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Navin Chowdhry | |
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| 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.
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]
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 I.T. teacher Kurt McKenna in the successful comedy show Teachers in 2001–2003, [2] and is also well known for playing PC Sanjay Singh in Dalziel and Pascoe . He also appeared as a possible rapist in Judge John Deed .
Chowdhry appeared in Waking The Dead , Series 3, Episode 3, entitled "Breaking Glass", opposite Trevor Eve and Sue Johnston. In the episode, he portrays the psychologically affected "Rainman". 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 theatre in London 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 where 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 entitled Mashed. [3]
He played Anwar in the critically acclaimed 2015 BBC TV series Doctor Foster and in 2016 he played Sonny Desai in Series 18's first episode 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 over 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]
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 2022–2025 | EastEnders | Nish Panesar | 212 episodes |
| 2025 | The Power of Parker | Ash | Episodes: "Thirsty Girl", "Trust The Process", "You Better Not Miss" |
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