Anokhi Fashion Lifestyle Entertaiment

He plays a quintessential nerd who, despite a witty sense of humour, struggles to sustain interest from the opposite sex without the assistance of alcohol. But in real life, Kunal Nayyar is unlike the socially awkward Rajesh Koothrappali (or Raj) many have come to know him as on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory. Holding a stage presence early on, Kunal acted in countless musicals while schooling in India. After high school, he left New Delhi for the United States where he seriously began pursuing his passion by enrolling in acting classes at the University of Portland in Oregon. A senior year best actor nomination for his play The Rose Tattoo garnered him an invitation to the American College Theatre Festival (ACTF) where he competed in an acting competition and won the Mark Twain Award for comic brilliance along with a fellowship to the prestigious Sundance Theater Lab. Kunal holds a Masters in Fine Arts from Temple University in Philadelphia and has since gone on to master the fine art of engaging audiences worldwide.

In 2011, Kunal hosted “A Tribute to Nerds” at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival and completed production on the 20th Century Fox feature film Ice Age: Continental Drift, which is slated for release later this year. Hardworking and lovable, Kunal Nayyar has helped society redefine how truly sexy being nerdy can be.

Q&A

Zodiac sign: Taurus.

Best way to unwind: A chilled beer and a guitar.

Favourite Bollywood movie: Dil Chahta Hai.

Favourite Hollywood movie: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Guilty pleasure: French fries.

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be and why? I would love to have the ability to actually use “the force.” Why? I don’t know; wouldn’t that just be cool?

What is on your iPod? Radiohead, Portishead, Bjork and lots of hip-hop.

Something quirky about you no one would know: If I tell you, what’s the point?

Best personal feature and why: My round butt, “cause most men don’t have shapely derrieres”.

Best feature on the opposite sex: The mouth (think Julia Roberts).

Celebrity crush: Neha Kapur. (Ms. India 2006.)

Three things you can’t live without: Sex, love and cricket.

Most memorable professional moment: My show getting nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe.

Most valuable life lesson: Stay humble.

Motto you live by: “If it happens, good. If it doesn’t happen, very good.”

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MEG PEROTTI
BY: RANGA THANGARAJAH / PUBLISHED IN THE 9TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE / JANUARY 2012