Ranjit Chowdhry

Ranjit Chowdhry Biography

Ranjit Chowdhry is a noted actor of television and Bollywood, best known for playing character roles. He is best remembered for playing the teenager Russie Mistry in the cult classic - Khatta Meetha, which happened to be his debut film. He played the son of his real-life mother, Pearl Padamsee. In the late 1970s he was regularly featured in many of the movies of Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who gave him the most memorable roles.  Basu Chatterjee's Baton Baton Mein (1979) and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Khubsoorat (1980) are those roles.

Among his television roles, Doordarshan series – The Office of 1980s is his most memorable role. He played the role of Vikram, a telemarketer. He has been the part of many international projects also, though in character roles. He was seen in Deepa Mehta’s 2002 film Bollywood/Hollywood and 2006 film – Last Holiday. He received a nomination for Best Performance in a Supporting Role at the 23rd Genie Awards for her memorable role as Rocky in Bollywood/Hollywood.

Ranjit is the step son of noted theater personalities - Alyque Padamsee whom his mother Pearl Padamsee divorced later. Ranjit’s parents were also divorced. His mother was a Jewish while his father belonged to Gujjar background. He shared screen space with his mother in all the classics she acted in the late 1970s an d early 1980s - Baton Baton Mein, Khoobsurat and Khatta Meeta being the best instances. In the early 1980s he took a break from the industry and moved to states. He returned only in the late 1980s. He scripted the movie, Sam & Me for Deepa Mehta and acted as well. The movie received an Honorable Mention at Cannes in 1991.

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Updated: December 11, 2015