore BhushanZEE5 original film2022Attack: Part 1Home Minister Digvijay SinghLife's GoodRocketry: The Nambi EffectVikram Sarabhai Code Name: Tiranga Kabir Ali Birha – The Journey Back Home Punjabi short film released in JioCinema 2023 Mission Majnu Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Mujib: The Making of a Nation Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 2024Chhatrapati SambhajiAurangzeb2024PaaniMarathi film2025Kaisi Ye Paheli Detective Bondo
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 Year(s) Title Credited as Notes Actor Director Role 1986Ghar Jamai 1991Kshitij Ye Nahi 1993Byomkesh Bakshi Byomkesh Bakshi Season 1 1995-96Yugantar 1997-98Junoon 1997Byomkesh Bakshi Byomkesh Bakshi Season 2 1999Star Bestsellers Episode entitled "Tripti". Also, writer and producer. Star Bestsellers Episode 12"Prayas" Star Bestsellers Episode 8"Shuruaat". Also, producer. 2001 RishteyThe Love Stories Shastri Episode 158"Poorab Aur Pashchim" 2014Samvidhaan Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer 2015Bang Baaja Baaraat Web series 2019Bard of Blood Sadiq Shaikh Netflix seriesTVF Tripling Satyanweshi Season 2 of the web series 2022Rocket Boys Jawaharlal NehruSonyLIV2024-presentSardar: The Game ChangerVallabhbhai PatelDD National 2025PharmaDr. Rajeev RaoJioHotstar Malayalam series
Awards 1996: National Film Award for Best Actor - The Making of the Mahatma 1998: Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor - Agnisakshi 2010: Imagine India Film Festival, Spain, Award for Best Actor - Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish
References
External links