Navin Chowdhry | |
|---|---|
| Born | 22 November 1971 |
| Alma mater | Imperial College London |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Height | 173 cm (5 ft 8 in) |
Navin Chowdhry (born 22 November 1971)[1] 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
[edit]Chowdhry is of Indian origin. He was born and brought up in Bristol, England.[2] 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.[3]
Career
[edit]At age 16, Chowdhry made his acting debut in the 1988 film Madame Sousatzka with Shabana Azmi and Shirley MacLaine.[3]
His next major role was as IT teacher Kurt McKenna in the successful comedy show Teachers in 2001–2003,[2] 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.[4]
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.[5]
Chowdhry has also produced projects such as the award-winning short film This Bastard Business and a short play called Mashed.[3]
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.[6]
In 2022, Chowdhry began playing the previously unseen and imprisoned Nish Panesar in EastEnders.[4] 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.[7]
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Madame Sousatzka | Manek Sen |
| 1989 | King of the Wind | Agba |
| 1991 | The Dove's Lost Necklace | Hassan |
| 1993 | The Seventh Coin | Salim |
| 1998 | Surviving Sabu | Amin |
| 2000 | Skin Deep | Norman |
| This Bastard Business | Vinod | |
| 2001 | On a Life's Edge | Peter |
| Landmark | Jaswinder | |
| 2002 | Bhangra Heads | Hari |
| 2003 | Teachers Series 3: Behind the Scenes | Himself |
| 2004 | Seafood | Naveen |
| 2007 | A Chaat in the Park | Mahir |
| 2008 | NY-LON | Raph |
| 2009 | Skellig: The Owl Man | Mr Watson |
| 2010 | Reunited | Danny |
| 2015 | I Love NY | Ishan |
| 2016 | Ferried | Ahmed |
| 2017 | With Love from Calais | Nav |
| Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi | Resistance Cargo Pilot | |
| 2018 | Sara Pascoe vs. Monogamy | Himself |
| 2023 | The Effects of Lying | Harvinder |
| Wake Up | Sonny |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | London's Burning | Rasheed | Episode: "Series 6, episode 2" |
| 1994 | Schwarz greift ein | Rawi | Episode: "Blinde Wut" |
| 1995 | Crown Prosecutor | Raj Kapoor | Episode: "Series 1, episode 9" |
| 1996 | Casualty | Zafar | Episode: "Land of Hope" |
| Gulliver's Travels | Prince Munodi | Episode: "Series 1, episode 2" | |
| 1997 | Ruth Rendell Mysteries | Amal | Episode: "The Double" |
| Insiders | Jonathan Mason | Episode: "Offending Behaviour" | |
| The English Programme | Prince Munodi | 2 episodes | |
| Dalziel and Pascoe | PC Sanjay Singh | 4 episodes | |
| 1998 | Animated World Faiths | Balarama | Episode: "The Childhood of Krishna" |
| 2000 | City Central | Tim Anand | Episode: "History" |
| 2001 | Judge John Deed | Colin Gee | Episode: "Rough Justice" |
| 2001–2003 | Teachers | Kurt McKenna | 31 episodes |
| 2002 | Network East Late | Himself | Episode: "Series 2, episode 1" |
| Animated Tales of the World | Pawel | Episode: "The Flower of Fern: A Story from Poland" | |
| 2003 | Waking the Dead | Rainman | 2 episodes |
| 2004 | NY-LON | Raph | 7 episodes |
| 2005 | The Paul O'Grady Show | Himself | Episode: "Series 3, episode 3" |
| Doctor Who | Indra Ganesh | 2 episodes | |
| New Tricks | Sgt. Pushkar Guha | Episode: "Family Business" | |
| The Golden Hour | Dr. Naz Osbourne | 4 episodes | |
| 2006 | Sinchronicity | Mani | 6 episodes |
| 2009 | Free Agents | Raz | 2 episodes |
| 2010 | Five Days | DC Bilal Choudry | |
| 2011 | The Body Farm | Parvez Khan | Episode: "Series 1, episode 4" |
| 2012 | Mr Blue Sky | Rakesh Rathi | 3 episodes |
| 2012–2014 | A Touch of Cloth | DC Asap Qureshi | 6 episodes |
| 2013 | The Job Lot | Sunil Mitesh | Episode: "Series 1, episode 1" |
| 2014 | Babylon | Sgt. Adeel | 3 episodes |
| 2015 | Doctor Foster | Anwar | |
| 2016 | Midsomer Murders | Sonny Desai | Episode: "Habeas Corpus" |
| 2017 | The Replacement | Kieran | 3 episodes |
| The End of the F***ing World | Tony | 5 episodes | |
| 2018 | Next of Kin | Kareem Shirani | 6 episodes |
| Our Girl | Inspector Chowdhrey | 4 episodes | |
| 2019 | Death in Paradise | Andy Spriggs | Episode: "Wish You Weren't Here" |
| Thunderbirds Are Go | Cameron | Episode: "Chain Reaction" | |
| 2020 | Doctor Who Reviews | Indra Ganesh | Episode: "Is Doctor Who's 'Farting Alien' Episode a Secret Masterpiece?" |
| McDonald & Dodds | Pete Wattal | Episode: "The Fall of the House of Crockett" | |
| Out of Her Mind | Steve | 2 episodes | |
| 2021 | Trying | Deven | 5 episodes |
| 2022–2026 | EastEnders | Nish Panesar | 213 episodes |
| 2025 | The Power of Parker | Ash | Episodes: "Thirsty Girl", "Trust The Process", "You Better Not Miss" |
References
[edit]- ^ Navin Chowdhry. Hollywood.com. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
- ^ a b "Teachers". channel4.com. Channel4.
- ^ a b c "Navin Chowdhry plays Mani". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 11 July 2006.
- ^ Pettie, Andrew (30 June 2010). "Reunited: with the type of long-lost friends you'd rather leave behind, review". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
- ^ Cashell, Eleni (5 September 2019). "Claire Goose and Navin Chowdhry announced for the Girl Who Fell". officiallondontheatre.com.
- ^ "British Soap Awards 2025 winners announced – here's who won the top prizes". Digital Spy. 31 May 2025.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |