Ranjit was born and raised in
Mumbai in a family with a theatre background, where he received his early education at
Campion School, Mumbai, and started his acting career. His father is from a
Gujjar background, while his mother,
Pearl Padamsee, was of partial
Jewish descent on her mother's side, but remained
Christian during her life. He made his film debut in
Basu Chatterjee's
Khatta Meetha, following which he played prominent parts in
Hindi comedy classics such as
Basu Chatterjee's
Baton Baton Mein (1979) and
Hrishikesh Mukherjee's
Khubsoorat (1980). Thereafter, he moved to the United States in the early 1980s. He wrote the screenplay and acted in
Sam & Me (directed by
Deepa Mehta), which won an honorable mention at Cannes in 1991. He was a guest star in
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and had appeared in two seasons of
The Office and
Prison Break.
Sanjay Gupta, who worked with Chowdhry on the film
Kaante, tweeted that his performances were a joy and "KHATTA MEETHA is my favourite." ==Personal life==