# Kal Parekh

Kal Parekh (Hindi: कल पारिख) is an Indian-American film and television actor best known for his starring role as detective Nick Patel in The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim and as Sanjeev, an Indian-American flight engineer in the ABC television series, Pan Am, set in the 1960s.

## Early life

Parekh was born in India, and spent his early years in Jaipur. In the late 1980s, his parents moved the family to the United States, settling in Verona, New Jersey. Parekh graduated from Verona High School. He next studied at and graduated from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York City. While at SVA, Parekh produced an animated short that was screened at various film festivals. During his time at SVA, he learned to dance by watching music videos.
He said,
   Dancing liberated me, I was no longer an introverted individual, which I had been my whole life. Dancing came very naturally to me. I never took classes. It's something I just picked up and ended up being good at.
In 2002 he was cast in the first ever South Asian production on Broadway titled "Rang: Shades of my soul." He went on to teach for four years at Arya Dance Academy. Parekh has said that dancing and animation helped him to imagine acting.

## Career

After graduating from SVA, Parekh took classes in live-action film at the New York Film Academy (NYFA) and later studied at Juilliard and T. Shreiber Studios. Soon after, he landed his first major role, as Shaheed in the Bollywood Hindi-language film, Khel Shuru. He learned Hindi for the part.
Parekh next appeared in the film Kehtaa Hai Dil Baar Baar. and Siddharth Anand's NYC based feature film Ta Ra Rum Pum as the character Nilesh.
In 2010, Parekh had a lead role in the independent film Karma Road, as the character Ronick. Directed by Mihir Pathak, the film won the Silver Award for Best Feature Film at the 2010 Philadelphia Film Festival and the Gold Level Award for a feature film at the 2010 California Film Awards.
In early 2011, he was cast as Sanjeev in the ABC prime-time period drama Pan Am. He and the show were quite popular, especially in Europe, and won a Rose d'Or in 2012.
In 2013, he co-starred as Aaron on the FOX drama, The Following.
In 2014 he starred as Prakash Dutta alongside Pooja Batra in the Indie action film The Spirit of Mumbai directed by John Tillotson.
In 2015 he played detective Nick Patel in the feature film The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Raheem, which was based on true events.
Parekh later co-starred in Orange is the New Black, Quantico alongside Priyanka Chopra Jonas and FBI: Most Wanted.
Parekh will next star in the musical romance film Coco & Nut alongside Pranutan Bhal and Rahsaan Noor.

## Personal life

Parekh resides in Los Angeles. He is in a relationship.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2006 | Khel Shuru | Shaheed |
| 2011 | New Year's Eve | Male Obstetrician |
| 2014 | The Spirit of Mumbai | Prakash Dutta |
| 2015 | The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim | Nick Patel |
| 2025 | Coco & Nut † | TBA |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007 | House | Passenger | Uncredited Role; Episode: "Airborne" |
| 2007 | Entourage | Miller Gold Agent | Uncredited Role; Episode: "Gary's Desk" |
| 2012 | Gossip Girl | Chuck's Doctor | Episode: "The End of the Affair?" |
| 2012 | Blue Bloods | Dr. Pruit | Episode: "Parenthood" |
| 2011-2012 | Pan Am | Sanjeev | Recurring Role |
| 2013 | The Following | Aaron | Recurring Role |
| 2013 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Doctor | Episode: "American Tragedy" |
| 2014 | Black Box | OR Nurse | Episode: "Who Are You?" "Kodachrome" "Free Will" |
| 2016 | Orange Is The New Black | CO Thorpe | Episode: "Work That Body for Me" |
| 2018 | Quantico | Fahad Harith | Episode: "The Blood of Romeo" |
| 2022 | FBI: Most Wanted | Boris Paulsen | Episode: "Incendiary" |