Ray Panthaki

Ray Panthaki (born 20 January 1979) is a British actor, producer, writer and director.

Ray Panthaki
Born
Ray Panthaki

(1979-01-20) 20 January 1979
London, England
OccupationActor, writer, director, film producer
Years active1999–present

Early life

Panthaki was born in London to second-generation Indian parents.[1]

Career

Panthaki is a 2014 BAFTA Breakthrough Brit best known for the roles he played on ITV and Netflix Original Series Marcella, BBC soap opera EastEnders as Ronny Ferreira (2003–2005) and as Hassan B the nemesis to Sacha Baron Cohen's Ali G in Ali G Indahouse.[2][3] He also appeared in the British films 28 Days Later, Rehab, Tube Tales, Provoked, Interview with a Hitman, It's a Wonderful Afterlife and the 2006 film Kidulthood, which he also produced.

In 2006 he was nominated for "Best Supporting Actor in a Play" at the TMA Theatre Awards for his role in Gladiator Games. Later that year he set up the London-based production company Urban Way.[4]

He made his West End theatrical debut in July 2008 in the play In My Name at the Trafalgar Studios.[5] The play and particularly Panthaki received positive reviews with Ben Brantley of The New York Times stating that it was "Acted with a bruising physicality rarely seen this side of an old Sam Shepard play"

Panthaki has performed twice at The Royal Court Theatre in Where Do We Live? by Christopher Shinn and The Westbridge by Rachel Delahey. He made his Royal Shakespeare Company debut as the title role in The Empress by Tanika Gupta, directed by Emma Rice [6]

In 2013, Panthaki's directorial debut Life Sentence, a film which he also wrote, won Best UK Short at the East End Film Festival 2013.[7][8] The film, an account of the UK’s knife crime epidemic was also picked out by the British Film Institute as one of the top ten highlights of the London Film Festival of the same year.[9] Life Sentence achieved high praise with one review quoting "It's what Touch Of Evil would've looked like if Orsen Welles was born in Hackney".[10]

In 2013, Panthaki produced and starred in the comedy film 'Convenience' starring alongside Vicky McClure and Adeel Akhtar. The film's director Keri Collins won 'Best Breakthrough' at the 2014 BAFTA Cymru for his work on the film.[11] Panthaki stated in an interview with Sky News that he Produced the whole film with a budget equivalent to just "One shot of a Harry Potter Movie"[12] and that he did it as an experiment to prove what could be done with just a strong concept, well developed story and good performances. The film released theatrically in the UK and was eventually acquired by Netflix.

Panthaki was acknowledged for his hybridity with The Hollywood News quoting "Panthaki's new film Convenience defines him not only to be a leading man but a filmmaker who's curating excellent, ground-breaking films with sensible budgets, proving that the future the British film industry is very much alive".[13]

Following that, Raindance named Panthaki in their top ten 'Actor/Producers you should already know about' list, alongside George Clooney.[14]

In 2014, he was announced as one of 18 BAFTA 'Breakthrough Brits' a celebration of Britain's stars of tomorrow alongside fellow actors Stacy Martin, Katie Leung and Callum Turner.[15]

In 2016, Panthaki was cast as DCI Rav Sangha in Hans Rosenfeldt's Nordic noir detective series Marcella. The show was a critical success and Panthaki reprised his role for series 2 which aired in March 2018, and then series 3, which debuted in 2020.

In 2017, it was announced that Panthaki had signed on to Wash Westmoreland's Colette alongside Keira Knightley and Dominic West to play real life French playwright Pierre Veber, in the biopic based on the French novelist Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette.[16] Panthaki attended the world premier at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival alongside co-stars Keira Knightley and Dominic West, where the film received positive reviews.[17] In 2020 Panthaki starred in the Netflix Original series Away, alongside Hilary Swank, as Group Captain Ram Arya, second in command on a mission to Mars.

References
  1. Alex Ritman (1 June 2018). "'Colette' Star Ray Panthaki on Helping Remove Racial Casting Barriers". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  2. "Ali G Indahouse (2002)". BBC Online. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  3. "Can Sacha Baron Cohen take Ali G to the big screen and still keep his legions of fans? Very probably, writes Peter Bradshaw". theguardian.com. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  4. "Vicky McClure to star in Convenience". Screen International. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  5. "Cruelly funny black comedy thriller." Remotegoat. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  6. "The Empress, Swan Theatre, RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon, review". The Daily Telegraph.
  7. "Halley wins top prize at East End Film Festival". screendaily. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  8. "SHORTS: LIFE SENTENCE/THE UNDREAM". Eastendfilmfestival.com. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  9. "London Short Film Festival: 10 to try". British Film Institute. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  10. "Youth of Today : TAKE ONE". www.takeonecff.com. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  11. Cooper, Sarah. "The British independent comedy is being produced by Ray Panthaki for his company Urban Way". Screen International. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  12. "Ray Panthaki - Why I'm Open About Cost Of Film". Sky News. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  13. Lalji, Aly (2015-09-29). "Convenience review: "Highly recommended"". The Hollywood News. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  14. "10 Actor/Producers you should already know about! - Raindance". Raindance. 2013-10-25. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  15. "Thesps Among BAFTA's Breakthrough Brits". Variety. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  16. Lodderhose, Diana (2017-07-10). "Ray Panthaki Joins Keira Knightley & Dominic West In Wash Westmoreland's 'Colette'". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
  17. Radio, Southern California Public (2018-01-27). "Sundance market cools with few breakouts or Oscar pics". Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
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