Kabir Bedi

Kabir Bedi (born 16 January 1946) is an Indian actor. His career has spanned three continents covering India, the United States and especially Italy among other Western countries in three media: film, television and theatre. He is noted for his role as Emperor Shah Jahan in Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story and the villainous Sanjay Verma in the 1988 film Khoon Bhari Maang. He is best known in Italy and Europe for playing the pirate Sandokan in the Italian TV miniseries and for his role as the villainous Gobinda in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy. Bedi is based in India and lives in Mumbai.

Early life and education

Kabir Bedi was born in Lahore in the Punjab Province of British India (now in Punjab, Pakistan) on 16 January 1946. His father, Baba Pyare Lal Singh Bedi, was a Punjabi Sikh author, philosopher and a direct descendent of Guru Nanak. His mother, Freda Bedi, was an English woman born in Derby, who became famous as the first Western woman to take ordination in Tibetan Buddhism. He was educated at Sherwood College in Nainital, Uttarakhand, and St. Stephen's College in Delhi.

Career

Bedi began his career in Indian theatre and then moved on to Hindi films. He remains one of the first international actors from India who started out in Hindi films, worked in Hollywood films and became a star in Europe.

His first appearance on television was as a newsreader on Doordarshan's news programme Mirror of the World, at a time when its signal only reached Delhi.