Navin Chowdhry (born 22 November 1971). Hollywood.com. Retrieved 2012-07-18. is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in Teachers and A Touch of Cloth, and his role as Nish Panesar in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.
Early life Chowdhry is of Indian origin. He was born and brought up in Bristol, England. He is the son of Simi Chowdhry, a well-known female activist. In 1994, he graduated from Imperial College London with an upper second-class honours degree in biochemistry.
Career At age 16, Chowdhry made his acting debut in the 1988 film Madame Sousatzka with Shabana Azmi and Shirley MacLaine.
His next major role was as IT teacher Kurt McKenna in the successful comedy show Teachers in 2001–2003, and then PC Sanjay Singh in Dalziel and Pascoe. He also appeared as a possible rapist in Judge John Deed.
Chowdhry appeared as the psychologically affected "Rainman" in series 3, episode 3 ("Breaking Glass") of Waking the Dead. He then starred in the Channel 4 drama series NY-LON as Raph.
On 30 October 2005, he appeared on stage at The Old Vic in the one-night play Night Sky alongside Christopher Eccleston, Bruno Langley, David Warner, Saffron Burrows and David Baddiel. In 2005, he made a guest appearance in Doctor Who, then starring Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor, in which 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 Channel 4 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 called Mashed.
He played Anwar in the critically acclaimed 2015 BBC TV series Doctor Foster. In 2016, he played Sonny Desai in the first episode of series 18 of Midsomer Murders.
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. He played the role for more than two years until January 2025, when his character was killed-off. In 2025, Chowdhry won the British Soap Award for "Villain of the Year" for his portrayal of Nish.
Filmography
Film YearTitleRole1988Madame SousatzkaManek Sen1989King of the WindAgba1991The Dove's Lost NecklaceHassan1993The Seventh CoinSalim1998Surviving SabuAmin2000Skin DeepNormanThis Bastard BusinessVinod2001On a Life's EdgePeterLandmarkJaswinder2002Bhangra HeadsHari2003Teachers Series 3: Behind the ScenesHimself2004SeafoodNaveen2007A Chaat in the ParkMahir2008NY-LONRaph2009Skellig: The Owl ManMr Watson2010ReunitedDanny2015I Love NYIshan2016FerriedAhmed2017With Love from CalaisNavStar Wars: Episode VIII – The Last JediResistance Cargo Pilot2018Sara Pascoe vs. MonogamyHimself2023The Effects of LyingHarvinderWake UpSonny
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1993London's BurningRasheedEpisode: "Series 6, episode 2"1994Schwarz greift einRawiEpisode: "Blinde Wut"1995Crown ProsecutorRaj KapoorEpisode: "Series 1, episode 9"1996CasualtyZafarEpisode: "Land of Hope"Gulliver's TravelsPrince MunodiEpisode: "Series 1, episode 2"1997Ruth Rendell MysteriesAmalEpisode: "The Double"InsidersJonathan MasonEpisode: "Offending Behaviour"The English ProgrammePrince Munodi2 episodesDalziel and PascoePC Sanjay Singh4 episodes1998Animated World FaithsBalaramaEpisode: "The Childhood of Krishna"2000City CentralTim AnandEpisode: "History"2001Judge John DeedColin GeeEpisode: "Rough Justice"2001–2003TeachersKurt McKenna31 episodes2002Network East LateHimselfEpisode: "Series 2, episode 1"Animated Tales of the WorldPawelEpisode: "The Flower of Fern: A Story from Poland"2003Waking the DeadRainman2 episodes2004NY-LONRaph7 episodes2005The Paul O'Grady ShowHimselfEpisode: "Series 3, episode 3"Doctor WhoIndra Ganesh2 episodesNew TricksSgt. Pushkar GuhaEpisode: "Family Business"The Golden HourDr. Naz Osbourne4 episodes2006SinchronicityMani6 episodes2009Free AgentsRaz2 episodes2010Five DaysDC Bilal Choudry2011The Body FarmParvez KhanEpisode: "Series 1, episode 4"2012Mr Blue SkyRakesh Rathi3 episodes2012–2014A Touch of ClothDC Asap Qureshi6 episodes2013The Job LotSunil MiteshEpisode: "Series 1, episode 1"2014BabylonSgt. Adeel3 episodes2015Doctor FosterAnwar2016Midsomer MurdersSonny DesaiEpisode: "Habeas Corpus"2017The ReplacementKieran3 episodesThe End of the F***ing WorldTony5 episodes2018Next of KinKareem Shirani6 episodesOur GirlInspector Chowdhrey4 episodes2019Death in ParadiseAndy SpriggsEpisode: "Wish You Weren't Here"Thunderbirds Are GoCameronEpisode: "Chain Reaction"2020Doctor Who ReviewsIndra GaneshEpisode: "Is Doctor Who's 'Farting Alien' Episode a Secret Masterpiece?"McDonald & DoddsPete WattalEpisode: "The Fall of the House of Crockett"Out of Her MindSteve2 episodes2021TryingDeven5 episodes2022–2026EastEndersNish Panesar213 episodes2025The Power of ParkerAshEpisodes: "Thirsty Girl", "Trust The Process", "You Better Not Miss"
References
External links
2006 Interview