Harsh Nayyar

Harsh Nayyar (born in New Delhi, India) is an actor in movies and theatre.

Theatre

As a student, in April, 1973, Harsh Nayyar starred as Dracula in a Thompson Theatre production in Raleigh, NC.^[1]

Nayyar continued to play in various theatre productions. For example, on Broadway, opening March 28, 1979, he was part of the original cast of A Meeting by the River by Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy at Palace Theatre, New York as a photographer.^[2] Opening February 27, 2018 off-Broadway, he played a representative of the local Muslim community in An Ordinary Muslim by Hammaad Chaudry at New York Theatre Workshop.^[3][4]

2002, Nayyar played an Esperanto poet ("eloquently sorrowful"^[5]), guiding the main character Priscilla through Kabul in Tony Kushner's drama Journey of a Lifetime, set to run for two months in Berkeley Repertory Theatre.^[6] In 2004, he portrayed Mr. Begg "with palpable anger and sorrow"^[7] in Victoria Brittain and Gillian Slovo's play Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom at the Culture Project, New York City, at the Studio Theatre (Washington D.C.) and at the Brava Theatre Center (San Francisco CA). Richard Connema noted a "touching performance" of the "heartfelt and poignant story" of Mr. Begg.^[8]

Movies

Nayyar became known as a movie actor with his role in Gandhi (1982) when he played Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.^[9] His subsequent roles included the comedies Easy Money (1983) and Desperately Seeking Susan.

In the second season of Tales from the Darkside (1986/87), Nayyar starred as Edmund Alcott, a vampire, in the episode The Unhappy Medium.^[10] In Men in Black, he played the news vendor.^[11] Other notable roles include project manager Dr. Ramdas in the comedy Making Mr. Right (1987) and Dr. Aamir Taraki in The Peacemaker (1997), who disassembles the stolen warheards.^[12] Among others, Nayyar has also acted in Hidalgo (2004).

Nayyar played Vishant in the pilot and another 2019 episode of the American comedy television series The Other Two and returned in 2023 (S3E09). In the Indian series Cyber Vaar – Har Screen Crime Scene (2022) for the streaming platform Voot,^[13] Nayyar played in the first episode.

IMDb shows him in the cast of 60 films. From 1994 to 2000 alone, Nayyar took part in 25 movies.

Other publications

Harsh Nayyar also lent his voice to audio books. He narrated Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga.^[14]

Filmography (excerpt)

• Gandhi (1982) as Nathuram Godse
• Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) as Egyptian Diplomat
• Making Mr. Right (1987) as Dr. Ramdas
• The Preacher's Wife (1996) as Christmas Tree Man
• The First Wives Club (1996) as Mohammed
• The Devil's Advocate (1997) as Parvathi Resh
• Men in Black (1997) as News Vendor
• The Peacemaker (1997) as Dr. Aamir Taraki
• 28 Days (2000) as Newsstand Vendor
• The Other Two (2019, 2023) as Vishant

Trivia

• According to his own information, Nayyar was introduced to the President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower and Dr. Martin Luther King in India in 1959.^[15]
• Harsh Nayyar was included in Ranjan Chhibber's Ph.D. thesis in 1999.

Literature

• Chhibber, Ranjan (1999). "Passage to Hollywood: Visions of India in the American film". ProQuest (Ph.D. thesis). State University of New York at Buffalo.

References

1. Millers, Sandra (1973-04-27). "Dracula". Technician (pdf). Vol. LIII, no. 82. Raleigh, NC. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
2. Eder, Richard (1979-03-29). "Stage: 'A Meeting by the River' Oriental Philosophy". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
3. Green, Jesse (2018-02-26). "Review: 'An Ordinary Muslim' Gets Caught Between Cultures and Genres". New York Times. Retrieved 2023-06-08.
4. Lenzi, Linda (2018-02-27). "Photo Coverage: New York Theatre Workshop Celebrates Opening Night of AN ORDINARY MUSLIM". broadwayworld.com. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
5. Hurwitt, Robert (2002-04-26). "Journey of a lifetime / Kushner's fierce, humane 'Homebody/Kabul' marries monologue and drama, poetry and politics". sfgate. San Francisco. Retrieved 2023-06-18. Priscilla searches for her mum with the not entirely disinterested help of a Tajik Esperanto poet (the eloquently sorrowful Harsh Nayyar).
6. Grant, John Angell (2002-04-27). "'Homebody/Kabul' – Kushner sends Berkeley Rep audiences on fascinating journey through Afghanistan". The Berkeley Planet. Retrieved 2023-06-18.
7. Newton, Pamela (October 2004). "review: Reality Theater: Guantanamo". The Brooklyn Rail. New York City. Retrieved 2023-06-10. Mr. Begg's anger and sorrow are palpable here, as he describes his plight to get justice for his son
8. Connema, Richard. "Regional Reviews: San Francisco - Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom is a Deeply Moving Docudrama". talkinbroadway.com. Retrieved 2023-06-10. Harsh Nayyar [...] gives a touching performance as a father who loves his son very much but cannot help him.
9. "Harsh Nayyar". allmovie.com. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
10. "The Unhappy Medium". Tales from the Darkside. Season 2. Episode 22. 1986-05-18.
11. "Auctioning of the costume of the news vendor from Men in Black". propstoreauction.com. Retrieved 2023-05-20.
12. Harsh Nayyar quotes from The Peacemaker
13. "Harsh Nayyar credits (text only))". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-05-21.
14. Burkhardt, Joanna M. (2009-10-15). "Between the Assassinations". Library Journal, Univ. of Rhode Island Libs. Vol. 134, no. 17. Providence. p. 45. actor Harsh Nayyar conveys the appropriate balance of enthusiasm and pathos, his accent lending credibility to the narrative.
15. "Extras". harshnayyar.com. Retrieved 2023-05-20.

External links

• Website of the actor Harsh Nayyar
• Harsh Nayyar at actorsaccess