Akshay Oberoi (born 1 January 1985) is an American actor of Indian descent, who works in Hindi films. After making his acting debut as a child in the 2002 comedy-drama American Chai, Oberoi played his first leading role in Rajshri Productions film Isi Life Mein...! (2010). Oberoi has received critical acclaim for his work.[1][2][3]
Akshay Oberoi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1 January 1985 Morristown, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Johns Hopkins University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse |
Jyothi Vynatheya (m. 2011) |
| Children | 1 |
| Relatives | see Oberoi family |
Early life, family and education
editAkshay Oberoi was born on 1 January 1985 in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey, United States.[4] He attended Newark Academy for middle school and high school and pursued a bachelor's degree in Theater Arts and Economics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He also completed acting training in Stella Adler in New York City and then Playhouse West in Los Angeles, where he learned the Meisner technique. During his education, he studied acting under John Astin from The Addams Family.[5] He also studied ballet, jazz and hip-hop dance at Broadway Dance Center. He moved to India and did plays at the famous Prithvi Theatre and received training from Kishore Namit Kapoor.[4][6][7]
Akshay's father, Krishan Oberoi, is the brother of the actor Suresh Oberoi and thus Akshay is first cousin to Vivek Oberoi.[7][8]
Career
editOberoi started his career by working at the famed Prithvi Theatre in Juhu with Makrand Deshpande. Starting with backstage work, Makrand later offered him a part in Miss Beautiful.
Oberoi then made his film debut in Sooraj Barjatya's Isi Life Mein. On its release the film failed to click at the box office. However, Oberoi was lauded by the critics for his work in the film. Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama commented, "The only noteworthy aspect of the film is its lead pair. Akshay Oberoi is talented – no two opinions on that. He has good screen presence, but most importantly, he acts very well."[9] Prathna Tiwari of BollySpice said, "The newcomers definitely are off to a good start. In particular Akshay Oberoi who has great screen presence, delivers his dialogues confidently and also proves to be eye candy for the ladies."[10] Sarita Tanwar of Mid-Day noted, "Newcomer Akshay Oberoi is confident and delivers."[11]
Oberoi moved to television work after the release of his first film. In 2012, he played the lead role in Bejoy Nambiar's MTV Rush. Nambiar, impressed with Oberoi's work on the show, offered him his second film, the Tamil remake of the suspense thriller Pizza. Pizza released on 18 July 2014, where Oberoi was once again praised by the critics. Renuka Vyavahare of The Times of India said, "Lead actor Akshay Oberoi does complete justice to the spine-chilling story with [his] compelling presence. We would like to see [this] actor more often on screen..."[12] Taran Adarsh commented, "One witnesses a noticeable growth in Akshay Oberoi's performance, who interprets the challenging role with sincerity. The varied emotions that he gets to exhibit – anxiety, fright, vulnerability – come across well in several sequences"[13] Sweta Kaushal of Hindustan Times noted, "An effortless performance by Akshay Oberoi make this horror flick worth a one-time watch."[14] Subhash K. Jha said, "Akshay Oberoi's Kunal is a mixture of the timid and the defiant. He lets the character's confusions build up as the story progresses so that finally we see him as a victim in ways that we would never suspect otherwise. "[15] Shubha Shetty-Saha of Mid-Day stated, "This remake...solely rests on the still young shoulders of newcomer Akshay Oberoi, who has to go through a range of emotions in the 120 plus minutes long duration of the film. A dream role for someone who's just about a film old, Pizza 3D has Oberoi in almost every frame and must say, he has done a decent job."[16] Sneha May Francis of Emirates 24/7 noted, "Akshay Oberoi holds [the] fort impressively. He's impeccable as the timid Kunal, exploiting his insecurities and fears with maturity and restraint. For a bloke fresh on the Bollywood trail, that's bloody impressive..."[17]
Oberoi has also received rave reviews for his work in Laal Rang and Gurgaon. Maggie Lee of Variety said of his work in Gurgaon, "Oberoi oozes bad-boy sexiness, injecting physical potency into Nikki's loose-canon behavior."[18] and Film Campion's Rahul Desai said, "Oberoi's light-eyed cold-bloodedness lends credence to Gurgaon's volatility in a way that lets the film take any unresolved direction it chooses to."[19] While Subhash K. Jha said, "it's Akshay Oberoi playing the outcast son who steals the thunder lighting and what-not. It's a big-bang performance, implosive and bursting at the seams with unspoken bitterness. Oberoi plays the truant son (a cliché in the crime genre) with much empathy and little compassion. In one sequence we see him brutally violate a prostitute in a bath tub. We know what levels of violence Nikki is capable of. Nikki doesn't disappoint."[20]
Media
editOberoi was ranked in The Times Most Desirable Men at No. 31 in 2020.[21]
Personal life
editOn 24 March 2011, Oberoi married Jyothi Vynatheya, a strategy consultant with Dalberg Global Development Advisors. Akshay first met Jyothi at Newark Academy. They have a son.[22]
Filmography
editFilms
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | American Chai | Neel | |
| 2010 | Isi Life Mein | Vivaan | |
| 2014 | Pizza | Kunal | |
| 2015 | Piku | Aniket | |
| 2016 | Fitoor | Mufti | |
| Laal Rang | Rajesh | ||
| 2017 | Gurgaon | Nikki | |
| 2018 | Kaalakaandi | Angad | |
| 2019 | Bombairiya | Abhishek | |
| #Gadhvi | Omkar | ||
| Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga | Raza | Cameo appearance | |
| Junglee | Dev | ||
| 2020 | Chhote Nawab | Armaan | |
| 2021 | Madam Chief Minister | Indramani "Indu" Tripathi | |
| State of Siege: Temple Attack | Captain Bibek | ||
| 2022 | Love Hostel | Diler | |
| Thar | Arjun Singh | ||
| Judaa Hoke Bhi | Aman | ||
| 2023 | Gaslight | Rana Jai Singh | [23] |
| I Love You | Vishal | ||
| 2024 | Fighter | Basheer "Bash" Khan | |
| Ghuspaithiya | Anshuman Singh | ||
| Varchasva † | Ajay | Filming[24] | |
| Ek Kori Prem Katha † | Laddu Singh | Filming | |
| TBA | Tu Chahiye † | TBA | Completed[25] |
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Web series
edit| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | MTV Rush | Episode 1 |
| 2015 | Local Girlfriend | |
| 2016 | It's Not That Simple | 6 episodes |
| 2017 | Bar Code | 10 episodes |
| The Test Case | ||
| 2018 | Selection Day | |
| 2020 | Illegal | Akshay Jaitley |
| Hum Tum And Them | ||
| Flesh | ||
| High | ||
| 2021 | Illegal 2 | Akshay Jaitley |
| Dil Bekaraar | ||
| Inside Edge | Season 3 | |
| 2022 | Feels Like Home | Cameo appearance |
| 2024 | Illegal 3 | Akshay Jaitley |
| The Broken News 2 | Ranjit Sabarwal |
Short films
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Mama's Boys | Yudhishtir | |
| 2016 | The Virgins | Dhruv | |
| 2017 | Baby Steps | Dev | |
| 2018 | Mirchi Malini | Arjun | |
| 2019 | Masterpiece | Abheek | |
| 2020 | Smartphone | Filmfare OTT Nomination Best Supporting Actor |
References
edit- ^ "Bollywoodhungama.com". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 24 December 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
- ^ "Salman-Vivek fight not my business: Akshay Oberoi". Indian Express.
- ^ Vali, Aishan (15 December 2010). "Living his dream". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 26 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ^ a b "Bollywood Hungama Chat". Archived from the original on 8 July 2011.
- ^ "I'm not afraid of failure: Akshay Oberoi". The Times of India. 29 December 2010.
- ^ "Bollyspice interview". Archived from the original on 24 December 2010.
- ^ a b "Glamgold". Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2010.
- ^ "Glamsham". 7 August 2021.
- ^ Adarsh, Taran (24 December 2010). "Movie Reviews: Isi Life Mein". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 16 November 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ "Isi Life Mein Movie Review". Archived from the original on 13 May 2011.
- ^ "Isi Life Mein – Movie Review".
- ^ "Movie Pizza Review 2014, Story, Trailers | Times of India" – via timesofindia.indiatimes.com.
- ^ Adarsh, Taran (18 July 2014). "Pizza (2014) Hindi Movie Critic Review By Taran Adarsh". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 5 August 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
- ^ "Pizza 3D Movie Review". Archived from the original on 28 July 2014.
- ^ "Pizza 3D Movie Review". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 19 July 2014.
- ^ "Movie review: 'Pizza 3D'". mid-day. 18 July 2014.
- ^ Francis, Sneha May. "Bollywood review: Akshay Oberoi's 'Pizza' is different bite-fest - Entertainment - Films and Music - Emirates24|7". www.emirates247.com.
- ^ Lee, Maggie (6 January 2017). "Film Review: 'Gurgaon'".
- ^ Desai, Rahul (4 August 2017). "Gurgaon Movie Review: Mechanics Of A Meltdown".
- ^ Jha, Subhash K. (5 August 2017). ""Gurgaon is a simmering stunning span of tense storytelling" – A Subhash K Jha Review".
- ^ "The Times Most Desirable Men of 2020: Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
- ^ "Akshay Oberoi brings his wife Jyothi and son Avyaan to Mumbai from New York". Mid-Day. 24 July 2017.
- ^ Chatterjee, Saibal (31 March 2023). "Gaslight Review: Sara Ali Khan's Earnest Performance Is Uneven - Like The Film - 2 Stars". NDTV.
- ^ "Akshay Oberoi says he enjoyed playing bisexual antagonist in 'Flesh'". The Times of India. 22 August 2022.
- ^ "Akshay Oberoi completes shooting the romantic saga Tu Chahiye". Bollywood Hungama. 26 September 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
External links
edit