Rajit Kapur
Indian actor (b. 1963)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
Rajit Kapur | |
|---|---|
Kapur in 2011 | |
| Born | 22 May 1963 |
| Education | Sydenham College (BCom) |
| Occupations | Actor, director, writer, producer |
| Known for | Byomkesh Bakshi, The Making of the Mahatma, Agnisakshi, Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda |
Life
Rajit Kapur was born in Amritsar, India on 27 August 1963 in a Punjabi family.[1][2][3] He received his Bachelor of Commerce degree from Sydenham College.[3][4] Kapur is unmarried and has no children.[5]
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.[6] The 1992 film titled Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda directed by Shyam Benegal was his debut film.[2] 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.[7]
He has also acted in several commercially successful movies like Kick, Uri: The Surgical Strike and Raazi. His latest work is The Threshold.[7] 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[5] but was released on Netflix in 2019.[8] 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.[9][10] 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.[11][12]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Jazeere | Raul | |
| 1992 | Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda | Manik Mulla | |
| 1994 | Mammo | Riyaz (Adult) | First film in "Shyam Benegal's Muslim Trilogy" |
| Charachar | Lakhinder | ||
| 1995 | Limited Manuski | Sadanand Borse | Marathi film |
| 1996 | The Making of the Mahatma | Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi | Won National Film Award for Best Actor |
| Sardari Begum | Sadiq Moosvi | Second film in "Shyam Benegal's Muslim Trilogy" | |
| 1998 | Train to Pakistan | Iqbal | |
| Ghulam | Jai | ||
| 1999 | Samar | ||
| Agnisakshi | Unni | Malayalam film, Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor | |
| 2000 | Hari-Bhari | Khurshid | |
| 2001 | Dattak | Sunil | |
| Censor | |||
| Zubeidaa | Riyaz Masud | Third film in "Shyam Benegal's Muslim Trilogy" | |
| 2002 | Octave | Dr. Gujaral | |
| Nishad | Dr. Gopi Gujaral | ||
| Zindagi Khoobsoorat Hai | Prakash | ||
| Abaidha | Bengali film | ||
| 2003 | Ek Alag Mausam | George | |
| 2004 | Rok Sako To Rok Lo | Sweety's husband | |
| 2005 | Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero | Abid Hasan | |
| Maine Gandhi Ko Nahin Mara | Ronu Chaudhary | ||
| 2006 | Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghante | Dr. Viren Goenka | |
| 2007 | Dahek - A Restless Mind | Ajay Mathur | |
| 2008 | Welcome to Sajjanpur | Collector | |
| 2009 | Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish | Debu | Premiered at 2009 Cannes Film Festival
Direct-to-video |
| Gulmohar | Deven | ||
| Yeh Mera India | Arun Talreja | ||
| Blue Oranges | Nilesh | ||
| Morning Walk | Indra | ||
| Marega Salaa | Rahul Awasthi | ||
| 2010 | Guzaarish | Public Prosecutor, Vipin Patel | |
| Well Done Abba | Inspector Rishab Reddy | ||
| 2011 | Shaitan | Amy's Father | |
| Dam 999 | Shankaran | UAE–Indian co-production film | |
| Monica | Raj Jaitley | ||
| 2013 | Singh Saab the Great | Iqbal | |
| Mishawr Rawhoshyo | Al Mamun | Bengali film | |
| 2014 | Dishkiyaoon | Viki's Dad | |
| Kick | Dr. Jayant Verma | ||
| 2015 | Uvaa | Principal | |
| Roy | Detective Wadia | ||
| 2016 | Anna: Kisan Baburao Hazare | ||
| Baar Baar Dekho | Panditji | Special appearance | |
| Ki & Ka | Mr. Kumar Bansal | ||
| 2017 | A Gentleman | Kavya's father | |
| The Wishing Tree | Fatima's Father | ||
| Begum Jaan | Ilias Khan | ||
| 2018 | Raazi | Hidayat Khan | |
| Phir Se... | Krish | ||
| Mehram | Ikhlaque Siddiqui | Short film released on ZEE5[13] | |
| 2019 | Bypass Road | Pratap | [14] |
| 22 Yards | |||
| Uri: The Surgical Strike | Prime Minister of India | ||
| Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish | Debu | ||
| 2020 | Fitrat | Short film[15] | |
| 2021 | Nail Polish | Judge Kishore Bhushan | ZEE5 original film |
| 2022 | Attack: Part 1 | Home Minister Digvijay Singh | |
| Life's Good | |||
| Rocketry: The Nambi Effect | Vikram Sarabhai | [16][17] | |
| Code Name: Tiranga | Kabir Ali | [18] | |
| Birha – The Journey Back Home | Punjabi short film released in JioCinema[10] | ||
| 2023 | Mission Majnu | Zulfikar Ali Bhutto | [11] |
| Mujib: The Making of a Nation | Zulfikar Ali Bhutto | [12] | |
| 2024 | Chhatrapati Sambhaji | Aurangzeb | [19] |
| 2024 | Paani | Marathi film | |
| 2025 | Kaisi Ye Paheli | Detective Bondo | [20] |
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 | |||
| 1986 | Ghar Jamai | Yes | |||
| 1991 | Kshitij Ye Nahi | Yes | |||
| 1993 | Byomkesh Bakshi | Yes | Byomkesh Bakshi | Season 1 | |
| 1995-96 | Yugantar | Yes | |||
| 1997-98 | Junoon | Yes | |||
| 1997 | Byomkesh Bakshi | Yes | Byomkesh Bakshi | Season 2 | |
| 1999 | Star Bestsellers | Yes | Yes | Episode entitled "Tripti". Also, writer and producer. | |
| Star Bestsellers | Yes | Episode 12 – "Prayas" | |||
| Star Bestsellers | Yes | Yes | Episode 8 – "Shuruaat". Also, producer. | ||
| 2001 | Rishtey – The Love Stories | Yes | Shastri | Episode 158 – "Poorab Aur Pashchim" | |
| 2014 | Samvidhaan | Yes | Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer | ||
| 2015 | Bang Baaja Baaraat | Yes | Web series | ||
| 2019 | Bard of Blood | Yes | Sadiq Shaikh | Netflix series | |
| TVF Tripling | Yes | Satyanweshi | Season 2 of the web series | ||
| 2022 | Rocket Boys | Yes | Jawaharlal Nehru | SonyLIV | |
| 2024-present | Sardar: The Game Changer | Yes | Vallabhbhai Patel | DD National | |
| 2025 | Pharma | Yes | Dr. Rajeev Rao | JioHotstar 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[21]
