Luke Kenny is an Indian actor, film director, producer, music director, composer and former VJ. Luke began his career as a DJ, followed by a successful stint as the first male VJ on Channel V. He gained widespread recognition for his role in the 2008 rock musical drama Rock On!!. Recently, Luke came back into prominence for his role as the hired mercenary Malcolm Murad in the Netflix India series Sacred Games.
Luke was born in Kolkata. His Irish grandfather was originally from Burma, but moved to India after WWII and married Luke's British grandmother. Luke's father, Robert Kenny, was born in Delhi and was a musician. He later moved to Kolkata and married Luke's mother, who was Italian. Luke's parents divorced when he was very young and so he grew up in Mumbai with his father and grandfather, both musicians, prompting his interest in music from a young age. He was a student at Elphinstone College in Mumbai, but left the school early to pursue a career in music.
Career
Luke first started career as a dancer, influenced by Michael Jackson. He was spotted and later recruited by Arshad Warsi's dance crew. In 1991 he joined the rock band 'Greek' as a vocalist. Between 1993-1995, he had a small stint as a DJ. In 1995, he joined the newly-launched Channel V as their first male VJ. He became popular and had a long-term association with the channel.
Luke got his first film break in the 1997 film 'Bombay Boys' alongside Naveen Andrews, albeit in a small role. Post this, Luke went back to Channel V and served as their head of music programming till 2008. In 2005 Luke Kenny turned director and producer with the film '13th Floor' starring Purab Kohli and Sandhya Mridul. The film was India's first digitally-released film and received appreciation in film festivals. Luke returned to acting with his breakthrough role in the 2008 film 'Rock On!!'. Portraying keyboardist Rob Nancy, the cult film made Luke a popular name. Luke has also been a contributor to many news columns. He used to write 'If I May Say So' for Hindustan Times and 'LukeBox' for Rolling Stone India. In 2011 he became the channel head of 9XO, a 24/7 international music channel owned by 9X Media. In 2013 he produced and starred in India's first zombie film, Rise of the Zombie. Luke recently reclaimed public attention with his acclaimed portrayal of Malcolm Murad, a hired mercenary, in the first Netflix India original series Sacred Games. Luke was part of the cast in both seasons of the show. Luke next appeared as GDPA official Wolfgang Hummels in the second season of Amazon Prime show Inside Edge. The same year he also appeared in the film Tanhaji, portraying the Mughal emperorAurangzeb. Luke can be seen next in a Tamil thriller starring Nayanthara.
