Tota Roy Chowdhury

Early career

During his second year in college, he made up his mind to join the Indian Army and was preparing for the CDS exams when fate intervened and he was asked by the director Prabhat Roy to play a small role in his film. That one film brought other offers and soon he decided to become a professional actor. After starring in a few commercially successful films, he was spotted by director Rituparno Ghosh and cast opposite Nandita Das in his film Shubho Mahurat.^[8]

Breakthrough

Chowdhury was cast again opposite Aishwarya Rai in Rituparno's Tagore adaptation, Chokher Bali. He won several awards, including the BFJA Award for the Best Actor.

After Chokher Bali, he did several films both commercial and mainstream like Aborto, Biye Not Out, Choukaath, Benche Thakar Gaan, Bolo Na Tumi Aamar, Paglu 2, Villain, and Shapath which cemented his position in the Bengali film industry.

He did an extended cameo in the AR Murugadoss directed Kaththi which introduced him into Tamil film industry. He also starred in the Sujoy Ghosh directed short film Ahalya alongside Soumitra Chatterjee and Radhika Apte, which went viral and he was noticed for his powerful presence as the police inspector. He then played the role of Arun in the film Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh; directed by Sujoy Ghosh opposite Vidya Balan,^[9] which got him noticed by the Hindi film industry. His second Hindi film Indu Sarkar^[10] directed by Madhur Bhandarkar was released in 2017. He was cast opposite Kirti Kulhari and his portrayal of the troubled government servant Navin fetched him recognition and praises. Industry veteran Anupam Kher tweeted "Tota in Indu Sarkar is a brilliant piece of casting" and Ashutosh Gowariker tweeted "Superb performance by Tota Roy Choudhury".

His next film was Helicopter Eela, directed by Pradeep Sarkar, where he was cast opposite Kajol. His portrayal of the psychologically disturbed Arun fetched him positive reviews. He then starred in a cameo appearance in The Girl on the Train, a Hindi remake of the English film of the same name, which itself was based on the eponymous novel.

He also plays the iconic Bengali detective Feluda created by Satyajit Ray, in the web series, Feludar Goyendagiri, directed by the multiple National Award winner Srijit Mukherji.^[11]

In 2023, he starred in Karan Johar's directorial comeback Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani; along with Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. His performance, with regards to acting and Kathak dance, in this film has grabbed a lot of attention and accolades.

Films

Television

Web series