Neeraj Kabi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Neeraj Kabi

• Neeraj Kabi is an Indian theatre and film actor.

• He was fascinated towards films since his childhood, but he never wanted to become an actor until he started acting in his college plays.

• He fell in love with Deepika Kosta (now, his wife) whom he met in college.

• In 1990, he was rejected by the National School of Drama and then, he became a self-taught actor.

• He had to face many rejections when he entered the industry and sold books door-to-door for years and even gave tuitions to earn his daily bread. On being asked about his struggle in Bollywood, he stated that
  

  Just nothing worked. Nobody called me. It went on and on, endlessly, relentlessly… I’ve [taken up jobs such as] production work, AD, spot boy, all kinds of things. I was the junior copywriter in certain ad agencies. I used to sell books from door to door for many, many years. I gave tuitions, home to home, all over the city. All kinds of tuitions: elocution, speech, mathematics, English. And that’s where I learned a very important thing in my life: humility. My ego got crushed because I was pulped to the ground by everything that was happening to me. You never [imagine] that doors would be slammed on your face, you will be abused, you will be pushed, you will be kicked, so many things will happen to you. And, not for one year, two years, but for ten, 15, 18 long years. That’s where the survival issue came in, and I started to teach [acting]. Because when you get so abused all the time, you lose faith in yourself. And, you think, ‘If you don’t get out now, you’ll fall sick.’ Because you can’t take it every single day of your life.”

• He is the artistic director and founder of “Pravah Theatre Laboratory,” established by him in 1996.

• He has been organizing theatre workshops for animators, actors, schools, colleges, corporates, and teachers for since 1990.

  

• Initially, he started acting in theatre plays and has acted in various theatre plays, like ‘Macbeth’ (1998), ‘The Game of Love and Chance’ (2001), ‘Lady with Lapdog’ (2003), ‘Gates to India Song’ (2013), and ‘The Father’ (2017).

• Neeraj started his career in Hindi films with the National Award-winning film, ‘Shesha Drushti (The Last Vision).’

• He learned various dance forms and martial arts; thinking that it would help him as an actor.

• He made a blockbuster comeback in 2012 with his film “Ship of Theseus” in the lead role, in which he played the role of an Indian monk in one of the three stories in the film for which he lost 18 Kgs of his weight. The movie won many international and national awards, including the National Film Award for Best Feature Film of the year.

• In the Rajya Sabha TV series, “Samvidhaan: The Making of the Constitution of India (2014),” directed by Shyam Benegal, he essayed the role of Mahatma Gandhi in the series.

  

• He is credited for playing a crucial role in the English feature film, “Gandhi of the Month (2014),” opposite Harvey Keitel.

• In 2015, he was seen playing the role of Shruti’s father, Ramesh Tandon in the film, “Talvar” and was nominated again for his performance in the film.

• Neeraj is widely known for his international films. In 2016, he appeared in the English film, “Viceroy’s House.”

• He has worked with Naseeruddin Shah in the English film “The Hungry” (2017).

• He has appeared in various Hindi web series, like ‘Sacred Games’ (2018), ‘The Final Call’ (2019), ‘Taj Mahal’ (2019), and ‘Paatal Lok’ (2020).

• In 2018, he starred in another international film, “The Field,” along with Ronit Roy, Abhay Deol, and Brendan Frase is directed by Rohit Karn Batra.

• He appeared in Rani Mukerji starrer film, “Hichki” (2018).

• Neeraj Kabi portrayed Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, in the film ‘Sam Bahadur’ (2023). He charged around Rs. 30 lakh for the role. ^[2]GQ