Omi Vaidya | |
---|---|
Born | Yucca Valley, California, U.S. | January 10, 1982
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | |
Occupations | |
Years active | 2003–present |
Known for | 3 Idiots (2009) |
Spouse | Minal Patel (m. 2009) |
Children | 2 |
Omi Vaidya (born January 10, 1982) is an American actor of Indian descent who works in Bollywood films. He is best known for his performance as Chatur Ramalingam or "Silencer" in the 2009 buddy-drama film, 3 Idiots . [2] In addition, Vaidya has played roles on The Office and Arrested Development . Omi has directed many short films and worked as a feature film editor. He has also appeared in a number of commercials and works as a producer. [3]
Vaidya was raised in Joshua Tree in Yucca Valley, California. [4] He graduated from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and later attended the University of California, Santa Cruz for two years. He then transferred to the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and graduated with honors. [2]
Vaidya commented on his background in an interview:
I live in Los Angeles, USA. That's where I grew up, but every year we used to come to India. My native place in India is Goa and I also did visit Mumbai quite often during my growing up days. I started acting when I was about six in Marathi mandal nataks and some English plays in the US. I learned more about acting in high school and that's when I became really serious about films as a career. I went to NYU film school and learned the ropes of filmmaking, editing, acting, etc. I learned the technical language used on the sets. After graduating in honors from NYU, I went back to Los Angeles and began auditioning for roles in T.V. serials and films. [5]
Vaidya married Minal Patel on August 22, 2009. In 2015, Minal gave birth to their first child. Their second child was born in 2018. [6]
After college, Vaidya began to work as an editor for horror and South Asian feature films. He continued to act as well and received small roles in television programs and commercials. After receiving a small role in Arrested Development , he was asked to audition for the role of Sadiq for The Office by the same casting director. He portrayed Sadiq in two episodes: "E-mail Surveillance" and "Fun Run." He was also seen in Bones .
Vaidya's most notable performance is in a supporting role in the 2009 Bollywood film, 3 Idiots as Chatur Ramalingam (or "The Silencer"). He received strong reviews for his performance. [7] [8] Vaidya auditioned for the role of Chatur while on a trip to Mumbai. After passing the first audition, he was asked during the second to read dialogue from Lage Raho Munna Bhai . Vaidya states that he "just rattled it off without exactly understanding the words, almost like the speech scene in 3 Idiots." After being signed for the part of Chatur, he was told not to study Hindi, not to watch Hindi films, and to gain weight.
Of his success in the film, Vaidya credits the atmosphere of the cast and crew stating that in Mumbai there is "a personal touch, unlike Hollywood. Even if they don't pay you by the hour and there is no extra time, there is warmth and care. I basically saw my Bollywood innings as a challenge. A lot of credit also goes to Raju and Abhijat Joshi for the way the character came across on screen." [2] He was also discouraged from providing interviews before the release. Vaidya states: "Before the film released, I asked director Rajkumar Hirani if I could give a couple of interviews. He stopped me saying nobody knew me and I should wait till the film is released. My role was a surprise they had planned for the audience." [9] Vaidya later recalled that, "When I was at the premiere of 3 Idiots, no one recognized me. I was a bit depressed but when it got over, it was difficult for me to even get out of the theater. I have been enamored by the love and appreciation I have received from the audience. Today, when I go out on streets, people come and shake hands with me. It feels nice." [10]
Big in Bollywood (2011) is a documentary film about American actor Omi Vaidya's journey from a struggling Hollywood actor to a successful Bollywood breakthrough with 3 Idiots. It was sold to Netflix and is now available on YouTube. [11]
2010 Screen Awards
2010 IIFA Awards
2008 Port Townsend Film Festival
Year | Film | Role | Notes | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | Rolling | Assar | ||
2009 | 3 Idiots | Chatur Ramalingam a.k.a. "The Silencer" | [14] | |
2011 | Big in Bollywood | Himself | Documentary | |
Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Ji | Milind Kelkar | |||
Desi Boyz | Ajay | |||
2012 | Players | Sunny Mehra | ||
Jodi Breakers | Nano | |||
2017 | Mirror Game | Vikram | ||
2018 | Blackmail | Boss DK | ||
Astro | Dr. Ramesh | |||
2023 | MR-9 : Do or Die | Scientists | US-Bangladeshi Joint Production Movie | |
2024 | Aaichya Gavat Marathi Bol | Also director; Marathi debut | [15] |
Year | TV Show | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2005–2007 | The Office | Sadiq | Episodes: "E-mail Surveillance" "Fun Run" |
2008 | Life | Vairam | |
Bones | Hamid Hirani | Episode: The Crank in the Shaft | |
2009 | Kath & Kim | Prakash | |
Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight | Fish | ||
2014 | Growing Up Fisher | Elliot | |
2015 | For Here or to Go | Lakshmi | |
2016 | Brown Nation | Balan Sree Ramakrishnan | |
2019 —present | Metro Park (web series) | Kannan |
Year | Film | Notes |
---|---|---|
2007 | Out of Time | Short Film |
The Desert Rose |
Year | Film | Notes |
---|---|---|
2003 | Out of Time | Short Film |
2004 | Delusion | |
2005 | Bloodshed | |
2006 | The Gold Bracelet | |
2007 | Remember the Days | |
2008 | Blind Ambition |
Saif Ali Khan is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Hindi films. Part of the Pataudi royal family, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Khan has won several awards, including a National Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards, and received the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award in 2010.
Arshad Hussain Warsi is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several awards including a Filmfare Award from five nominations and is noted for acting in varied film genres.
Achal Surinder "Boney" Kapoor is an Indian film producer primarily associated with Hindi cinema in addition to Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema.
Feroz Khan, born Zulfiqar Ali Shah Khan, was an Indian actor, film editor, producer, and director best known for his work in Indian cinema. He appeared in over 60 films throughout his career and became one of Bollywood's popular style icons. Khan is known for his roles in successful Hindi films, such as Arzoo (1965), Safar (1970), Mela (1971), Apradh (1972), Khotte Sikkay (1974), Kala Sona (1975), Dharmatma (1975), Nagin (1976), Qurbani (1980), Janbaaz (1986) and Welcome (2007).
Five Point Someone: What not to do at IIT is a 2004 novel written by Indian author Chetan Bhagat. The book has sold over a million copies worldwide. It was adapted into a play by the theatre company Evam.
Sharman Joshi is an Indian actor and television presenter who predominantly works in Hindi movies. He is best known for his roles in films such as Style (2001), Rang De Basanti (2006), Golmaal (2006), Dhol (2007) and 3 Idiots (2009).
"Email Surveillance" is the ninth episode of the second season of the American comedy television series The Office and the show's fifteenth episode overall. Written by Jennifer Celotta, and directed by Paul Feig, the episode first aired in the United States on November 22, 2005 on NBC. The episode guest starred Ken Jeong and Omi Vaidya.
Boman Irani is an Indian actor, producer, filmmaker, photographer and voice artist who works in Hindi-language films in addition to Telugu, Tamil and Marathi films. One of the most popular character actors in Hindi cinema, he has featured in over 100 films. Irani has won a Filmfare Award and an IIFA Award. Boman Irani has recently ventured into film production and advertising under his home banner, Irani Movietone.
Wanted is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed by Prabhu Deva and produced by Boney Kapoor. It is a remake of the 2006 Telugu film Pokiri. The film stars Salman Khan in the lead role with Prakash Raj, Ayesha Takia, Vinod Khanna, Mahesh Manjrekar and Inder Kumar while Prabhu Deva, Govinda and Anil Kapoor make special appearances.
3 Idiots is a 2009 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, edited and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, co-written by Abhijat Joshi and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Adapted loosely from Chetan Bhagat's novel Five Point Someone, the film stars Aamir Khan, R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi in the titular roles, marking their reunion three years after Rang De Basanti (2006), while Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani and Omi Vaidya appear in pivotal roles. Narrated through two parallel dramas, one in the present and the other set ten years in the past, the story follows the friendship of three students at an Indian engineering college and is a satire about the social pressures under the Indian education system.
Rimpy Kaur "Mahie" Gill is an Indian actress, working in the Hindi and Punjabi film industries. She is best known for her role of Paro in Anurag Kashyap's critically acclaimed Hindi film Dev.D, a modern take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Bengali novella Devdas, for which she also won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress n 2010. She started her career in Punjabi films before making a debut in Bollywood with Dev.D.
The 2010 IIFA Awards, officially the 11th International Indian Film Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the International Indian Film Academy honoured the best films of 2009 and took place between 3 – 5 June 2010. The official ceremony took place on 5 June 2010, at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. During the ceremony, IIFA Awards were awarded in 23 competitive categories. The ceremony was televised in India and internationally on Star Plus. The ceremony was hosted by Boman Irani, Ritesh Deshmukh and Lara Dutta.
There is a small community of Ugandans in India consisting largely but not exclusively of Ugandans of Indian descent.
The IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Male is given by the International Indian Film Academy as part of its annual award ceremony to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in his debut film. Originally known as the "IIFA Award for Fresh Face of the Year (Male)", it was officially given its new title in 2006. During its inaugural year in 2001, four separate actors were presented with an award.
Silencer may refer to:
Pankaj Tripathi (pronounced[pəŋkəd͡ʒt̪ɾipaʈʰiː]; né Tiwari; is an Indian actor, who predominantly works in Hindi films. He is the recipient of several awards, including two National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. After studying acting at the National School of Drama, Tripathi had minor roles in such films as Omkara, Raavan and Agneepath, and had a supporting role in the television series Powder.
Rajeev Ravindranathan is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Hindi and Tamil-language films. He is known for his roles in 3 Idiots (2009), English Vinglish (2012), and Rocketry: The Nambi Effect (2022).