Nitin Ganatra

Nitin Ganatra is an actor who has worked in various fields of acting. He has done films, television shows, and also appeared in popular commercials. His most famous show is ‘EastEnders’ which is a TV series in which he appears in the role of Masood Ahmed. EastEnders is being aired since a decade, including a TV movie. Nitin received various awards for his shows and films. He has worked as a supporting actor and as a lead actor also in the films. He is seen both in Bollywood and in Hollywood films too. He was also a writer for a few of his episodes of Mumbai Calling, which is also a TV show.

Nitin was born in a foreign land as his family was residing in Kenya. He was born in 1967 in Kenya but it was difficult to survive in Kenya as the country had got its independence a few years back in 1963. As the people of Kenya were asked to take their citizenship, most of the Asians had to leave the country. Nitin’s family fled to England when he was just three years old and settled in Coventry. They started a small business in Coventry and soon established it well. Nitin had a tough time in England too as racism was prevailing in the country.

Though he was born in Kenya and further spent his childhood in England, he feels like home in England, Kenya, and India (where his grand-parents lived). He completed his education in England only. He did his schooling at Coundon Court School and went to Community College for graduation. Later he joined the University of Bristol and studied Drama there and learnt about acting in films and television. He married Meera Thakrar in the year 2004 and had two children.

He is currently living in London. Nitin started his career in the year 1990 from the movie ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ as a ghost. After that he was seen in various TV shows like ‘Extremely Dangerous’, ‘The Sins’ (2000), and ‘Murder In Mind’ (2000). He also appeared in the film ‘Second Generation’ (2000) as Jamal. He then did few more TV shows like ’Rescue Me’ as Jimmy and in ‘Being April’ as Sunil. Both of these shows were aired in 2002. He also appeared in an i-pod commercial which was the first device of its kind launched by Apple.

He did two TV movies in the year 2003. One was ‘Indian Dreams’ in which he took up the role of Mr. Rajiv Reddy and the other one is ‘You’re Breaking Up’ as ‘ Deep Story Coming Soon... >> Read More... .’ After that, he did few films like ‘Bride And Prejudice' (2004) in which he appeared as Mr. Kohli and in ‘Piccadilly Jim’ (2005) as Banje Singh. In 2005 he appeared in ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory’ (2005) as Prince Pondicherry starring ‘ Johnny Depp An iconic award-winning-actor that doesn’t watches >> Read More... ’ and also in ‘The Mistress And Spices’ as Haroun Rehman.

Until this time, he had made his name in the industry by doing various TV shows and films. It was the year 2007 when he was seen in the shows like ‘Mumbai Calling’ as ‘Dev Raja’ and the ’EastEnders’ as ‘Masood.’ These shows were quite popular and ‘EastEnders’ is still being aired on television. In 2015, he was also ranked 58 out of 100 amongst the ‘Greatest Characters’ of all time for his character ‘Masood’ in ‘EastEnders’ and in also the 9th longest serving character of ‘EastEnders'.

In 2013, Nitin appeared in ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ and studied about his parents and great grandparents in exploration on screen. He discovered and came to know that his grandparents lived in Gujarat, India and later moved to Kenya. He also learned about the hardships his parents and grandparents had to face.

Another Version of this Bio...

Nitin Chandra Ganatra is an English actor well-known for impersonating the character of Masood Ahmed in BBC TV’s soap opera “eastenders,” which has been airing for the past thirty-four years since 1985. The show is built around the imaginary Borough of Walford in Albert Square located at the east end of London and revolves around the lives of i residents.

The series has won ten baftas along with eleven British Soap Awards for being the best soap opera. It was recently inducted in the Rose D’Or Hall of Fame. Nitin joined its cast on 16th October 2007 and had been playing Masood until recently when he decided to quit the show in 2019.

The British Soap Awards nominated him for the best soap actor in 2010 and bestowed upon him the best on-screen partnership award in 2009, which he shared with Nina Wadia. His ancestors were Gujarati and his great grandfather had been shipped to Kenya as a part of the 32,000-strong troop of laborers who were contracted with building the Uganda Railway but had stayed behind even after the completion of the project, and started a trading business.

When Nitin was three, his family moved to Coventry, England after Kenya gained independence from the British, and forced the Indian population to either stay or use their British passports. His family still runs a convenience store in Coventry. His lineage was discussed in an episode of BBC TV’s genealogical documentary series “Who Do You Think You Are?” (2004).

He completed his schooling from Coundon Court School and graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the Community College, both in Coventry. To master the skills in acting, he enrolled in the University of Bristol, where he studied films and television. He was even tutored by the late stage practitioner, Jerzy Grotowski. Ganatra made his debut as Prince Pondicherry in Tim Burton’s super hit comic fantasy “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (2005), starring Johnny Depp.

His performance brought him worldwide praise and he soon became popular as ‘Prince Pondicherry.’ He also played the supporting role of Kholi Saab in Gurinder Chadha’s romantic drama “Bride and Prejudice” (2005), starring Aishwarya Rai. He added a feather to his cap when he was cast in ITV’s British-Indian comedy series “Mumbai Calling” (2009), alongside Sanjeev Bhaskar.

He portrayed the lead character of Dev Raja, manager of the local call center in Mumbai around which the story is set. Ganatra’s acting and expressions in the comic role were hilarious and much appreciated by the audience.

His other notable works on television include one or more episodes of “The Mistress of Spices” (2005), “The Catherine Tate Show” (2004), “Jane Hall” (2006), “The Shadow in the North” (2007), “The State” (2017), and most recently “Eaten by Lions” (2019). Besides movies and television, Nitin also featured in the Apple Company’s first ipod TV commercial. He married his wife, Meera, on 17th July 2004. The couple currently resides in North London with their two children.