Harish Khanna (actor)

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Harish Khanna
Born
Kota, Rajasthan, India
NationalityIndian
OccupationActor
Years active1995 to present

Harish Khanna is an Indian actor who appears mainly in Indian and foreign language films. He is best known for his performances in Yahaan, Kaminey, Midnight’s Children, and Gangs of Wasseypur.

Early life and education[edit]

Khanna was born in Kota, Rajasthan into a Khatri family. He completed his junior school from Delhi and high school from Luthra Academy and Model School (MIER), Jammu. Thereafter he went on to pursue his graduation in acting from National School of Drama, New Delhi. On completion of his graduation in 1993, he moved to Mumbai and started working as an actor in both theater and films together. He received the Charles Wales India Trust Award in the year 1999–2000 to pursue his studies in the UK at Central School of Speech & Drama, London, where he completed a certificate course in MA Performance Studies and Voice Studies.

Theatre career[edit]

Khanna started working in theater as an actor with Natrang in Jammu and Kashmir. He has traveled widely with his performances to countries including Germany, Japan, and Brazil. Some of his performances were Hooriya[1] directed by Anamika Haksar (1997); Sundari: An Actor Prepares and Makeup (2002) by Anuradha Kapur (1998); Odysseus in A Ramayan Odyssey by Jatinder Verma of Tara Arts, London; No Boat in Sight by Makoto Sato and Anuradha Kapur (2002); The Antigone Project by Ein Lall and Anuradha Kapur (2003).[2] He received acclaim for his performance in Glass House Project[3][better source needed] where he spent 15 days in a glass house. It was an initiative by National School of Drama for 10th Bharat Rang Mahotsava. He directed the Garbage Project[4] which was showcased in 13th Bharat Rang Mahotsava[5] (International Theatre Festival) organized by National School of Drama in 2011. Another project is Surviving Survival Vienna Wiener Festwochen 2011.[6] Khanna has conducted several workshops on voice, speech and acting in India and abroad. Among the cities he has worked in are Jammu, Srinagar, Mandi, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Pune, and Delhi in India; and Daegu and Tokyo in South Korea and Japan respectively. He is also a visiting faculty at the National School of Drama and Department of Indian Theatre, Panjab University. Khanna was also involved in theater therapy programs initiated by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in Jammu and Kashmir for three years.

Acting career[edit]

Khanna made his silver screen acting debut with Memories of Fear directed by Madhusree Dutta in 1995. He went on to work with directors like Govind Nihalani, Milan Luthria, Shoojit Sircar, Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap and Tigmanshu Dhulia. Some of his notable performances came with films like Sanshodhan (1996), Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (1998), Kachhe Dhaage (1999), Charas (2004), Yahaan (2005), Kaminey (2009), 7 Khoon Maaf (2011) and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). Anurga Kashyap gave him special mention at the beginning of Gangs of Wasseypur 2 for his outstanding performance in Gangs of Wasseypur. After his performances in films like 7 Khoon Maaf, Gangs of Wasseypur and Haraamkhor, he became a cult actor of India. He was seen in Netflix original film Rajma Chawal, directed by Leena Yadav, and received applaud for his performance in Bollywood film Sonchiriya[7] directed by Abhishek Chaubey. Apart from Bollywood ventures has worked in British-Swedish film Trishna directed by Michael Winterbottom. Apart from films, Khanna appears in commercials regularly. Some of his notable commercials are paytm "Khushiyo ko Recharge Karo!" and "Friends Adult Diaper-Mother's Day".

Personal life[edit]

Khanna belongs to a middle-class family hailing from Jammu. His parents migrated from Lahore to Delhi and lived in different cities before they finally settled in Jammu during early 1980s. He has one brother and one sister. Being a nature lover, he loves to travel to the mountains and interacting with people. He is fluent in Hindi, Urdu, Panjabi and English.

Filmography[edit]

Year Films Language Character Director
1995 Memories of Fear Hindi Example Madhusree Dutta
1996 Sanshodhan Hindi Hariya Govind Nihalani
1998 Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa Hindi Jyoti Govind Nihalani
1999 Kachche Dhaage Hindi Mustafa Milan Luthria
2000 Scribbles On Akka Hindi Madhusree Dutta
2004 Charas: A Joint Effort Hindi Hero Tigmanshu Dhulia
2005 Yahaan Hindi Majid Shoojit Sircar
2006 7 Islands and a Metro Hindi Sadat Hasan Manto Madhusree Dutta
2009 Kaminey Hindi Afghani Vishal Bhardwaj
2011 7 Khoon Maaf Hindi Ghalib Vishal Bhardwaj
Trishna Hindi/English Vijay Michael Winterbottom
2012 Gangs of Wasseypur Hindi Yadav Ji Anurag Kashyap
Midnight's Children Hindi Joe D'Costa Deepa Mehta
2014 Words with Gods English Iqbal-Segment "God Room" Mira Nair
2015 Haraamkhor Hindi Raghuvir Shlok Sharma
Rani Padmini Hindi Raja Aashiq Abu
Bodhi (Short) Hindi Example Supreet K Singh
Bouddi: The Sister-In-Law (Short) Hindi Example Supreer K Singh
2018 The Wedding Guest Hindi Nitin (as Harish Khanna) Michael Winterbottom
Tumbbad Hindi Raja-Samsthanik Rahi Anil Barve, Anil Gandhi
Rajma Chawal Hindi Kuljeet Singh Ahluwalia Leena Yadav
2019 Sonchiriya Hindi Kok Singh Abhishek Chaubey
Moothon Hindi
Malayalam
Karim Geethu Mohandas
2020 God on the Balcony Assamese Khagen Biswajeet Bora
2021 Maharani (2021 TV series) Hindi Shanker Mehto
2023 12th Fail Hindi Ramveer sharma Vidhu Vinod Chopra

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Trailblazers: An interview with Anamika Haksar". 15 December 2014 – via YouTube.
  2. ^ "Willkommen im System | Kritische Ausgabe Plus". Kritische Ausgabe (in German).
  3. ^ "Actor completes 15 days in glass house". 19 January 2008 – via YouTube.
  4. ^ "They pay the price for mess, think before you toss it in – Times of India". The Times of India. 18 January 2011.
  5. ^ "Stage season". Hindustan Times. 4 January 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Wiener Festwochen 2011 – fm4.ORF.at". fm4v3.orf.at.
  7. ^ "Sonchiriya Movie Review: Sushant Singh Rajput, Manoj Bajpayee And Cast Live And Breathe Their Roles". NDTV.com.

External links[edit]