Arjun Mathur
Arjun Mathur (born 18 October 1981) is an International Emmy nominated, British Indian actor working predominantly in Bollywood, independent films and television.[1] He was seen internationally in the British drama series, 'Indian Summers' and plays the lead character in the Amazon Original series, 'Made in Heaven', which earned him an International Emmy award nomination for 'Best Performance by an Actor'.[2][3][4]
Arjun Mathur | |
---|---|
Born | |
Education | St. Columbas School, New Delhi
St. Mary's School I.S.C., Mumbai The British School, New Delhi |
Alma mater | Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, New York |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 2007–present |
Notable work | 'Made In Heaven', 'Indian Summers', 'Long Live Brij Mohan', 'Luck By Chance' |
Partner(s) | Tiya Tejpal |
Parent(s) | Rakesh Mathur (Father), Late Reynoo Mathur (Mother) |
Relatives | Gautam Mathur (Brother), Sonia Mathur Kaul (Sister) |
Awards | International Emmy Nomination for 'Best Performance by an Actor' (2020) |
Early life and education
Arjun Mathur was born in London, England.[5] but grew up between New Delhi and Mumbai, India. His father, Rakesh Mathur, is a hotelier. He has an older brother, Gautam and a younger sister, Sonia. His mother Reynoo, died in a car accident when he was just thirteen years old.[6]
Mathur studied at St. Columbas School, New Delhi, St. Mary's School, Mumbai, The British School, New Delhi and Oaklands College, St Albans, Hertfordshire, where he completed his A-Level schooling.[7]
He chose to not pursue a college degree and instead, trained as an actor at Barry John's institute as well as the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York.[8] Before he started acting, he worked as an Assistant Director on several big-budget Indian films such as 'Bunty Aur Babli' and 'Rang De Basanti (The Colour of Spring)'.
Career
Arjun was discovered by Mira Nair and Farhan Akhtar simultaneously, through their respective short films, 'Migration' and 'Positive' for the 'Aids Jaago' project, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, 2007. This was followed by several remarkable performances in mainstream Indian films like 'Luck By Chance', 'My Name Is Khan' and 'Ankur Arora Murder Case', as well as critically acclaimed independent films like 'Barah Aana', 'Coffee Bloom', the National-Award winning 'I Am' and the English language film, 'Fireflies', for which he received a Best Actor nomination at the New York Indian Film Festival, 2013.
In 2012, he garnered praise for the youth-centric mini-series, 'Bring On The Night', which was the first of its kind produced in India, before the streaming revolution took hold. Arjun has appeared in numerous television commercials and was a brand-ambassador for the leading Indian lifestyle brand, 'Godrej' from 2013 till 2016. He was also seen in Channel 4's British drama series, 'Indian Summers' as the volatile nationalist, 'Naresh Banerjee'. The 2018 Netflix original film, 'Brij Mohan Amar Rahe (Long Live Brij Mohan)' saw Arjun step away from his image and impress audiences and critics as an underwear salesman from Delhi, who tries to fake his own death and fails miserably.
In 2019, Arjun played the lead in Zoya Akhtar's Amazon original series, 'Made In Heaven' and received a nomination in the 'Best Performance by an Actor' category at the International Emmy Awards 2020, for his nuanced portrayal of a gay man living in urban India at a time when homosexuality was illegal. The show itself received worldwide audience and critical acclaim and will return for a second season.
He was last seen in 'The Gone Game', a suspense thriller series that was set, conceived, shot and released during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020.
Filmography
Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Year | Film | Role | Language | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | Kyun! Ho Gaya Na | Sumi (Cameo) | Hindi | Feature Film | |
2007 | Migration | Imran | Hindi | Short Film | |
2007 | Positive | Abhijit | Hindi | Short Film | |
2009 | Barah Aana | Aman | Hindi | Feature Film | |
2009 | Luck by Chance | Abhimanyu Gupta | Hindi | Feature Film | |
2010 | My Name Is Khan | Raj Burman | Hindi | Feature Film | |
2010 | Mumbai Cutting | Unnamed | Hindi | Short Film | |
2010 | I Am | Omar | Hindi | Short Film | |
2011 | My Friend Pinto | Sameer | Hindi | Feature Film | |
2012 | Fireflies | Rana Singh Rathore | English | Feature Film | |
2012 | Bring On The Night | Kabir Dalal | English/Hindi | Television Mini Series | |
2013 | Ankur Arora Murder Case | Dr. Romesh Mathur | Hindi | Feature Film | |
2014 | Coffee Bloom | Dev Anand Cariappa | Hindi | Feature Film | |
2015 | Angry Indian Goddesses | Zain (Cameo) | English/Hindi | Feature Film | |
2015 | Waiting | Rajat (Cameo) | Hindi/English | Feature Film | |
2016 | Indian Summers | Naresh Banerjee | English | Channel-4 Drama Series | |
2018 | Brij Mohan Amar Rahe | Brij Mohan | Hindi | Netflix Original Film | |
2019 | The Accidental Prime Minister | Rahul Gandhi | Hindi | Feature Film | |
2019 | Made in Heaven | Karan Mehra | English/Hindi | Amazon Original Series | |
2020 | Home Stories | Angad | English/Hindi | Netflix Short Film | |
2020 | The Gone Game | Sahil Gujral | Hindi | Voot Original Series |
References
- Kumar, Anuj (3 April 2019). "Arjun Mathur: The present actor". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- "When Alia Bhatt walked up to Arjun Mathur to tell him that she's his 'big fan' | Bollywood News". www.timesnownews.com. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- Engl, India New; News (9 March 2019). "Made in Heaven possibly the best Indian webseries so far". INDIA New England News. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
- "2020 International Emmy Awards nominations: Arjun Mathur, 'Four More Shots Please', 'Delhi Crime' make it to the list". www.dnaindia.com. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
- "Arjun Mathur: Movies, Photos, Videos, News, Biography & Birthday | eTimes". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- "'My Mom Died in a Car Accident': How Actor Arjun Mathur Coped". in.news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
- "Exclusive biography of #ArjunMathur and on his life". FilmiBeat. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- Priyanka Dasgupta (23 February 2010). "If SRK, Aamir agreed to smooch on-screen..." The Times of India. Archived from the original on 26 February 2010. Retrieved 23 February 2010.