Kabir Bedi (born 16 January 1946) is an Indian actor. His career has spanned three continents covering India, the United States and especially Italy among other Western countries in three media: film, television and theatre. He is noted for his role as Emperor Shah Jahan in Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story and the villainous Sanjay Verma in the 1988 film Khoon Bhari Maang. He is best known in Italy and Europe for playing the pirate Sandokan in the Italian TV miniseries and for his role as the villainous Gobinda in the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy. Bedi is based in India and lives in Mumbai.
Early life and education Kabir Bedi was born in Lahore in the Punjab Province of British India (now in Punjab, Pakistan) on 16 January 1946. His father, Baba Pyare Lal Singh Bedi, was a Punjabi Sikh author, philosopher and a direct descendant of Guru Nanak. His mother, Freda Bedi, was an English woman born in Derby, who became famous as the first Western woman to take ordination in Tibetan Buddhism. He was educated at Sherwood College in Nainital, Uttarakhand, Delhi Public School Mathura Road and St. Stephen's College in Delhi.
Career Bedi began his career in Indian theatre and then moved on to Hindi films. He remains one of the first international actors from India who started out in Hindi films, worked in Hollywood films and became a star in Europe.
His first appearance on television was as a newsreader on Doordarshan's news programme Mirror of the World, at a time when its signal only reached Delhi.
Shortly after the success of the Sandokan miniseries in Europe, by 1978, he was considering moving to Los Angeles in order to follow a more active role in the US film industry, using an apartment there as his base. He also suggested changing his name to sound more English.Matinee Idol of Indian Films, The Los Angeles Times, July 5, 1978
Stage acting As a stage actor, Bedi has performed Shakespeare's Othello as well as portrayed a historical Indian king in Tughlaq, and a self-destructive alcoholic in The Vultures. In London he starred in The Far Pavilions, the West End musical adaptation of M. M. Kaye's novel, at the Shaftesbury Theatre. In 2011 Bedi played Emperor Shah Jahan in Taj, a play written by John Murrell, a Canadian playwright for the Luminato Festival in Toronto. In 2013, this play was recommissioned and went on an eight-week multi-city tour of Canada.
Film career In the James Bond film Octopussy, Bedi played the villain's aide Gobinda.
He has acted in over 60 Indian films. In the historical epic Taj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story, he starred as the Emperor Shah Jahan. Other starring Hindi film roles include Raj Khosla's Kuchhe Dhaage, Rakesh Roshan's Khoon Bhari Maang and Farah Khan's Main Hoon Na.
Bedi shot a movie with Hrithik Roshan (Kites), Govinda (Showman), and Akshay Kumar (Blue).Collection of articles on Kabir Bedi He acted in the Tamil film Aravaan, directed by Vasanthabalan.
Bedi played roles in Columbia Pictures' The Beast of War, a film on the Russian war in Afghanistan, directed by Kevin Reynolds, as well as the acclaimed Italian film Andata Ritorno, by Marco Ponti, winner of the David di Donatello Award. In 2017, he acted in the Telugu historical movie Gautamiputra Satakarni, as Nahapana, an important ruler of the Western Kshatrapas.
Television career Bedi has appeared on American television, in Hallmark's African epic Forbidden Territory, and Ken Follett's On Wings of Eagles and Red Eagle. He played Friar Sands in The Lost Empire, for NBC. He also acted in Dynasty, Murder, She Wrote, Magnum, P.I., Hunter, Knight Rider and Highlander: The Series.
In Europe, his greatest success was Sandokan, the saga of a romantic Southeast Asian pirate during British colonial times, an Italian-German-French TV series which broke viewership records across Europe. In 2007, he starred in the fifth season of a prime-time Italian television series, Un Medico in Famiglia, on RAI TV, playing the role of Kabir Dahvi, an Indian immigrant who opened a restaurant. A cameo in the 2025 series, whose title character is played by Can Yaman and whose second season was entering pre-production in December 2025, is on the cards.
For over a year, Bedi starred in The Bold and the Beautiful, the second most-watched television show in the world, seen by over a billion people in 149 countries.
He had his own cinematic talk show on Indian TV, Director's Cut, a 13-part special series interviewing the country's leading directors. His success on television continued in 2013 with award-winning prime-time shows Guns and Glory: The Indian Soldier and Vandemataram, for India's news channels Headlines Today and Aaj Tak.
In the Indian Biblical television series Bible Ki Kahaniya, Bedi played both the young and aged Abraham.
Radio career In 2007, he starred in Chat, a radio show aired by Rai Radio 2, in the role of Sandokan. In 2012, he did a series of Radio One programmes titled Women of Gold and Men of Steel in honour of industry champions in India. In 2017 he did another series in English for Radio One, Ten on Ten, celebrating the top ten innovations out of India. He also did the year-end special series, Best of 2017.
Writing Bedi is a regular contributor to Indian publications including the Times of India and Tehelka on political and social issues affecting the country. He is also seen debating such topics on Indian national television.
Charity In February 2017, Bedi was announced as the new 'brand ambassador' for international development organisation, Sightsavers, saying on his appointment, "Today there is immense awareness and attempt towards eye health and care in India and Sightsavers have shown way to people at large in the country with their achievements in the area of eye care." Bedi is the honorary brand ambassador for Italian Charity Care and Share Italia, which educates and looks after street children, from school to university, in Andhra Pradesh and Telegana.
Awards and achievements Since 1982, Bedi has been a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (who are responsible for presenting the Oscar awards). He is also a voting member of the Screen Actors Guild.
He has won numerous film, advertising and popularity awards across Europe and India.
By decree of the President of the Italian Republic of 2 June 2010, Bedi was officially knighted. He received the highest ranking civilian honour of the Italian Republic and was bestowed the title of "Cavaliere" (Knight) of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. He has recently received Honorary Degree from Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India.
Personal life Bedi married four times and had three children, Pooja, Siddharth (deceased) and Adam. He was married to Protima Bedi, an Odissi dancer. Their daughter Pooja Bedi is a magazine / newspaper columnist and former actress. Siddharth, who attended Carnegie Mellon University, was diagnosed with schizophrenia and died by suicide in 1997 at the age of 26.
As his marriage to Protima began to break down, he started a relationship with Parveen Babi. They never married. He later married British-born fashion designer Susan Humphreys. Their son, Adam Bedi, is an international model who made his Hindi film debut with the thriller Hello? Kaun Hai!.Adam Bedi baptised This marriage ended in divorce.
In the early 1990s, Bedi married TV and radio presenter Nikki Bedi. They had no children and divorced in 2005. After that, Bedi started a relationship with British-born Parveen Dusanj, whom he married a day before his 70th birthday.
Bedi was ordained as a Buddhist monk in Myanmar when he was about 10 years old. He has been practising Buddhism for many years. He supports the anti-government struggle in Myanmar, and he is an official ambassador of the Burma Campaign UK. He is the brand ambassador for Rotary International South Asia for its Teach Programme and the Total Literacy Mission in India and South Asia.
Filmography Films Year Film title Character1971 Hulchul Mahesh Jetley #3Seema 1972 Rakhi Aur Hathkadi Suraj Sazaa Brijmohan Anokha Daan 1973 Kuchhe Dhaage Pandit Tulsiram / Daku Roopa Yauwan Jhumru1974Manzilein Aur Bhi Hain Maa Bahen Aur Biwi Ishk Ishk Ishk Diwana/Ravikant Vyas1975 Anari Vikram Daaku Daku Raju1976 Nagin Uday Harfan Maula Faulad Singh Bullet Durga Prasad The Black Corsair The Black Corsair (Italy)1977 Daku Aur Mahatma Sangram Singh Vishwasghaat Uday La tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa! Sandokan1978 The Thief of Baghdad Prince Taj1979Ashanti Malik Aakhri Kasam Kishan / Badal Yuvraaj Samrat Surya Dev Singh1981 The Archer: Fugitive from the Empire Gar1982 40 Days of Musa Dagh Gabriel Bagradian Satan's MistressThe Spirit Girl from IndiaArtist1983 Octopussy Gobinda1988 Escuadrón Koura Khoon Bhari Maang Sanjay Verma Mera Shikar Ravi The Beast Akbar1990 Police Public Senior Inspector Shah Nawaz Khan Haar Jeet Shera Shamshera Shankar1991 Kurbaan Inspector Suraj Singh Yeh Aag Kab Bujhegi Ranveer Singh Vishkanya Forest Officer Vikram Singh1992 Dil Aashna Hai Rai Bahadur Digvijay SinghYalgaar Raj Pratap Singhal Beyond Justice Moulet Lambu Dada Lambu Dada1993 Kshatriya Police Officer Thakur Ganga Singh Yugandhar Colonel Kanir1994 Salaami Captain Rehmat Khan Lie Down with Lions Kabir The Maharaja's Daughter Chandragupta1995 OP Centre Abdul Fazawi Kismat Rajan Aatank Hi Aatank Police Inspector1998 Mashamal – Ritorno al Deserto Tahar Id Bran1999 Kohram Brigadier Bedi2001 The Lost Empire Friar Sand2002 Kranti Mahendra Pratap Rana Maine Dil Tujhko Diya Mr. Verma (Ayesha's Father)2003 Talaash Chhote Pathan The Hero: Love Story of a Spy Mr. Zakaria2004 Father Karl (Father & Violinist) Rudraksh Pandit Ved Bhushan Asambhav Kismat Raj MaliyaRoundtrip Tolstoj (Italian film) Main Hoon Na General Amarjeet Bakshi2005 Bewafaa Ambarkant VermaTaj Mahal: An Eternal Love Story Emperor Shah Jahan2006 Do Raha Jaanleva Rakesh Khullar A All About Her Take 3 GirlsMo2008 Showman 2009 Blue Captain Jagat Malhotra2010 Kites Bob Grover2011 Yaara O Dildaara Karam Singh Sandhu2012 AravaanTamil film Chakravyuh Mahanta, an industrialist and negotiator for the government2015 Dilwale Dev Malik Anarkali Jaffer Imam2016 Teraa Surroor Afzal A. Khan Mohenjo Daro Maham2017 Gautamiputra Satakarni Nahapana Edict of Expulsion 1492 Sultan BayezidPaisa Vasool RAW Chief2018 Jaane Kyun De Yaaron SheraSaheb, Biwi Aur Gangster 3Maharaja Hari Singh 2023 Shaakuntalam Kashyapa Maharshi 2024 Berlin Buraue Chief2025Aachari BaaBrijesh MalhotraHari Hara Veera MalluShahjahan 2026 Koragajja
Television TV show title Release year Status Character Sandokan 1976 European TV miniseries SandokanLa tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa! 1977 European TV miniseries SandokanDynasty 1982 TV series Farouk AhmedGeneral Hospital 1983 TV series RamaKnight Rider November 1985 TV series VasconeDynasty 1986 TV series Farouk Ahmed On Wings of Eagles 1986 TV series MohammedOne Life to Live 1986 TV series Colonel Carlos DemitriThe Days and Nights of Molly Dodd May 1987 TV series Bill 1991 TV miniseries KammamuriDesert Law 1991 TV series Moulet Beni-ZairThe Bold and the Beautiful September 1994 TV series Prince Omar Maharaja's Daughter 1994 TV series ChandraguptaHighlander: The Series 20 November 1995 TV series Kamir Bible Ki Kahaniya