Rajesh Gopie

Rajesh Gopie, is a South African actor of Indian descent.[1] He is best known for the roles in the television serials Stellenbosch, Professionals and The World Unseen.[2]

Rajesh Gopie
Born
Rajesh Gopie

Durban, South Africa
NationalitySouth African
Alma materUniversity of Natal
Occupation(s)Director, actor, playwright
Years active1993–present
Height1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)

Personal life

He was born in Durban, South Africa to an Indian family. He obtained his B.A. degree in English, Drama and History at the University of Natal.[3]

In July 2020, his aunt Dolly Singh died at the age of 76 by COVID-19 complications.[4]

Career

After his graduation, he moved to England for a year and studied drama further. After his return to South Africa, he made the stage play Out of Bounds which deals with life and times of South African Indian families.[5]

After returning to South Africa, he joined with several stage plays such as Be Proud, Be Yourself, Out of Bounds (1999), The Coolie Odyssey (2002), The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife, The Chimp Project, Romeo and Juliet, Back to the Faith, Mahatma vs Gandhi, The Pinter Sketches, The Wiz and Hamlet (2005). In the meantime, he worked as the playwright for the plays, Out of Bounds (1999), Be Proud, Be Yourself Out of Bounds (2001), Mahatma-Madiba, Marital Bliss and Too Close for Comfort.[3] In 2001, he won the award for the Best New Indigenous Script at Fleur du Cap Theatre Awards for the play Out of Bounds. He also directed, written and played in the popular stage play The Coolie Odyssey in 2002.[6]

In 2013 he was awarded the Oppenheimer Scholarship where he went London to pursue post-graduate studies. Then he completed his master's degree in Actor training and coaching at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2014. In 2015, he became a theater director with the stage play Yerma which was written by Federico García Lorca.[7]

In 2017, he acted in the South African Indian comedy film Keeping Up with the Kandasamys directed by Jayan Moodley. The film became the first South African Indian film to be screened widely in theaters. It stars Jailoshini Naidoo, Maeshni Naicker, Madhushan Singh, and Mishqah Parthiephal. The film later became the highest-grossing film in South Africa in 2017, and the highest grossing South African film worldwide in 2017.[8]

In 2018, he appeared in the South African Indian action crime film Mayfair. He played the lead role of 'Aziz' in the film, which later received positive reviews.[9][10] The film was also screened at the 62nd BFI London Film Festival and Africa in Motion Film Festival in October 2018.[11][12]

Filmography
YearFilmRoleRef.
2007The World UnseenSadru
2008Hansie: A True StoryRakesh
2017Keeping Up with the KandasamysPreggie Naidoo
2018MayfairAziz
2020New MaterialShabir

Television
YearFilmRoleNotes
1993Generations
2004Zero ToleranceRaks Moodley
2004The Eastern BrideMasoud BoutrosHome movie
2007StellenboschKishore Patel
2017SwartwaterJeffrey Nasser
2017The Indian DetectiveNeighbourTV Mini-Series
2020ProfessionalsAjay Khan

References
  1. "Rajesh Gopie". APM. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  2. "Rajesh Gopie: Actor". MUBI. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  3. "Rajesh Gopie". ESAT. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  4. "Death from virus leaves family traumatized". Post South Africa. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  5. "Out of Bounds - A Play by Rajesh Gopie". loot. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  6. "Zainab Priya Dala's "What Gandhi Didn't See: Being Indian in South Africa"". jayabhattacharjirose. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  7. "Yerma - 'barren' in Spanish - at Wits". artlink. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  8. Canham, Tamlyn (26 May 2017). "Keeping Up With the Kandasanys' makes R16-million at the box office". East Coast Radio.
  9. "Mayfair – Cape Town International Film Market & Festival – CTIFMF". Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  10. "Mayfair". Channel. 14 October 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  11. "Johannesburg's Mayfair suburb goes international in new movie". IndianSpice. 28 September 2018. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  12. Press, Indigenous Film Distribution (6 November 2018). "Mayfair opens to great reviews". Screen Africa. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
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