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Actor

1981-04-26 · London, England · Male

16 series in the catalog

Amit Kaushik Shah (born 26 April 1981) is a British actor who was BAFTA nominated for his role as Faisal Bhatti in the AMC/BBC hit third series of Happy Valley. He is known for his roles in the ITV series Mr Bates vs The Post Office (2024) and the Channel 4 comedy-drama Crashing (2016). His films include Pain Hustlers (2023), Final Score (2018), and The Courier (2019).

Early life

Amit Shah was born in Enfield, England. Shah's parents were originally from Kenya, and his grandparents from Gujarat, India. His father is an accountant, and his mother is a health-food shop manager. Shah was cast as the lead in a school play at the age of 16. He read drama at Staffordshire University and then went on to train at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in West London. In 2003 he was given permission by the principal to graduate early so that he could begin rehearsals for Bombay Dreams, a West-End musical produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Acting career

In 2006, Shah was offered a part in The Royal Hunt of the Sun at the National Theatre; the same part that Derek Jacobi played in the original production in 1964. He stayed on at the National Theatre to perform three plays, including The Alchemist directed by Nicholas Hytner, for which he was nominated for an Ian Charleson Award. He also portrayed a principal role in The Man of Mode, alongside Tom Hardy, Rory Kinnear and Hayley Atwell.

Shah has starred in a variety of television shows since 2006. His most notable roles include Sunny in BBC One's Hospital People, Fred in Channel 4's Crashing, Torque in The Witcher for Netflix, and Faisal Bhatti in Happy Valley.

Shah's first major part in a feature film was in 2014 for The Hundred-Foot Journey in which he starred alongside Helen Mirren and Om Puri. He has since been cast in Johnny English Strikes Again, Ordinary Love, and Last Christmas. In 2025, he played a leading role in the TV series Murder Before Evensong, based on the novel by Richard Coles.