Kaizaad Kotwal

 

Dr KAIZAAD KOTWAL is an Emmy Award-winning art director from the U.S. Kaizaad is an actor, director, producer and designer with over 160 productions to his credit in India, the U.S. and elsewhere.

 

Kaizaad is multifaceted artiste who has also taught theatre, film and media studies in the U.S. for over 20 years and the recipient of several prestigious teaching awards in the U.S. He got his Master’s degree from The Ohio State University with a focus on Post-Colonial and Feminist performance in the theatre of India, Nigeria and South Africa. And his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in film, theatre and media studies with a dissertation on Virtual Reality Technologies in Media and Entertainment.

 

Kaizaad recently made his Bollywood debut in Sudhir Mishra’s film Inkaar, co-starring across Arjun Rampal and Chitrangda Singh. Later this year he will be seen in the international film about Mother Teresa called The Letters. You also saw him with Michael Douglas and Topher Grace in the multiple Oscar-winning film Traffic directed by Steven Soderbergh. He has also appeared in Simpatico with Sharon Stone, Jeff Bridges, Nick Nolte and Albert Finney. He had a starring role as the villainous Parvesh in Green Card Fever and a supporting role in Dead Letters.

 

BELOW THE BELT - a short film he wrote, produced and directed - was selected for the New York New Film Festival, The Mix Mexico International Film Festival, and the Oregon Film Festival where it won the award for Best Experimental Film. Last year Kaizaad received the Karmaveer Chakra Award in Delhi for his work in areas of social justice and trying to combat and end violence against women and girls.

 

In recent years he has been on the speaking circuit across India, addressing these fraught issues and their even more elusive solutions.