Utkarsh Ambudkar

Utkarsh Ambudkar (/ˈʊtkɑːrʃ æmˈbʊdkɑːr/ UUT-karsh am-BUUD-kar;[1] born December 8, 1983), also known by his stage name UTK the INC, is an American actor, rapper and singer.

Utkarsh Ambudkar
Utkarsh Ambudkar in White Famous in 2017
Born (1983-12-08) December 8, 1983
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Other names
  • UTK the INC
  • UTK
Alma materTisch School of Arts
Occupation
  • Actor
  • rapper
  • singer
Years active2004–present

Early life

He was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in the suburbs where his parents (who emigrated from India in the 1980s) were research scientists at the National Institutes of Health. He starred in comedy roles at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland, and he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 2004.[2][3][4][5]

Career

He is a former VJ for MTV Desi. He has appeared in the comedy film Pitch Perfect as the character Donald, and in the television shows The Mindy Project and The Muppets.[6] He was set to star in the Fox series, Eat, Pray, Thug[7] but the show was not picked up.[8] Ambudkar originated the role of Aaron Burr in the developmental readings of Hamilton.[2][9] Utkarsh was also seen in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign Force Grey: Giant Hunters and Force Grey: Lost City of Omu, hosted by Matthew Mercer. In that, he played the character "Hitch", a rogue with a nefarious past. He formerly played Raj on the sitcom Brockmire.

He was a member of the musical group 'The Beatards'.

Utkarsh has appeared in several Youtube sketch comedy skits including the comedy groups College Humor and Key and Peele.

He played Skatch, a con artist, in a deleted scene of the 2020 Disney live-action remake of Mulan.[10] Around that time, he appeared in Disney's Godmothered, and will have a role in the action comedy Free Guy.[11][12]

Since 2005, Ambudkar has been a part of hip-hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme under the name UTK the INC.[2] As part of the group, he participated in the limited television series for Pivot in 2014[13] and made his Broadway debut in the group's self-titled show on October 2, 2019.[14] He played Jern in the 2019 film Brittany Runs a Marathon.

In 2020, Ambudkar debuted as the mongoose Chikku in the Disney Junior animated series Mira, Royal Detective.

Discography
  • The Gold Tusk EP (2006)
  • Members Only EP (2012)[15]
  • Vanity (2019)
  • Petty (2019)

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Rocket Science Ram
2008 Last Call Nikash
2012 Pitch Perfect Donald
2015 Freaks of Nature Parminder
2016 Ride Along 2 Amir
2016 Barbershop: The Next Cut Raja
2017 Basmati Blues Rajit
2018 Blindspotting Rin
2018 Game Over, Man! Bae Awadi
2019 Brittany Runs a Marathon Jern Dahn
2020 Mulan Skatch Scene deleted
2020 The Broken Hearts Gallery Max Vora
2020 Godmothered Grant
2021 Marry Me Coach Manny Post-production
2021 Free Guy Mouser Post-production

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2006; 2010 The Electric Company UTK; Harry 2 episodes
2011 Danni Lowinski Rasoul Television film
2012 Freestyle Love Supreme UTK Television film
2013 The Mindy Project Rishi Lahiri 10 episodes
2016 The Simpsons Jay (voice) Episode: "Much Apu About Something"
2016 The Muppets Pizza 3 episodes
2017 White Famous Malcolm 10 episodes
2017 The Problem with Apu Himself Documentary
2018 Bartlett Sanjay Kahn 4 episodes
2018–2020 Brockmire Raj 5 episodes
2018–2020 Harvey Street Kids Fredo (voice) 17 episodes
2020 Mira, Royal Detective Chikku (voice) Main cast
2020 Central Park — Songwriter: "The Park is Mine" (with Rafael Casal)[16]

Stage
Year Title Role Notes
2004 History of the Word Ali Performances: Crossroads Theatre (October 16–24, 2004)[17][18]
2005 The Me Nobody Knows Performer Staged Reading
Performances: Vineyard Theatre (January 20–21, 2005)[19]
2005 The Snow Queen Kay Performances: Urban Stages (December 11, 2005 – January 15, 2006)[20][21]
2007 History of the Word Ali Performances: Washington Irving High School (February 27 – March 3, 2007) &
LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (March 7–10, 2007)[22][23][24]
2008 Rafta, Rafta... Etash Tailor Original Off-Broadway Cast
Performances: Acorn Theater/The New Group (April 18 – June 21, 2008)[25][26]
2008 Animals Out of Paper Suresh Original Off-Broadway Cast
Performances: McGinn/Cazale Theatre (August 4–24, 2008)[27][28]
Nominated—Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play (2009)[29]
2009 Dov and Ali Ali Original Off-Broadway Cast
Performances: Cherry Lane Theatre (June 5–27, 2009)[30][31]
2010 The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Vigneshwar Paduar Original Off-Broadway Cast (Understudy)[32]
Performances: Second Stage Theatre
2012 Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want to Kill
Us and How We Learn to Love Them		 Rahim Original Off-Broadway Cast
Performances: Second Stage Theatre (September 21 – November 4, 2012)[33][34][35]
2019 Freestyle Love Supreme Himself Original Off-Broadway Cast
Performances: Greenwich House Theater (January 30 – March 2, 2019)[36][37][38]
2019–2020 Freestyle Love Supreme Himself Original Broadway Cast
Performances: Booth Theatre (September 13, 2019 – January 12, 2020)[39][40]

References
  1. "Let's Talk About Me, Baby with Utkarsh Ambudkar". Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  2. Caramanica, Jon (2019-09-26). "Utkarsh Ambudkar Finally Gets His Broadway Shot in 'Freestyle Love Supreme'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  3. Marks, Peter (September 26, 2019). "How chill can Broadway get? Lin-Manuel Miranda and company throw down some 'Freestyle Love' to find out". The Washington Post.
  4. Williams, Elizabeth (November 16, 2000). "A Comedy That'll Slay You". The Washington Post.
  5. Wilcher, Joel (March 29, 2001). "An 'Anything' With Everything". The Washington Post.
  6. Peitzman, Louis (8 January 2013). ""Pitch Perfect" Breakout Utkarsh Ambudkar Takes On "The Mindy Project"". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  7. Andreeva, Nellie. "Utkarsh Ambudkar To Star In Fox Comedy 'Eat Pray Thug' Inspired By Rapper Heems". Deadline Hollywood.
  8. "Heems' TV Show Is Not Happening". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  9. Utkarsh Ambudkar and Nisha Ganatra Reveal What Has (and Hasn't) Changed in Hollywood, retrieved 2019-11-14
  10. "Disney Casts 'Mulan' Love Interest (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  11. "Ryan Reynolds strikes a pose with 'Free Guy' cast as filming ramps up in Boston | Boston.com". www.boston.com. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  12. PRODUCTION HAS BEGUN ON NEW DISNEY+ MOVIE "GODMOTHERED"
  13. "Lin-Manuel Miranda on bringing Freestyle Love Supreme to TV". EW.com. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  14. Peikert, Mark (2019-06-18). "Lin-Manuel Miranda's Freestyle Love Supreme Coming to Broadway". Playbill. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  15. "Members Only EP by UTK the INC". Bandcamp.
  16. Harnick, Chris (May 29, 2020). "Central Park Is Here to Give You New Music by Sara Bareilles, Darren Criss and Many More". E! Online. Retrieved June 6, 2020.
  17. Jones, Kenneth (October 16, 2004). "Hip-Hop History of the Word Speaks Its Mind Oct. 16–24 at Crossroads Theatre Co. in NJ". Playbill. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  18. Daniels, Robert L. (October 21, 2004). "Review: 'History of the Word'". Variety. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  19. Simonson, Robert (January 20, 2005). "Scott Schwartz to Direct New Reading of Musical The Me Nobody Knows". Playbill. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  20. Graeber, Laurel (December 30, 2005). "Ice, Ice Baby: Urban Twists on an Old-Fashioned Tale". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  21. "The Snow Queen". urbanStages. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  22. Pincus-Roth, Zachary (February 27, 2007). "Vineyard and Queens Theatre's History of the Word Begins Feb. 27". Playbill. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  23. Allen, Kerri (March 6, 2007). "History of the Word". Backstage. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  24. Cooper, Amanda. "A CurtainUp Review: History of the Word". CurtainUp. Retrieved November 22, 2015. Especially charming is Utkarsh Ambudkar as the ROTC-bound Ali, whose stage presence and timing are undeniably spot-on.
  25. "The New Group Presents 'Rafta, Rafta' Opening Tonight!". BroadwayWorld. May 8, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  26. Brantley, Ben (May 9, 2008). "No Sex, Please, We're British Indians". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  27. "Animals Out of Paper Production Information". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  28. Gates, Anita (August 5, 2008). "Works Well With Paper, Has Trouble With Life". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  29. "2009 Nominations by Category". The Lucille Lortel Awards. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  30. "Playwrights Realm's DOV AND ALI Runs Thru 6/27". BroadwayWorld. June 16, 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  31. Jaworowski, Ken (June 12, 2009). "A Jew and a Muslim, Firing Words After School". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  32. "The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Off-Broadway Cast". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  33. Hetrick, Adam (September 21, 2012). "Jon Kern's Modern Terrorism, With Utkarsh Ambudkar and Steven Boyer, Premieres at Second Stage Sept. 21". Playbill. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  34. Stasio, Marilyn (October 18, 2012). "Review: 'Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want to Kill Us and How We Learn to Love Them'". Variety. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  35. Isherwood, Charles (October 18, 2012). "Funny, but Plotting Havoc Isn't Easy, 'Modern Terrorism,' by Jon Kern, at the Second Stage Theater". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  36. Paulson, Michael (October 29, 2018). "Lin-Manuel Miranda Puts Freestyle Love Supreme Back Onstage". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  37. "Freestyle Love Supreme". Playbill. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  38. Green, Jesse (February 12, 2019). "Review: At 'Freestyle Love Supreme,' Attention Must Be Paid. Really". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
  39. "Freestyle Love Supreme". Playbill. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
  40. Clement, Olivia (November 5, 2019). "Freestyle Love Supreme Extends on Broadway". Playbill. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
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