Mohamed Akbar Kurtha was born on 30 August 1970 in
St. Pancras, London. He is of Indian descent and his parents were
first generation immigrants. Kurtha made his acting debut in the 1993 film
Bhaji on the Beach, in which he played the role of Manjit. In 1995, he embarked on his first television acting roles, appearing in episodes of
The Tomorrow People and
One for the Road. The following year, Kurtha appeared in the
ITV crime drama
Thief Takers. In 1997, he appeared in the film
My Son the Fanatic as Farid. In 2000, Kurtha portrayed Samuel Kahn in the film
Esther Kahn, before joining the original cast of the
BBC medical soap opera
Doctors as
Dr. Rana Mistry. After leaving
Doctors in its
second series, he went on to appear in
Lloyd & Hill,
Casualty,
Keen Eddie,
EastEnders and
Waking the Dead. In 2005, Kurtha appeared in the film
Syriana as Prince Meshal Al-Subaai and as Mak Dabb in an episode of
Holby City. Kurtha has since maintained a steady acting career, appearing in drama series including
Liar and
Mars. He has also appeared in several radio plays including
Mary Something Takes the Veil and ''Primo Levi's The Periodic Table
and worked as a production assistant on films including Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, The Midnight Sky and F9''. ==Filmography==