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 57) Kenya
Occupation	Actor
Television	EastEnders Mumbai Calling The Worst Witch Wednesday
Spouse(s)	Meera Ganatra ​ (m. 2004)​
Children	2

Nitin Chandra Ganatra (born June 30, 1967) is a talented British actor. He is best known for playing Masood Ahmed in the popular BBC soap opera, EastEnders. He was on the show from 2007 to 2019 and even won an award for his acting!

Growing Up

Nitin Ganatra was born on June 30, 1967, in Kenya. His family originally came from Gujarat, India. This part of his family history was explored in the TV show Who Do You Think You Are? in 2013.

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, only a few workers stayed in Kenya. Nitin's grandfather and father later joined the family's trading business there.

In 1971, when Nitin was three years old, Kenya became independent from the United Kingdom. People of Indian descent had to choose between being Kenyan or British citizens. Nitin and his family moved to Coventry, England, where they owned a local shop.

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

Acting Career

Nitin Ganatra is known around the world for his role as Prince Pondicherry in the Tim Burton film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He also appeared in other movies like Bride and Prejudice as Kholi Saab and The Mistress of Spices as Haroun. He played Dev Raja in Mumbai Calling. You might have even seen him in the first-ever iPod commercial!

He also had a role in The Catherine Tate Show. In 2020, he played Mr. Daisy, a spell science teacher, in the CBBC series The Worst Witch. In 2022, Nitin appeared in Episode 4 of the Netflix series Wednesday, which was also directed by Tim Burton. In this show, he played Dr. Anwar. In 2023, he played Kamil Razaq in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors.

Nitin has also appeared on TV game shows. In 2014, he was on Celebrity Squares. He also appeared on Pointless Celebrities, where he had a funny moment needing the rules explained to him.

In 2017, it was announced that Nitin would be in the comedy film Eaten by Lions. He also appeared in the Channel 4 drama The State.

Time on EastEnders

On October 16, 2007, Nitin Ganatra joined the cast of EastEnders as a main character, Masood Ahmed. He also appeared in a spin-off series called EastEnders: E20 in 2010.

Nitin left EastEnders in 2016. He made a special one-off appearance in November 2017 and then returned permanently in January 2018. On January 26, 2019, it was announced that he would be leaving his role as Masood again, and he left the show later that year.

Nitin won an award for 'Best Onscreen Partnership' with Nina Wadia at The British Soap Awards in 2009. He was also nominated for 'Best Actor' at the British Soap Awards in 2010.

Personal Life

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. In 2022, Nitin was given the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) honor. This award recognizes people who have made a big difference in their field, in his case, for his work in drama.

Filmography

Film

Television

He also appeared as Brian in the 2024 Sky original series Mr BigStuff.

See also

In Spanish: Nitin Ganatra para niños