Kal Parekh
Born
Gujarat, India[1]
Alma materSchool of Visual Arts
OccupationActor
Years active2002–present
Websitekalparekh.com

Kal Parekh (Hindi: कल पारिख) is an Indian-American film and television actor best known for his starring role in the 2010 independent feature film, Karma Road[2] and as Sanjeev, an Indian-American flight engineer in the ABC television series, Pan Am, set in the 1960s.[3]

Early life

Parekh was born in India. In the late 1980s, his parents moved the family to the United States, settling in Verona, New Jersey. Parekh graduated from Verona High School.[1] He next studied at and graduated from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City. While at SVA, Parekh produced an animated short that was screened at various film festivals.[1][3] During his time at SVA, he learned to dance by watching music videos. Although self-taught, Parekh's talent for dancing enabled him to join dance troupes on both the west and east coasts of the United States.

He said,

Dancing liberated me, I was no longer an introverted individual, which I had been my whole life. Dancing came very naturally to me. I never took classes. It's something I just picked up and ended up being good at.

In 2002 he was cast in the first ever South Asian production on Broadway titled "Rang: Shades of my soul." He went on to teach for four years at Arya Dance Academy. Parekh has said that dancing helped him to imagine acting.[1]

Career

After graduating from SVA, Parekh took classes in live-action film at the New York Film Academy (NYFA).[1] Soon after, he landed his first major role, as Shaheed in the Bollywood Hindi-language film, Khel Shuru. He learned Hindi for the part.[3][4]

Parekh next was cast in several small roles in television series, including House, Entourage, Medium, and Royal Pains. A professional dancer, the 5-foot-9-inch (1.75 m) Parekh[4] was cast as a featured dancer in the 2002 Bollywood film Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar. In 2007, Parekh landed another Bollywood role in the feature film Ta Ra Rum Pum[5] as the character Nilesh.

In 2010, Parekh had a lead role in the independent film Karma Road, as the character Ronick.[2] Directed by Mihir Pathak, the film won the Silver Award for Best Feature Film at the 2010 Philadelphia Film Festival and the Gold Level Award for a feature film at the 2010 California Film Awards.[6]

In early 2011, he was cast as Sanjeev in the ABC prime-time period drama Pan Am.[3] He and the show were quite popular, especially in Europe, and won a Rose d'Or in 2012.

In 2013, he co-starred as Aaron on the FOX drama, The Following.

He recently completed filming a lead role in The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Raheem.

Personal Life

Parekh resides in Los Angeles. He is in a relationship.[7]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2002 Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar Dancer
2005 Man Push Cart Club Patron Uncredited Role
2006 Khel Shuru Shaheed
2007 Ta Ra Rum Rum Nilesh
2007 Day Zero Bar Patron Uncredited Role
2008 The Last Word Club Dancer Uncredited Role
2011 New Year's Eve Male Obstetrician
2014 The Spirit of Mumbai Prakash Dutta
2015 The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim Nick Patel

Television

Year Title Role Notes Ref(s)
2007 House Passenger Uncredited Role; Episode: "Airborne"
2007 Entourage Miller Gold Agent Uncredited Role; Episode: "Gary's Desk"
2009 Medium Joe's Employee Uncredited Role; Episode: "Soul Survivor"
2012 Gossip Girl Chuck's Doctor Episode: "The End of the Affair?"
2012 Blue Bloods Dr. Pruit Episode: "Parenthood"
2011-2012 Pan Am Sanjeev Recurring Role
2013 The Following Aaron Recurring Role
2013 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Doctor Episode: "American Tragedy"
2014 Black Box OR Nurse Episode: "Who Are You?" "Kodachrome" "Free Will"
2016 Orange Is The New Black CO Thorpe Episode: "Work That Body for Me"
2018 Quantico Fahad Harith Episode: "The Blood of Romeo"
2022 FBI: Most Wanted Boris Paulsen Episode: "Incendiary"

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Nguyen, Stacy (October 13, 2011). "Kal Parekh to fly to superstardom with new 'Pan Am' role?". Northwest Asian Weekly. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  2. 1 2 "Karma Road". Film Orbit. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Rohit, Parimal M. (September 22, 2011). "Yet Another Indian-American Actor Lands Role on Primetime Network Television in 'Pan Am'". Buzzline Bollywood. Archived from the original on November 29, 2011. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  4. 1 2 "Bollywood Actor Kal Parekh Profile". Raftaar.in. Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  5. ↑ "Ta Ta Rum Pum". Quotesby. April 2010. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  6. ↑ "Karma Road leads to good luck for FMA alumnus". SCT News and Events. Temple University. July 13, 2010. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Instagram". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
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