Roshan Seth (born 2 April 1942) is a British-Indian actor, writer and theatre director who has worked in the United Kingdom, United States and India.Audio interview with Seth on NPR's All Things Considered, 3 June 2004 He began his acting career in the early 1960s in the UK, but left acting the following decade and moved to India to work as a journalist. In the 1980s, he rose to prominence for his comeback performance as Jawaharlal Nehru in Richard Attenborough's Academy Award-winning film Gandhi, which brought him a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and reignited his interest in acting.
He has since appeared in numerous British and American feature films and television programmes, with roles ranging from Chattar Lal in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Amit Rao in A Passage to India, Papa Hussein in My Beautiful Laundrette, patriarch Jay in Mississippi Masala and Dhalsim in Street Fighter: The Movie. He won the Genie Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for the Canadian film Such a Long Journey. Other projects he has appeared include Bharat Ek Khoj, Not Without My Daughter, The Buddha of Suburbia, Vertical Limit, Monsoon Wedding, Proof, Ek Tha Tiger, Indian Summers and Dumbo.
Early life Seth was born in Patna, Bihar on 2 April 1942 during the British Raj, to T. N. Seth and Venetia Seth. His father was a biochemistry professor at Patna Medical College. He was educated at The Doon School, then did graduate studies in history at St Stephen's College. There, he honed his theatrical skills at the Shakespeare Society, before moving to England for further training.Requiem for a rainbow: a Fijian Indian story – Satendra Pratap Nandan – Google Books He trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1965 and started working in British television and repertory theatre.
Career Seth first appeared in Peter Brook's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which toured in 1972. Seth entered feature films in Richard Lester's Juggernaut (1974). However, subsequent filmmakers only wanted Seth for limited ethnic roles, so that his career stalled.
Discouraged, Seth abandoned acting and returned to India in 1977, where he worked as a journalist and editor of the quarterly journal published by the India International Centre, Delhi. He took leave from this job after Richard Attenborough asked Seth to play Jawaharlal Nehru in Gandhi (1982). Seth was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in the film. Seth subsequently also played Jawaharlal Nehru in Bharat Ek Khoj, a 53-episode series on Doordarshan in 1988.
David Hare met Seth in Delhi in 1982, and asked him to play author Victor Mehta in Hare's biographical play A Map of the World. Seth left his editing job and returned to acting. A Map of the World toured for several years in Australia, London, and New York. After the release of the multi-award-winning movie Gandhi (1982), Seth was much in demand, and when A Map of the World'''s Broadway run finished, his movie career took off. His work in 1984 included major roles in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom and David Lean's A Passage to India. Following that he played a lead in My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), and he played Pancks in Little Dorrit (1988).
Seth's film credits in the 1990s included roles in Not Without My Daughter (1991), Mississippi Masala (1991), Street Fighter (1994), and Harish Saluja's The Journey (1997). In 1993, he played the role of Haroon Amir in the television miniseries The Buddha of Suburbia, for which he was nominated a Royal Television Society award for "Best Actor – Male". In 1995, he played the role of Baba in Flight, for which he won the "Best Actor" award at the Sochi International Film Festival. In 1998, he played the leading role of Gustad Noble in the film Such a Long Journey, for which he won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role.
In 2001, Seth appeared in Monsoon Wedding and he has continued working steadily in British and American films. In 2003 he played the lead in the American film Cosmopolitan, which was broadcast nationally on PBS. He also recently returned to mainstream Indian cinema with his role in the 2012 film, Ek Tha Tiger.
Personal life Seth was married to author Pepita Seth, but they separated in the late 1980s and divorced in 2004. His brother is the retired Indian diplomat Aftab Seth.
Filmography Film + List of performances by Roshan Seth in film Year Title Role Notes 1974 Juggernaut Azad 1982 Gandhi Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Nominated- BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role 1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Chattar Lal A Passage to India Advocate Amrit Rao 1985 My Beautiful Laundrette Papa Hussein 1987 Partition 1988 Little Dorrit Mr. Pancks 1989Slipstream George Nyman 1990 Mountains of the Moon Ben Amir 1871 Lord Grafton 1991 Not Without My Daughter Houssein Mississippi Masala JayLondon Kills Me Dr. Bubba1992Electric Moon Ranveer 1994 Street FighterDr. Dhalsim 1995 Bideshi AjoyShort film Solitaire for 2 Sandip Tamar 1997 The Journey Kishan Singh 1998 Such a Long Journey Gustad NobleGenie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading RoleBombay Boys Pesi Shroff1999Secret of the Andes Don Benito 2000 Vertical Limit Col. Amir Salim 2001 Monsoon Wedding Mohan Rai Wings of Hope Shekar KhannaSouth West 9 Ravi2004Spivs OmarSe sarà luce sarà bellissimoAldo Moro 2005 Frozen Noyen Proof Professor Bhandari 2006 Kabul Express Narrator (voice) 2007 Broken Thread Chief of Enquiry CommissionGuru Thapar Amal Suresh Gupta 2010 The Truth About Tigers NarratorShort film 2011 Trishna Mr. Singh 2012 Ek Tha Tiger Professor Kidwai 2013 Brahmin Bulls Ashok Sharma The Lovers Sadhu 2016 City of Tiny Lights Farzad Akhtar2018Boogie ManRupesh 2019 Dumbo Pramesh Singh
Television + List of performances and appearances by Roshan Seth in television Year Title Role Notes1964CrossroadsDr. Ahmed1966Public EyeSoondraEpisode: "Tell Me About the Crab"1967No Hiding PlaceKuldip MahalEpisode: "The Game"Theatre 625VinayEpisode: "55 Columns"1968–1969 The Wednesday PlayBen Scalfe / Student2 episodes1969Strange ReportJamalEpisode: "Report 3424: Epidemic – A Most Curious Crime"1971 The DoctorsBingi SinghEpisode 1.881972To Encourage the OthersJazwonTelevision film1973 The ProtectorsPersuerEpisode: "...With a Little Help From My Friends"1975Six Days of JusticeMr. WoodEpisode: "Belonging"General HospitalDr. NarasjeeEpisode: "The White Rajah"1976Play for TodayDr. MilmaEpisode: "The Peddler"Centre PlayAnil RoyEpisode: "Commonwealth Season: India – Apply, Apply, No Reply"Crown CourtFarooq RanaEpisode: "A Matter of Honour: Part 1"Gangsters Episode: "Incident Four"1987 The Happy Valley Defense Solicitor Television filmEmmerdaleHoward2 episodes1988First BornDr. Antony GrahamEpisode 1.2DeadlineThe Emir of HawaTelevision filmBharat Ek KhojJawaharlal NehruMain cast; Series 11989In Which Annie Gives It Those OnesY.D. Billimoria / YamdootTelevision film1992CasualtySujit PratkashEpisode: "Rates of Exchange"Screen OneMr. HumphreyEpisode: "Running Late"StalinLavrentiy BeriaTelevision film1993 The Buddha of SuburbiaHaroon Amir1994Siren SpiritsAjoyMiniseries; 2 episodes1996 The BillAhmed SethEpisode: "Blood Brothers"DangerfieldAslam ChoudhuryEpisode: "Treasure"Dr. Tenshin Sharafi1997Turning WorldDr. Khan3 episodesFlight Baba Television filmFood for RavensNehruGrandpa ChatterjeeGrandpa Chatterjee1998Iqbal Ulla Khasi1999 The Young Indiana Jones ChroniclesSheikh KhamalEpisode: "Tales of Innocence"2001Holby CityKushara BandaraEpisode: "Tip of the Iceberg"2003SpooksFazul AzzamEpisode: "Nest of Angels"Second GenerationMohanTelevision filmSilent WitnessAfzal KhanEpisode: Answering FireCosmopolitanGopalTelevision film2004Blue MurderJameel KhanEpisode: "Fragile Relations"2005 The Man-Eating Leopard of RudraprayagPunditTelevision film2007 The Last Days of the RajJawaharlal Nehru2008 The Cheetah Girls: One WorldUncle Kamal Bhatia2015–2016Indian SummersDarius DalalMain cast; Series 1–22017Diana and IUncle ZaheerTelevision film2019Beecham HouseEmperor Shah AlamMain cast; Series 12021Behind Her EyesDr. Sharma
Selected theatre credits A Midsummer Night's Dream A Map of the World (Victor Mehta) King Lear (The Fool) The Millionairess (The Doctor) Amadeus (Antonio Salieri)
See also List of British actors References
External links
Roshan Seth at Filmreference.com Roshan Seth at ScreenOnline Roshan Seth interview on NPR's All Things Considered'', 3 June 2004