Roshan Seth

Roshan Seth Biography

Roshan Seth is an Indian-born British actor, best known for Indians portraying the role of Jawaharlal Nehru in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982) and Doordarshan series, Bharat Ek Khoj directed by Shyam Benegal, which was based on the book, ‘The discovery of India’. Seth enacted the part of Nehru as the story-teller at key points in every episode of Bharat Ek Khoj, aired in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Mississippi Masala, Not Without My Daughter, My Beautiful Laundrette, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Such a Long Journey, and Street Fighter: The Movie are his other noted works as a film actor. Most recently he made a return to Indian big screen after Gandhi (1982) through Salman Khan starrer, Ek Tha Tiger in 2012. He also appeared in a brief cameo in Mani Ratnam’s Guru in 2006. Seth has a long-standing relationship with Kabir Khan.

Seth was born in Patna in 1942. His father was an Indian Hindu, while his mother, an anglo-Indian. His father was a professor at Patna Medical College. His brother is a retired diplomat, Aftab Seth who served as ambassador of India to Greece, Vietnam and Japan. He schooled at The Doon School, and completed graduation in History at St Stephen's College. For advanced studies he moved to London and studied at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in British repertory theatre. Seth was in a relationship with actress Lynette Davies, but got married to writer Pepita Seth. However the couple got separated.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1972) was his first big break to acting career. He also appeared in Juggernaut (1974), directed by Richard Lester. He got discouraged a lot when US directors want him to handle ethnic roles only and he returned to India and worked as a journalist. Gandhi in 1982, proved to be the real breakthrough and he went on to become one of the well-established actors of UK film industry.

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Updated: July 08, 2014