Sanjeev Kohli

Infobox actor
name =Sanjeev Singh Kohli


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caption = Kohli as Navid Harrid in "Still Game".
birthdate =1971
birthplace =London
occupation =
yearsactive =
spouse = Fiona
domesticpartner =
children = 3 Children
parents =
website =
baftaawards =
awards =

Sanjeev Singh Kohli ["England & Wales, Birth Index: 1837-1983] (born 1971) is a British comedian, writer and actor. He is most famous for his role as Navid Harrid in the sitcom, "Still Game".

Biography

Early life

Kohli was born in London to a social worker and a teacher, who had come to the United Kingdom in the 1960s from India.cite web|url=http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article2307878.ece|title=Relative Values: Hardeep Singh Kohli and his brother Sanjeev|publisher=The Times|accessdate-2007-10-05|last=McFerran|first=Ann|date=2007-08-26] When he was three years old, they moved to Scotland.cite web|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=till-game&method=full&objectid=18879016&siteid=66633-name_page.html|title=TILL GAME|publisher=Daily Record (Scotland)|accessdate=2007-04-16|last=English|first=Paul|date=2007-04-09] Aged six, Kohli's parents could afford to move him and his brothers out of state schooling to be educated by the feepaying Jesuits at St. Aloysius College, a Roman Catholic school in central Glasgow. To finance their family through private school, Kohli's parents ran a corner shop.

He went on to Glasgow University, studying medicine, but changed course to study Maths, gaining a first class degree, and subsequently studied for a PhD.

Career

Kohli starred in "Meet the Magoons" for Channel 4, co-written by his brother Hardeep, as Surjit Magoon [cite web|url=http://www.sitcom.co.uk/meet_magoons/about.shtml|title="Meet the Magoons"|publisher=British Sitcom Guide|accessdate=2007-10-06] and has appeared in several episodes of the BBC comedy series "Look Around You" as Synthesiser Patel. [cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/01_january/11/look_synopses.shtml|title=Look Around You
publisher=BBC Press Office|accessdate=2007-10-05|date=2005-01-11] He was the former presenter of the BBC's Asian Network and has previously written for "Goodness Gracious Me", "The Big Breakfast" and "Chewin' the Fat", which was also written by future "Still Game" co-stars, Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill.

In December 2006, the "Sunday Mail" revealed that Kohli would be starring in the major ITV thriller, "Losing Gemma". Starring alongside Alice Eve, he played "a member of the British High Commission, who helps a young English tourist jailed in Delhi, India".cite web | title=Sunday Mail | work=NAVID'S GAME FOR NEW TV ROLE | url=http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/feed/tm_method=full%26objectid=18276182%26siteid=64736-name_page.html | accessdate=December 18 | accessyear=2006] Kohli revealed in 2007 that he would be working on a radio comedy project for BBC Radio 4, entitled "Fags, Mags and Bags". The series of which went on in 2008 to be nominated for a "Sony Award". [cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/10/commercialradio.bbc|title=Sony Radio Academy awards 2008 nomination|publisher=The Guardian] The Daily Record also revealed Kohli would be writing for ITV children's show, "My Life as a Popat". Kohli has also starred in BBC Three's "Rush Hour" as an intolerant taxi driver, [cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/rushhour/|title="Rush Hour"|publisher=BBC Online|accessdate=2007-10-06] and on the same channel in "Phoo Action" as a television news presenter. [cite web|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/entertainment-news/2007/09/27/still-game-sanjeev-to-be-tv-newsreader-86908-19854633/|title=Still Game Sanjeev To Be TV Newsreader|publisher=Daily Record (Scotland)|accessdate=2007-05-10|date=2007-09-27]

On August 21, 2007, he presented a show called "10 Things To Hate About The Edinburgh Festival". Kohli also sometimes appears as a pundit on BBC One Scotland's Saturday afternoon "Sportscene" football programme. Kohli made a brief cameo in a speaking role as himself in an episode of BBC's "VideoGaiden", where he received a fish in the mail as a gift from the hosts in an attempt to recreate the Nintendo game "Animal Crossing". One of the hosts was Robert Florence, a writer whom Kohli worked with on "Chewin' the Fat".cite web | title=YouTube | work=videoGaiden: Rab and Ryan Go Animal Crossing | url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb-fmnRul-Q | accessdate=August 31 | accessyear=2007]

In February 2008, it was announced that he would play the role of God in the video for Glasgow band Attic Lights single 'God' [cite web|url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/entertainment-news/2008/02/26/sanjeev-kohli-s-new-role-as-god-86908-20331828/|title="Sanjeev Kohli's New Role As God"|publisher="Daily Record"|accessdate=2008-02-26]

Controversy

In 2005 Kohli was reprimanded by Glasgow City Council and had his licence to rent out a property in the city suspended for two years due to safety concerns.. citenews|url=http://news.scotsman.com/glasgow.cfm?id=1883872005|title=Navid the landlord falls foul of council|publisher=The Scotsman|date=September 3, 2005] . The Kohli family have a very successful business in property in Scotland. In January 2007, Kohli commented on the accusations of racism on "Celebrity Big Brother". He told of an incident in which a former boss called him "Mahatma", in reference to Gandhi.cite web | title=Daily Record | work=DON'T REVEL IN RACISM | url=http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_headline=don-t-revel-in-racism&method=full&objectid=18511518&siteid=66633-name_page.html | accessdate=February 9 | accessyear=2007]

He also caused controversy when he criticised the comedy output of Scottish radio. In 2008, he said to the "Sunday Times" that "The stuff on "Radio Scotland" just now is just woeful, I actually can't listen to it because it's so pedestrian and monochromatic. It just doesn't have any comedy sensibility. So it can be quite crippling to work in comedy here". BBC Radio Scotland head Jeff Zycinski replied to these criticisms by saying "We are committed to launching lots of new comedy over the next year with new writers, performers and producers. The comedy is coming from a wide variety of sources, both independent and in-house. Not all comedy pleases everybody." [cite web|url=http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2008/04/20/6657/scottish_radio_comedy_is_woeful|title="Scottish radio comedy is 'woeful'"|publisher="Chortle"|accessdate=2008-05-10]

Personal life

Kohli currently lives in Glasgow with his wife, Fiona, and their three children.

He has two elder brothers — Randeep Singh Kohli (1966), the highest ranking Sikh policeman in the UK force, who is one of three deputies to the chief inspector of Scotland Yard, and Hardeep Singh Kohli (1969), who is also a journalist and broadcaster.He also supports Celtic.

Footnotes

External links

*imdb name|id=1279969|name=Sanjeev Kohli