# Nitin Ganatra

Nitin Chandra Ganatra (born 30 June 1967) is a British actor. He is known for portraying Masood Ahmed in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders (2007–2019), for which he won a British Soap Award.

## Early life

Ganatra was born on 30 June 1967 in Kenya. Both sides of his family have origins in Gujarat, India, which was explored on-screen in the 2013 series of Who Do You Think You Are? His great-grandfather arrived in Kenya in the late 1890s, as one of 32,000 contracted labourers to build the Uganda Railway. One of under 10,000 to stay in the country after the railway's completion, his grandfather and his father later joined the family's general trading business.
After Kenya gained independence from the United Kingdom and forced the native Indian population to choose between Kenya and their British passports in 1971, Ganatra, aged 3, moved with his family to Coventry, where the family still owned a corner shop.
Ganatra was educated at Coundon Court School and Community College on Northbrook Road and then studied Drama, Film, and Television at the University of Bristol. He went on to train under the tutelage of the late Master theatre practitioner Jerzy Grotowski.

## Career

Ganatra is known internationally as Prince Pondicherry in the Tim Burton film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He also appears in the Gurinder Chada film Bride and Prejudice as Kholi Saab and The Mistress of Spices as Haroun, and Dev Raja in Mumbai Calling. He also appeared in the first ever iPod commercial. Ganatra also appeared in an episode of The Catherine Tate Show, as Joanie Taylor's daughter's partner.
Other appearances include the television show Jane Hall, the Patents Clerk in Philip Pullman's The Shadow in the North, the CBBC television show Gina's Laughing Gear, a character in Meet the Magoons portraying himself, a semi lead role as Rez, brother of main character Shifty, in the 2008 British cult film Shifty about a Muslim crack-cocaine dealer, and Martin Soper in Twenty Twelve. He also appeared in Being April, portraying the role of Sinil.
On 15 October 2014, Ganatra appeared in an episode of Celebrity Squares. On 25 March 2015, he featured in a comedy interview alongside comedian Paul Chowdhry in which he pretended to lose his temper and "attacked" Chowdhry. His appearance on Pointless Celebrities, in which he had to have the rules explained to him by the host, was included in a 2020 special called Pointless: The Good, the Bad and the Bloopers.
It was announced in May 2017 that Ganatra would appear in comedy feature Eaten by Lions, alongside Antonio Aakeel and Jack Carroll. He also appeared in the Channel 4 drama The State, portraying the father of a young British Muslim who went to join ISIS. In 2020, he portrayed spell science teacher Mr. Daisy in the CBBC series The Worst Witch, and a lawyer in a two-part episode of Trial & Retribution.
In 2022, Ganatra also appeared in episode four of season one of the Netflix series Wednesday, directed by Tim Burton, as Dr. Anwar. Then in February 2023, he portrayed Kamil Razaq in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors.

### EastEnders

On 16 October 2007, Ganatra began playing regular character Masood Ahmed in the BBC One soap opera, EastEnders. He also appeared in the 2010 spin-off series EastEnders: E20. Ganatra left EastEnders in 2016. He made a one-off appearance on 28 November 2017, and returned permanently on 1 January 2018. On 26 January 2019, it was announced Ganatra had decided to leave his role as Masood, and he left the show later in 2019.
At The British Soap Awards, Ganatra won Best On-Screen Partnership with Nina Wadia in 2009, and was nominated for Best Actor in 2010.

## Personal life

On 17 July 2004, Ganatra and Meera Thakrar were married. They have two children and live in North London.
In April 2019, he was honoured with the Outstanding Achievement in Television award at The Asian Awards.
Ganatra was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to drama.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Film | Character | Notes |
| 1990 | Truly, Madly, Deeply | Ghost | |
| 1996 | Secrets & Lies | Potential Husband | |
| 1998 | Guru in Seven | Sanjay | |
| 2000 | This Bastard Business | Raj | Short |
| 2001 | The Love Doctor | Vivek | Short |
| 2002 | Shooters | Ajay | |
| 2002 | Another Day | Sunil | Short |
| 2002 | Stag | Sammi | Short |
| 2002 | Pure | Abu | |
| 2002 | Inferno | Naz | Short |
| 2004 | Chess: A Game Plan | | |
| 2004 | Bride and Prejudice | Kohli Saab | |
| 2004 | Piccadilly Jim | Banje Singh | |
| 2005 | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Prince of Pondicherry | |
| 2005 | The Mistress of Spices | Haroun | |
| 2005 | Colour Me Kubrick: A True...ish Story | Deepak | |
| 2006 | Land of the Blind | Prison Official | |
| 2007 | The Hunting Party | Indian Officer | |
| 2008 | Shifty | Rez | |
| 2009 | Mad, Sad & Bad | Atul | |
| 2017 | Disconnect | Abdullah | Short |
| 2018 | Eaten by Lions | Malik | |
| 2019 | Hellboy | August Swain | |
| 2021 | Expiation | Jimmy | Short |
| 2023 | Short Stay, Long Stay | Vinny | Short |
| 2023 | Accused | Ramesh Bhavsar | |
| 2024 | Seize Them! | Witgar the Baker | |
| 2024 | The Collaborator" | The Boy's Father / Sarpanch | |
| 2024 | Elephant | | Short |
| 2025 | Christmas Karma | | Upcoming film |

### Television

| Year | Film | Character | Notes |
| 1996 | Thief Takers | Doctor | Episode: "No One Likes to See That" |
| 1997 | This Life | Salim | Episode: "Room With a Queue" |
| 1999 | Our Charly | Ravi Patel | Episode: "Charly und der Affengott" |
| 1999 | Extremely Dangerous | Ali Khan | |
| 1999; 2006 | The Bill | Mr. Chauduri; Charlie May | Episode: "Makeover"; Episode: "Honour Amongst Thieves" |
| 2000 | The Sins | Job Centre Clerk | |
| 2001 | Murder in Mind | Riaz Chowdry | Episode: "Sleeper" |
| 2001 | Sweet Revenge | Lawyer | |
| 2001 | Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) | Ramon | Episode: "Painkillers" |
| 2001 | Kumbh Mela: The Greatest Show on Earth | Narrator | Documentary |
| 2002 | The Jury | Tariq Shah | 4 episodes |
| 2002 | Rescue Me | Jimmy | |
| 2002 | Being April | Sunil | |
| 2002 | Mr & Mrs Jones | Adam Crawley | Television film |
| 2002 | Comedy Lab | Nitin | Episode: "Meet the Magoons" |
| 2002; 2018 | Silent Witness | DI Roy Pereira; Simon Laing | Episodes: "Kith and Kill: Part 1 and 2"; Episodes: "Duty of Candour: Part 1 and 2" |
| 2003 | Grease Monkeys | Doctor | Episode: "Heart of the Matter" |
| 2003 | Second Generation | Firoz Khan | Television film |
| 2003 | Canterbury Tales | Pushpinder | Episode: "The Sea Captain's Tale" |
| 2003 | Indian Dream | Dr. Rajiv Reddy | Television film |
| 2003 | You're Breaking Up | Deep | Television film |
| 2003–2004 | Holby City | Sami Sattar | Series 5–6, 9 episodes |
| 2004 | England Expects | Anwar | Television film |
| 2005 | Twisted Tales | Harry Nagra | Episode: "Murder Me" |
| 2005 | Meet the Magoons | Nitin | |
| 2006 | New Street Law | Robson | Episode: "High Risk, High Profit" |
| 2006 | Jane Hall | Sid Gokahani | |
| 2006 | Son of the Dragon | Prince of India | |
| 2006 | The Papdits | Gopi Papdit | Television film |
| 2006 | The Secret Policeman's Ball: The Ball in the Hall | Himself | Television special |
| 2007 | The Afternoon Play | Samir | Episode: "The Real Deal" |
| 2007 | Gina's Laughing Gear | Ches Nut | Episode: "Astronuts" |
| 2007 | The Grey Man | Gary Page | Television film |
| 2007 | New Tricks | Doctor Lau | Episode: "Nine Lives" |
| 2007 | The Shadow in the North | Patents Clerk | Television film |
| 2007 | The Catherine Tate Show | Ranjit | 2007 Christmas special |
| 2007 | Children in Need 2007 | Performer | Segment: "Beatles Tribute" |
| 2007–2019 | EastEnders | Masood Ahmed | Regular role; 763 episodes |
| 2007–2008 | Mumbai Calling | Dev Raja | Also writer |
| 2008 | Trial & Retribution | Jaheed Jeffers | Episodes: "The Box: Part 1 and 2" |
| 2009–2011 | The Wright Stuff | Himself / Panellist | 9 episodes |
| 2010 | Hounded | Dr. Wu | Episode: "Look at the Stars" |
| 2010 | Children in Need 2010 | Masood Ahmed | Segment: "East Street" |
| 2010 | EastEnders: E20 | Masood Ahmed | EastEnders web spin-off series; 3 episodes |
| 2011 | Twenty Twelve | Martin Soper | Episode: "Roman Remains" |
| 2011 | Children in Need 2011 | Roger Taylor / Suzie Birchall | Segment: "Queen Tribute" |
| 2012 | Children in Need 2012 | Masood Ahmed | Segment: "The Walford Apprentice" |
| 2012 | The Cow That Almost Missed Christmas | Dad / Ram / Camel | Voice role |
| 2013 | Tamwar Tales – The Life of an Assistant Market Inspector | Masood Ahmed | EastEnders web spin-off series |
| 2013 | Children in Need 2013 | Street Dancer | Segment: "The Big Albert Square Dance" |
| 2013 | Who Do You Think You Are? | Himself | Series 10, episode 7 |
| 2014 | Warren United | Dillip | Voice role |
| 2014 | Children in Need 2014 | T-Bird | Segment: "GreaseEnders" |
| 2015 | EastEnders: Back to Ours | Himself | Episode: "Nitin Ganatra & Himesh Patel" |
| 2017 | The State | Munir Hossein | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Debatable | Himself / Panellist | 3 episodes |
| 2018 | Children in Need 2018 | Le Fou | Segment: "Once Upon a Time in Albert Square" |
| 2019 | Midsomer Murders | Ned Skye | Episode: "With Baited Breath" |
| 2020 | The Worst Witch | Mr Daisy | Series 4, 7 episodes |
| 2021 | Murder, They Hope | Carl | Episode: "The Bunny Trap" |
| 2021 | McDonald & Dodds | Dan | Episode: "The War of Rose" |
| 2022 | The Essex Serpent | Charles Ambrose | 3 episodes |
| 2022 | The Undeclared War | Ahmed Parvin | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | Galwad 2052 | Namit | Television film |
| 2022 | Wednesday | Dr. Anwar | Episode: "Woe What a Night" |
| 2023 | Doctors | Kamil Razaq | Episode: "Hearts and Minds" |
| 2023 | Breeders | Sunil | Episodes: "No Alternative", "No Control" and "No Matter What: Part 2" |
| 2023 | Bodies | Ishmael | 5 episodes |
| 2023–2024 | Changing Ends | Mr. Robertson | 4 episodes |
| 2024 | Sexy Beast | Ricky Sidhu | 5 episodes |
| 2024 | 3 Body Problem | Ranjit Varma | Episode: "Destroyer of Worlds" |
| 2024 | Mr. Bigstuff | Brian | 3 episodes |
| 2024 | Sweetpea | Rory | |
| 2024 | The Chelsea Detective | Virat Sharma | Episode: "Everybody Loves Chloe" |
| 2025 | Miss Scarlet | Amil Kapoor | Episode: "The Enchanted Mirror" |