Nitin Ganatra facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Nitin Ganatra OBE
Ganatra at the 2011 British Soap Awards
Born	(1967-06-30) 30 June 1967 (age 58) Kenya
Occupation	Actor
Television	EastEnders Mumbai Calling The Worst Witch Wednesday
Spouse(s)	Meera Ganatra ​ (m. 2004)​
Children	2

Nitin Chandra Ganatra, born on June 30, 1967, is a British actor. He is well-known for playing Masood Ahmed in the BBC TV show EastEnders. He was on the show from 2007 to 2019 and even won a British Soap Award for his role.

Growing Up and Learning

Nitin Ganatra was born in Kenya in 1967. His family originally came from Gujarat, India. His great-grandfather moved to Kenya in the late 1890s. He was one of many workers who helped build the Uganda Railway. After the railway was finished, some of his family stayed in Kenya. His grandfather and father later joined the family's trading business there.

In 1971, when Nitin was three years old, Kenya became independent. People of Indian background had to choose between being Kenyan or British citizens. Nitin and his family moved to Coventry, England. His family still owned a small shop there.

Nitin went to Coundon Court School and Community College. Later, he studied Drama, Film, and Television at the University of Bristol. He also trained with a famous theatre teacher named Jerzy Grotowski.

Acting Adventures

Nitin Ganatra has been in many movies and TV shows. He is known around the world for playing Prince Pondicherry in the Tim Burton film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He also appeared in the movie Bride and Prejudice as Kholi Saab. You might also remember him as Haroun in The Mistress of Spices and Dev Raja in Mumbai Calling. He was even in the very first iPod commercial!

He has also appeared in various TV shows. These include Jane Hall and Gina's Laughing Gear. He played a character in Meet the Magoons and Martin Soper in Twenty Twelve. In 2017, he was in the comedy movie Eaten by Lions. He also appeared in the Channel 4 drama The State. In this show, he played the father of a young British Muslim.

In 2020, Nitin played Mr. Daisy, a spell science teacher, in the CBBC series The Worst Witch. He also appeared as a lawyer in a two-part episode of Trial & Retribution. In 2022, he was Dr. Anwar in an episode of the Netflix series Wednesday, which was also directed by Tim Burton. In 2023, he played Kamil Razaq in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors.

Playing Masood Ahmed in EastEnders

Nitin Ganatra joined the cast of EastEnders on October 16, 2007. He played the regular character Masood Ahmed. He also appeared in the 2010 spin-off series EastEnders: E20.

Nitin left EastEnders in 2016. He made a special one-time appearance in November 2017. Then, he returned to the show permanently in January 2018. In January 2019, it was announced that he would be leaving his role as Masood again. He left the show later that year.

At The British Soap Awards, Nitin won an award for Best On-Screen Partnership with Nina Wadia in 2009. He was also nominated for Best Actor in 2010.

Life Outside Acting

Nitin Ganatra married Meera Thakrar on July 17, 2004. They have two children and live in North London.

In April 2019, he received the Outstanding Achievement in Television award at The Asian Awards.

Nitin was also given a special honor called Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2022. This was for his great work in drama.

Film and TV Roles

Movies

Television Shows

See also

In Spanish: Nitin Ganatra para niños