Kabir Bedi is a famous Indian film and television actor. He was born on January 16, 1946, in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Kabir is popular for his role as Emperor Shah Jahan in the 2005 Bollywood historical drama, Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story, Kabir Bedi has a career spanning more than three decades, and has appeared in several Bollywood movies. Kabir Bedi is one of the first Indian actors to get international recognition and has worked in Hollywood and European movies.
He is popularly known for his role as Gobinda in the James Bond movie Octopussy. Some of his prominent roles have been in movies such as Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story (2005), Kucche Dhaage (1973), and Khoon Bhari Maang (1988).
In the movie Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story, he essayed the role of Emperor Shah Jahan. In 1988, he starred in the American war film The Beast directed by Kevin Reynolds. Not just in American films, Bedi also was part of European films and appeared in the acclaimed Italian movie Andata Ritorno by Marco Ponti (2004).
The actor also appeared in Farah Khan’s directorial debut Main Hoon Na (2004), starring Shahrukh Khan, Sushmita Sen, Amrita Rao and Zayed Khan. He also starred in the Hrithik Roshan starrer Kites (2010) and the movie Blue (2009).
Bedi played a crucial role in the Tamil film Aravaan (2012) directed by Vasanthabalan and was also part of the movie Komagata Maru directed by Deepa Mehta. His other notable work includes Mmirsa (2016), The Broken Key (2017), Jaane Kyun De Yaaron (2018), and Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster 3 (2018).
Apart from working as a stage actor and in movies, Bedi also appeared on American television. He has starred in Hallmark channel’s African epic Forbidden Territory. He has starred in TV series such as Red Eagle, The Lost Empire, Dynasty, ‘Murder, She Wrote, and Highlander: The Series. The actor also made his mark in the European sitcom scene by being highly popular for the TV series Sandokan, an Italian-German-French TV series.
The actor also starred in the popular and successful American TV series, The Bold and the Beautiful – at the time it was the second most-watched TV series in the world. He further also came up with his own Indian cinematic talk show, art Director’s Cut, a 13-part TV series that showcased the interviews of India’s leading directors.
In 2013, the actor appeared in award-winning prime-time shows such as Guns and Glory: The Indian Soldier and Vandemataram which were aired on Headlines Today and Aaj Tak respectively.
Apart from acting, Kabir Bedi also featured in a series of Radio One programs titled Women of Gold and Men of Steel. The actor is also a regular contributor to Indian publications such as the Times of India and Tehelka.
Bedi’s father, Baba Pyare Lal Singh Bedi, was a Punjabi Sikh, and his mother, Freda Bedi, was a British woman from Derby, England. Bedi first got married to Protima Bedi, an Odissi dancer.
Their son Siddharth, who was enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University in the USA, suffered from schizophrenia and committed suicide in 1997 when he was 26.
The couple’s daughter Pooja Bedi, is a columnist. After his marriage with Protima Bedi fell apart, he dated the actress Parveen Babi, but the couple never married.
Bedi’s second marriage with Susan Humphreys, a Boston-born fashion designer, also ended in a divorce. Their son, Adam Bedi, is an international model and made his Hindi film debut with the movie Hello? Kaun Hai! (2006).
Later, in the 1990s, Bedi married Nikki Bedi, a TV, and radio, presenter, but got divorced in 2005. Bedi soon started dating a British-born woman, Parveen Dusanj, and the couple got married a day before Bedi’s 70th birthday in 2016.