Sugith Varughese
Indian actor (born 1957)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sugith Varughese (born 25 April 1957) is an Indian-born Canadian actor, writer and director.
Early life and education
Varughese was born in Cochin, Kerala, India, into a Syriac Saint Thomas Christian family.[a] His family moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, when he was a child, when his neurosurgeon father obtained a professional appointment there.[1]
Varughese began university studies at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon with a double major in pre-medicine and drama.[2] He continued on to an undergraduate degree in drama at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and a Master of Fine Arts at York University in Toronto.[1] He went on to write, act in and direct film and television productions in Canada and the United States, and was accepted to attend the Canadian Film Centre as a writer-director. As a director, he has been nominated for and won several Canadian film and television and international film festival awards. He also holds a black belt in karate.[2]
Career
Actor
- Television
Varughese made his screen debut on television in 1983, and was nominated for an ACTRA Award for his first role in the CBC-TV movie, Best of Both Worlds.[3] Some of his other television movie roles include the Transcorp Reporter in Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (1984),[4] and Patal in Solar Attack (2006).[5]
In television series, Varughese was a regular as Aftab in the CBC-TV comedy An American in Canada (aka Frostbite in Australia) for which he received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Ensemble Performance. Other recurring roles include Palash on OMNI TV's nighttime soap opera Metropia, Faisal on Little Mosque on the Prairie, Tariq Barr on the Starz series The Girlfriend Experience,[6] Mr. Mehta on Kim's Convenience, David Paster for three episodes of The Expanse (2021), and Aajay Singh on the CTV series Transplant.[6] His television guest appearances include the crime-fighting series Counterstrike (1992), the action/crime drama Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1993),[citation needed] the film-based thriller F/X: The Series (1996),[citation needed] the adventure series Veritas: The Quest (2003),[7] and a role as the informant on 72 Hours: True Crime (2004).[citation needed]
- Film
Some of his theatrical film appearances include the psychological slasher Orphan (2009),[5] and the science fiction film Mission to Mars (2000).[8]
- Theatre
Varughese's stage roles and venues include the following.[9]
- Estelle Singerman (Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company)
- The Wrong Bashir (Crow's Theatre)
- The Men in White (Factory Theatre)
- Animal Farm (Soulpepper Theatre)
- Little Pretty and the Exceptional (Factory Theatre) for which he was nominated a Dora award for Outstanding Performance-male
- The Postman (Panamania) (also co-writer)
- The Container (Summerworks)
- The Post Office (Pleiades Theatre)
- Tideline (Factory Theatre)
- Bhopal (Cahoots Theatre)
- Indian Ink (CanStage / National Arts Centre).
Writer
- Theatre
- Film and television
As scriptwriter he worked on animated shorts, Talespinners Collection 1, Talespinners Collection 2 (NFB); Short film, Tongue Tied; TV series The Blobheads (YTV, 1 episode); IMAX documentary Lost Worlds: Life in the Balance; TV series Blue Murder (Global TV, 2 episodes); TV series Groundling Marsh (YTV, 1 episode); TV series On My Mind (TVOntario, 1 episode); Short film Mela's Lunch (NFB); Short film Kumar and Mr. Jones (Canadian Film Centre); TV series Mount Royal (CTV, 1 episode); TV movie Best of Both Worlds (CBC); TV series Fraggle Rock (Jim Henson Company) (10 episodes);[6] TV series The Phoenix Team (CBC, 1 episode); radio drama In the Mountains (CBC Radio) based on Rohinton Mistry's novel A Fine Balance; radio drama Entry Denied (CBC Radio) which was Canada's entry in the Worldplay Festival and broadcast worldwide.[10]
- Awards
Director
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Blindside | Two Tone | [6] | |
| 2000 | Mission to Mars | 2nd Capcom | [8] | |
| 2009 | Orphan | ICU Doctor | [5] | |
| 2016 | Remember | Hotel Clerk | [5] | |
| 2018 | The Joke Thief | Jerry the Uber Driver | [7] | |
| 2018 | Red Rover | Gopi | [7] | |
| 2019 | Guest of Honor | Indian Restaurant Manager | [6] | |
| 2022 | Ashgrove | Frank | [6] | |
| 2022 | Mistletoe Time Machine | Peter | [6] | |
| 2022 | A Gingerbread Christmas | Ted | [6] | |
| 2023 | Flipping for Christmas | Mayor Kumar | [6] | |
| 2024 | Super Icyclone | Monty | [6] |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Best of Both Worlds | Anil | TV movie | [3] |
| 1984 | Overdrawn at the Memory Bank | Transcorp Reporter | TV movie | [4] |
| 1992 | Counterstrike | Terrorist | Episode: "Prize Package" | |
| 1992 | Quiet Killer | Sara's Doorman | TV movie | [5] |
| 1993 | Kung Fu: The Legend Continues | Mr. Cyril | 1 episode | [citation needed] |
| 1996 | F/X: The Series | Director | 1 episode | [citation needed] |
| 1996 | Toe Tags | Dr. Kilami, the Coroner | TV movie | [6] |
| 1997 | PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal | Ian Vethamany | 1 episode | [6] |
| 1997 | Too Close to Home | Henry Sing | TV movie | [5][6] |
| 1997 | Major Crime | Jimmy Chaddha | TV movie | [5] |
| 1997 | Earth: Final Conflict | Dr. Basi (uncredited) | Episode: "Scorpions Dream" | [6] |
| 1998 | Naked City: Justice with a Bullet | Prabadth | TV movie | [5] |
| 1998 | A Father for Brittany | Doctor | TV movie | [5] |
| 1998 | Defenders: Taking the First | Dr Caster | TV movie | [5] |
| 1999 | Freak City | Dr. Rashdi | TV movie | [5][6] |
| 1999 | Lethal Vows | Dr. Singh | TV movie | [5] |
| 2001 | Criminal Instinct: A Colder Kind of Death | Paul Gupta | TV movie | [5] |
| 2002 | Get a Clue | Homeless Man / Gary Eicar | TV movie | [5] |
| 2002–2003 | An American in Canada | Aftab | 6 episodes. AKA Frostbite (Australia) | [citation needed] |
| 2003 | Veritas: The Quest | Auctioneer | 1 episode | [7] |
| 2003, 2004 | Degrassi: The Next Generation | Dr. Moragoda | 2 episodes | [citation needed] |
| 2004 | 72 Hours: True Crime | Informant | Episode: "Burning Obsession" | [citation needed] |
| 2004–2005 | Metropia | Palash | [citation needed] | |
| 2005 | Kevin Hill | Judge Ames Stewart | 1 episode | [7] |
| 2006 | Solar Attack | Patel | TV movie | [5] |
| 2007 | The Gathering | Male Internist | TV miniseries | [5] |
| 2007–2011 | Little Mosque on the Prairie | Faisal | 19 episodes | [citation needed] |
| 2015 | The Strain | Naren Gupta | 4 episodes | [citation needed] |
| 2016 | The Girlfriend Experience | Tariq Barr | 7 episodes (Season 1) | [5] |
| 2016, 2018 | Suits | Judge Howard | 2 episodes | [citation needed] |
| 2016–2021 | Kim's Convenience | Mr. Mehta | 25 episodes | [citation needed] |
| 2018 | Taken | Edwin Brown | 1 episode | [6] |
| 2018 | Imposters | Dr. Robert John | 1 episode | [7] |
| 2020–2024 | Transplant | Aajay Singh | 29 episodes | [5] |
| 2021 | The Expanse | David Paster | 3 episodes | [citation needed] |
| 2022 | Scentsational Christmas | Jamar | TV movie | [7] |
| 2025 | Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent | Lewis Jenkins | 1 episode | [citation needed] |
| 2025 | Late Bloomer | Richard Matthias | 1 episode | [citation needed] |
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