Nikesh Patel


Nikesh Patel is a British-Indian actor and model, best known for his role as Aafrin Dalal in the TV series Indian Summers.

Early life

Patel was born in Wembley, London. His parents are both pharmacists. He completed his secondary education at the City of London School. He initially wanted to become a journalist but turned to acting while at university.

Career

Patel started acting during his time reading English at Warwick University, where he played Othello in a student production. After graduating with a BA in English Literature, Patel then went on to train at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He graduated from Guildhall in 2010 and was awarded the school's Gold Medal for Acting that year.

Theatre

Patel got his professional start in the theatre, appearing in Anupama Chandrasekhar's play Disconnect at the Royal Court Theatre in 2010. In 2011, Patel was part of the ensemble of the Royal Shakespeare Company's 50th birthday season and appeared in The Taming of the Shrew, Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice. He had a role in Rona Munro's play Donny's Brain at the Hampstead Theatre in 2012 and returned to the Royal Court Theatre in 2013 to appear in Abhishek Majumdar's play The Djinns of Eidgah. Also in 2013, Patel had a role in Howard Brenton's play Drawing the Line at the Hampstead Theatre. He appeared in Man, a production of three one-act plays by Tennessee Williams, at the Young Vic in 2015.

Television, film and radio

Patel's first television credit was playing the part of Dan in the TV series Bedlam, which was followed by roles in single episodes of Midsomer Murders and . In 2015, he played Tanvir in the film Honour, directed by Shan Khan. He was then cast as one of the leads in the TV series Indian Summers, playing Aafrin Dalal for two seasons. In 2016, he played Raghdan Aziz in the film Halal Daddy and Pradhan in London Has Fallen. In 2017, he played the lead role in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children. Also for radio, Patel played Arcite, one of the two title characters in the BBC 3 production of William Shakespeare's Two Noble Kinsmen, first broadcast in April 2019.
2019 saw Patel take on roles in two high-profile television shows: He played Mitch in the Doctor Who New Year's Day special episode, Resolution as well as Kash Khan, one of the two lead characters in Mindy Kaling's 2019 miniseries adaptation of Four Weddings and a Funeral on Hulu.
Walt Disney Pictures announced in 2018 that Patel joined the cast of Artemis Fowl, a film based on Eoin Colfer's bestselling YA fantasy novel that is directed by Kenneth Branagh. Patel was cast in the role of tech expert centaur Foaly. The final stage of the audition process was a screen-test in which he had to perform on stilts to realistically emulate being half man, half horse like Foaly. The film was release in June 2020. After his role in London Has Fallen, this will be Patel's second major Hollywood film production.

Filmography