Kabir Bedi

Bedi was one of three children born into a Sikh family that had devoted itself to India's fight for independence from British colonial rule. His father, Baba Pyare Lal Singh Bedi, a Punjabi Sikh, was an author and philosopher. His mother, Freda Bedi was a British woman born in Derby, England, who became famous as the first Western woman to take ordination in Tibetan Buddhism.[3] Kabir Bedi did his schooling at Sherwood College, Nainital, Uttarakhand and graduation from St. Stephen's College, Delhi.

As a stage actor, Kabir has performed Shakespeare's Othello as well as portrayed a historical Indian king, Tughlaq; and a self-destructive alcoholic in The Vultures. In London he also starred in The Far Pavilions, the West End musical adaptation of M. M. Kaye's novel, at the Shaftesbury Theatre. In 2011 Kabir played Emperor Shah Jahan, in 'Taj', a play written by John Murrell, a Canadian playwright for the Luminato Festival in Toronto. In 2013, this play was recommissioned and went on an 8-week multi-city tour of Canada.[4]

In the James Bond film Octopussy, he played the villain's aide Gobinda.

Kabir has acted in over 60 Indian films. In the historical epic Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story, Kabir starred as the Emperor Shah Jahan. Other starring Hindi film roles include Raj Khosla's Kacche Dhaage, Rakesh Roshan's Khoon Bhari Maang and Farah Khan's Main Hoon Na.

Kabir Bedi shot a movie with Hrithik Roshan (Kites), Govinda (Showman), and Akshay Kumar (Blue).[13] He also starred in Deepa Mehta's film, Kamagata Maru with Amitabh Bachchan and John Abraham. He acted in the Tamil film 'Aravaan', directed by Vasanthabalan.

Kabir played roles in Columbia Pictures' The Beast of War, a film on the Russian war in Afghanistan, directed by Kevin Reynolds, as well as the acclaimed Italian film Andata Ritorno, by Marco Ponti, winner of the David di Donatello Award. In 2017, he acted in a Telugu historical movie Gautamiputra Satakarni, as Nahapana, an important ruler of the Western Kshatrapas.

Kabir has appeared on American television, in Hallmark's African epic Forbidden Territory, and Ken Follett's On Wings of Eagles and also Red Eagle. He played Friar Sands in The Lost Empire, for NBC. Kabir also acted in Dynasty, Murder, She Wrote, Magnum, P.I., Hunter, Knight Rider and Highlander: The Series.

In Europe, his greatest success was Sandokan, the saga of a romantic Southeast Asian pirate during British colonial times; an Italian-German-French TV series which broke viewership records across Europe. Kabir recently starred in a prime-time Italian television series, Un Medico in Famiglia, on RAI TV.

For over a year, Kabir starred in The Bold and the Beautiful, the second most-watched television show in the world, seen by over a billion people in 149 countries.

He had his own cinematic talk show on Indian TV, "Director's Cut", a 13-part special series interviewing the country's leading directors. His success on television continued in 2013 with award-winning prime-time shows "Guns and Glory: The Indian Soldier” & “Vandemataram”, for India's news channels – Headlines Today & Aaj Tak.[14]

Kabir Bedi after receiving his knighthood

In the Indian Biblical television series 'Bible Ki Kahaniya', Bedi played both the young and aged Abraham.

In 2007 he starred in "Chat", a radio show aired by RAI Radio2, in the role of Sandokan. In 2012, he did a series of Radio One programmes titled, 'Women of Gold' and 'Men of Steel' in honour of industry champions in India. In 2017 he did another series in English for Radio One, 'Ten on Ten' celebrating top ten innovations out of India. He also did the year-end special series, 'Best of 2017'.

Kabir Bedi is a regular contributor to Indian publications including the Times of India and Tehelka on political and social issues affecting the country. He is also seen debating such topics on Indian national television.[15]

In February 2017, Bedi was announced as the new 'brand ambassador' for international development organisation, Sightsavers, saying on his appointment, "Today there is immense awareness and attempt towards eye health and care in India and Sightsavers have shown way to people at large in the country with their achievements in the area of eye care."[16]

Since 1982 Kabir has been a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (who are responsible for presenting the Oscar awards) and he is a voting member of the Screen Actors Guild.

He has won numerous film, advertising and popularity awards across Europe and India.[17]

By decree of the President of the Italian Republic of 2 June 2010, Kabir Bedi was officially knighted. He received the highest ranking civilian honour of the Italian Republic and was bestowed the title of "Cavaliere" (Knight) of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.[18] He has recently received Honorary Degree from Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.