Navin Chowdhry (born 22 November 1971)^[1] is an English actor. He is best known for his roles inTeachers andA Touch of Cloth, and his role asNish Panesar in theBBCsoap operaEastEnders.

Chowdhry is ofIndian origin. He was born and brought up inBristol, England.^[2] He is the son of Simi Chowdhry, a well-known female activist. In 1994, he graduated fromImperial College London with anupper second class honours degree inbiochemistry.^[3]

At age 16, Chowdhry made his acting debut in the 1988 film,Madame Sousatzka withShabana Azmi andShirley MacLaine.^[3]

His next major role was as I.T. teacher Kurt McKenna in the successful comedy showTeachers in 2001–2003,^[2] and is also well known for playing PC Sanjay Singh inDalziel and Pascoe. He also appeared as a possible rapist inJudge John Deed.

Chowdhry appeared inWaking The Dead, Series 3, Episode 3, entitled "Breaking Glass", oppositeTrevor Eve andSue Johnston. In the episode, he portrays the psychologically affected "Rainman". He then starred in theChannel 4 drama seriesNY-LON as Raph.^[4]

On 30 October 2005, he appeared on stage at theOld Vic theatre inLondon in the one-night playNight Sky alongsideChristopher Eccleston,Bruno Langley,David Warner,Saffron Burrows andDavid Baddiel. In 2005 he made a guest appearance inDoctor Who, then starringChristopher Eccleston asThe Doctor where he was strangled by aSlitheen in the episodeAliens of London. In 2006, he appeared in the BBC Three drama seriesSinchronicity, playing Mani.

In 2009, he appeared in two episodes of theChannel 4 seriesFree Agents and featured inSkellig. In 2010, he starred in the BBC television pilotReunited, playing Danny.^[5]

Chowdhry has also produced projects such as the award-winning short film "This Bastard Business" and a short play entitledMashed.^[3]

He played Anwar in the critically acclaimed 2015BBC TV seriesDoctor Foster and in 2016 he played Sonny Desai in Series 18's first episode ofMidsomer Murders.

Chowdhry portrayed Nodin Chavdri in the 2017 filmStar Wars: The Last Jedi.

In 2019, he appeared in Sarah Rutherford's play "The Girl Who Fell" at Trafalgar Studios.^[6]

In 2022, Chowdhry began playing the previously unseen and imprisonedNish Panesar inEastEnders.^[4] Nish, a manipulative psychopath, first appeared during the final stages of his 20-year prison sentence and was released shortly thereafter. He played the role for over two years until January 2025, when his character waskilled-off. In 2025, Chowdhry won the British Soap Award for 'Villain of the Year' for his portrayal of Nish.^[7]

• Navin Chowdhry onInstagram
• Navin Chowdhry atIMDb 
• 2006 Interview

• 1971 births
• Living people
• Alumni of Imperial College London
• 21st-century British male actors
• English male film actors
• English male television actors
• English people of Indian descent
• Male actors from Bristol

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