Ajay Kalahastri Naidu (born February 12, 1972) is an American actor and director best known for playing Samir in Office Space. He also made guest appearances in The West Wing and The Sopranos. Naidu was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in the film SubUrbia.
Early life and education
Naidu was born in Evanston, Illinois. His parents came from India to the United States in 1964. He attended Evanston Township High School. He trained with the American Repertory Theater's Institute for Advanced Theater Training at Harvard University. and Waiting for Godot at TFANA directed by Arin Arbus. In 2001 Naidu's solo theatre piece Darwaza was a sold-out hit at New York's Labyrinth Theatre, where he is also a member of the company.
In 2019, Naidu was awarded the Excellence in Performing Arts Award by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.
Personal life
Naidu is married to actress Heather Burns. The couple has a son, Jaan Burns.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1986
|Touch and Go
|Louis DeLeon
|
|-
|1986
|Where the River Runs Black
|Segundo
|
|-
|1988
|Vice Versa
|Dale
|
|-
|1996
|SubUrbia
|Nazeer Choudhury
|
|-
|1997
|Once We Were Strangers
|Apu
|
|-
|1998
|Shopkeeping
|Asif
|
|-
|1998
|Montana
|Ives
|
|-
|1998
|My Giant
|Hot Dog Vendor
|
|-
|1998
|Scotch and Milk
|Armand
|
|-
|1998
|Pi
|Farrouhk
|
|-
|1999
|Office Space
|Samir Nagheenanajar
|
|-
|1999
|Chutney Popcorn
|Raju
|
|-
|2000
|You Are Here*
|Sanjay
|
|-
|2000
|Dinner Rush
|Ademir the Matre'd
|
|-
|2000
|Requiem for a Dream
|Mailman
|
|-
|2000
|More Dogs Than Bones
|Andy
|
|-
|2001
|American Chai
|Hari
|
|-
|2001
|Hannibal
|Perfume Expert
|
|-
|2001
|K-PAX
|Dr. Chakraborty
|
|-
|2002
|Bomb the System
|Moses Mundhra
|
|-
|2002
|The Guru
|Sanjay
|
|-
|2003
|Justice
|Mohammed
|
|-
|2003
|Scary Movie 3
|Sayaman
|
|-
|2003
|Bad Santa
|Hindustani Troublemaker
|
|-
|2005
|Perception
|Kamal
|
|-
|2005
|212
|Vincent
|
|-
|2005
|Waterborne
|Vikram Bhatti
|
|-
|2005
|Alchemy
|Best Man
|
|-
|2005
|Scooby-Doo in Where's My Mummy?
|Prince Omar
|
|-
|2005
|The Honeymooners
|Vivek
|
|-
|2005
|The War Within
|Naved
|
|-
|2005
|Confess
|Account Executive
|
|-
|2006
|Hiding Divya
|Divya's husband
|
|-
|2007
|Loins of Punjab Presents
|Turbanotorious B.D.G.
|
|-
|2008
|Righteous Kill
|Dr. Chadrabar
|
|-
|2008
|The Wrestler
|Medic
|
|-
|2008
|The Accidental Husband
|Deep
|
|-
|2009
|Hotel for Dogs
|ACO Jake
|
|-
|2009
|Today's Special
|Munnamia
|
|-
|2009
|Falling Up
|Paco
|
|-
|2009
|The Hungry Ghosts
|Laurence
|
|-
|2010
|Ashes
|Ashes
|Director, writer
|-
|2012
|3 Days of Normal
|Vik Donowitz
|
|-
|2013
|Gods Behaving Badly
|The Producer
|
|-
|2017
|Lost Cat Corona
|Amir
|
|-
|2017
|Crazy Famous
|Dr. Manning
|
|-
|2018
|The Kindergarten Teacher
|Nikhil Roy
|
|-
|2020
|The Dark End of the Street
|Graham
|
|-
|2020
|Antarctica
|Principal Pepp
|
|-
|2020
|Thorp
|Pat
|
|-
|2020
|The Sleepless
|Vivek
|
|-
|2021
|Americanish
|Jawad
|
|-
|2021
|The Magnificent Meyersons
|Mohammed
|
|-
|2022
|The Good Nurse
|Dr. Robert Hind
|
|-
| 2025
| Bunny
| Officer Cellestino
|
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Title
!Role
!Notes
|-
|1985
|Lady Blue
|Paquito
|Episode: "Pilot"
|-
|1985
|ABC Afterschool Specials
|Nick Santana
|Episode: "No Greater Gift"
|-
|1986
|MacGyver
|Ahmed
|Episode: "To Be a Man"
|-
|1996
|New York Undercover
|Manuel
|Episode: "Brown Like Me"
|-
|1997
|SUBWAYStories: Tales from the Underground
|Prashant
|TV movie
|-
|1998–1999
|LateLine
|Raji Bakshi
|Main role
|-
|2000
|The Sopranos
|Omar
|Episode: "Big Girls Don't Cry"
|-
|2001
|The Gene Pool
|Paul Patel
|TV movie
|-
|2001
|The West Wing
|Rakim Ali
|Episode: "Isaac and Ishmael"
|-
|2004
|Fillmore!
|Sanjay
|Episode: "Field Trip of the Just"
|-
|2004
|Monk
|Masul the Cabbie
|Episode: "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan"
|-
|2004
|The Jury
|George Edmonds
|Episode: "Pilot"
|-
|2005
|King of the Hill
|Delivery Guy / Malik
|Episode: "Mutual of Omabwah"
|-
|2008
|Strokes
|Sanjay Lall
|TV movie
|-
|2009
|Cop House
|Skip Malhotra
|TV movie
|-
|2009
|30 Rock
|Asif
|Episode: "Larry King"
|-
|2009
|Kings
|Dr. Nayar
|2 Episodes
|-
|2009
|Mercy
|Matt
|Episode: "Pulling the Goalie"
|-
|2010
|Futurestates
|Rakesh
|Episode: "Pia"
|-
|2010
|Bored to Death
|Vikram
|2 Episodes
|-
|2014
|Deadbeat
|Attendant / The Taxi Man
|2 Episodes
|-
|2014
|Manhattan Love Story
|Brian
|Episode: "Pilot"
|-
|2016
|World's End
|Karl
|TV movie
|-
|2016
|Odd Mom Out
|Doctor
|Episode: "40 Is the New 70"
|-
|2017
|Friends from College
|Howie Wexler
|Episode: "Second Wedding"
|-
|2018
|God Friended Me
|Eric
|Episode: "The Good Samaritan"
|-
|2019
|Billions
|Kulbinder Darcha
|Episode: "Arousal Template"
|-
|2019
|The Brooding Barista Jackass
|Customer
|Episode: "Hot or Not"
|-
|2020
|The Blacklist
|Mahmoud Iqbal
|Episode: "Cornelius Ruck (No. 155)"
|-
|2016–2020
|Blindspot
|Shohid Akhtar
|5 Episodes
|-
|2020
|Social Distance
|Dan
|Episode: "Delete All Future Events"
|-
|2021
|Dr. Death
|Dr. Sasani
|3 Episodes
|-
|2022
|WeCrashed
|Randall
|Episode: "This Is Where It Begins"
|-
|2022
|Uncoupled
|Raffi
|Episode: "Episode #1.5"
|-
|2024
|Elsbeth
|Martin Wali
|Recurring character
|}
References
External links
- An Interview with Ajay Naidu on Closely Observed Frames
- Ajay Naidu: Taking Up the Slack on Backstage