Arjun Mathur

Arjun Mathur
Mathur in 2010
Born (1981-10-18) 18 October 1981 (age 43)
NationalityBritish
EducationSt. Columbas School, New Delhi
St. Mary's School I.S.C., Mumbai
The British School, New Delhi
Alma materLee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, New York
OccupationActor
Years active2007–present
Notable workMade In Heaven
Indian Summers
Long Live Brij Mohan
Luck By Chance
SpouseTiya Tejpal
Parent(s)Rakesh Mathur (father)
Reynoo Mathur (mother)
RelativesGautam Mathur (brother), Sonia Mathur Kaul (sister)
AwardsInternational Emmy Nomination for 'Best Performance by an Actor' (2020)

Arjun Mathur (born 18 October 1981) is a British-Indian actor working predominantly in Hindi films, web series and television serials.[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, the latter of which earned him an International Emmy award nomination for Best Actor.[2][3][4]

Early life and education

Mathur was born in London, England[5] and grew up in 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 Mathur, died in a car accident when he was 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 Bunty Aur Babli (2005) and Rang De Basanti (2006).

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, eventually returning for a second season four years later.

Mathur at the studio of Radio Mirchi promoting his film I Am (2010)

Arjun was also seen in The Gone Game - a suspense thriller series 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 Hindi
2007 Migration Imran Hindi Short Film
Positive Abhijit Hindi Short Film
2009 Barah Aana Aman Hindi
Luck by Chance Abhimanyu Gupta Hindi
2010 My Name Is Khan Raj Burman Hindi
Mumbai Cutting Unnamed Hindi Short film (Anthology)
I Am Omar Hindi Short film (Anthology)
2011 My Friend Pinto Sameer Hindi
2012 Fireflies Rana Singh Rathore English
2013 Ankur Arora Murder Case Dr. Romesh Mathur Hindi
2014 Coffee Bloom Dev Anand Cariappa Hindi
2015 Angry Indian Goddesses Zain English/Hindi Special appearance
Waiting Rajat English/Hindi Special appearance
2018 Brij Mohan Amar Rahe Brij Mohan Hindi Netflix Original Film
2019 The Accidental Prime Minister Rahul Gandhi Hindi
2020 Home Stories Angad English/Hindi Netflix Short Film
2021 Silence... Can You Hear It? MLA Ravi Khanna Hindi ZEE5[9]

Television

Year Film Role Language Channel/Platform Notes
2012 Bring On The Night Kabir Dalal (KD) English/Hindi mini-series
2016 Indian Summers Naresh Banerjee English Channel 4
2019-present Made in Heaven Karan Mehra English/Hindi Amazon Prime Video
2020 The Gone Game Sahil Gujral Hindi Voot
2022 Jugaadistan Tarush Khetrapal Hindi Lionsgate Play

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "When Alia Bhatt walked up to Arjun Mathur to tell him that she's his 'big fan' | Bollywood News". www.timesnownews.com. 16 April 2019. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  3. ^ "Made in Heaven possibly the best Indian webseries so far". INDIA New England News. 9 March 2019. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ "Arjun Mathur: Movies, Photos, Videos, News, Biography & Birthday | eTimes". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 July 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  6. ^ Rattanpal, Divyani (22 October 2019). "'My Mom Died in a Car Accident': How Actor Arjun Mathur Coped". The Quint. Archived from the original on 22 October 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Exclusive biography of #ArjunMathur and on his life". FilmiBeat. Archived from the original on 30 May 2015. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Barve, Ameya (13 February 2021). "Manoj Bajpayee's 'Silence... Can You Hear It?' to premiere on ZEE5 in March". India TV. Retrieved 19 February 2021.