Kavi Raz

Kavi Raz

Born: January 1, 1953
in Punjab, India
​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kavi Raz is an Indian-born British actor, writer, director and producer. Born in Punjab, Raz left India at a young age for the United Kingdom, where he grew up. He acquired national prominence as an exceptional hockey player in the Midlands.

He attended university in the San Francisco Bay area. Raz was a founder and artistic director of The Wandering Players Theater Company. The Company staged several World and US premieres of plays from India. Western audiences were exposed to the works of Rabindranath Tagore for the first time, in addition to plays like Sakharam Binder and Shakuntala. This was the first professional South Asian theatre company in the USA.

In the mid-seventies, Raz arrived in Hollywood: a career as an actor was unheard of at a time when roles for South Asian actors in Hollywood television shows and films were limited. Raz had been quoted: “People, especially friends and relatives scoffed at the idea of my becoming an actor. They thought it was a passing fancy and would soon be over. But no, I had a dream and take what it may I journeyed on to make my dream a reality.”

He became the first ever South Asian actor to be signed on as a regular in a major TV series, St Elsewhere. He was a cast member for the first two seasons of the medical drama, and after being let go continued to appear on a recurring basis.

Raz has appeared in over 200 plays, TV shows and films, including guest appearances on The A-Team, M*A*S*H and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

In 1978, Raz founded the production company, K.R. Films Hollywood. Its debut, Lehren - a television weekly variety series for the Asian audience - was shown throughout the United States and Canada. In 1988, K.R. Studios was built in Granada Hills. Housing several buildings including the main studio, it has state-of-art equipment for film and television productions, as well as a multi-track recording facility for post production and recording needs. The studio is now home to many award winning producers, writers and directors engaged in the production of commercials, TV programmes, music videos and films.

Raz began his career as a filmmaker with The Gold Bracelet, a movie about a Sikh man faced with the realities of post-9/11.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Kavi Raz, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Movies for Kavi Raz...

Title: Expats
Character: Daleep
Released: January 25, 2024
Type: TV
Set against the complex tapestry of Hong Kong residents, a multifaceted group of women sets off a chain of life-altering events that leaves everyone navigating the intricate balance between blame and accountability.
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Sarabha
Title: Sarabha
Character: Sohan Singh Bhakna
Released: November 3, 2023
Type: Movie
Young revolutionary Kartar Singh Sarabha fights for Indian Independence in the early 1900s.
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The Black Prince
Title: The Black Prince
Character: Beggar
Released: July 21, 2017
Type: Movie
The Black Prince follows the story of the last Sikh Maharaja — the son of the powerful ruler Ranjit Singh — who was placed on the throne at the age of five, after the death of his father. In 1849, the young prince was removed from the throne and eventually sent off to England. His attempts to return to India and reclaim his kingdom were subsequently thwarted by the British.
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Tie the Knot
Title: Tie the Knot
Character: Mr. Mehta
Released: May 4, 2016
Type: Movie
When an American woman takes an impromptu journey to Mumbai too get away from her overbearing mother, she befriends an Indian woman striving to balance her family's culture with modern day demands. What ensues is an ethnic and generational mash-up that will leave audiences enthralled at the calamity of old-school traditions and contemporary lifestyle.
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I Am Singh
Title: I Am Singh
Character: Ranjit Singh - Ranveer's Father
Released: January 1, 2011
Type: Movie
Neo-Nazis and bigoted police oppress and target vulnerable Sikhs & Asians in post 9-11 America.
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Stiletto
Title: Stiletto
Character: Store Owner
Released: April 29, 2008
Type: Movie
The seemingly random killings of an assassin puzzle her former lover, a wealthy Greek crime boss whose organization is jeopardized by his love for her, and the detective following her rising body count
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The Gold Bracelet
Title: The Gold Bracelet
Character: Arjun Singh
Released: January 1, 2008
Type: Movie
When tragedy strikes on 9/11, Arjun Singh (Kavi Raz) and his family -- devout Sikhs who emigrated from India to the suburbs of Los Angeles -- suddenly find themselves as targets of prejudice and discrimination. Trying to distance themselves from terrorists, they explain to once-friendly neighbors how their Sikh culture is nothing like Muslim extremism, but their words largely fall on deaf and suspicious ears. Archana Puran Singh co-stars.
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Title: Ugly Betty
Character: Clerk
Released: September 28, 2006
Type: TV
Betty Suarez is smart, tough and tenacious, but also sensitive and loving. She hopes these skills will help her to get a job within the Meade Publishing Corporation. The fact that she isn’t traditionally attractive initially keeps her from getting hired by fashion bible, Mode. The magazine, however, is in flux, with power-hungry executives vying for dominance. Hoping to control the situation, the publisher gives his inexperienced son, Daniel, the position of Editor-in-Chief. He hires Betty as Daniel’s assistant after catching him in a compromising position with his secretary on his first day on the job. After a tough start, in which Daniel tries to force Betty into quitting by treating her terribly, he realizes her worth and the two pair up to be an effective team.
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Big River
Title: Big River
Character: Ali
Released: January 20, 2006
Type: Movie
Soon after he lands in America, Ali, a Muslim man from Pakistan, begins his search for his estranged wife, Nadia. On his journey, Ali meets with Teppei, a Japanese traveller hitchhiking his way across America, and Sarah, a local trailer park girl, who help him in his search. The three travellers succeed in finding Nadia, who, to Ali’s dismay, is living a new life in Phoenix with another man. Ali spends the rest of his stay in America with Teppei and Sarah, anxiously wondering where his life is leading. In the brief time they are together, the three companions commit to helping one another. Ali, Teppei and Sarah begin a new journey, to find their own individual identities and in the process they find each other. Big River is a road movie, a tale about the borderless realm of friendship and its ability to transcend culture.
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Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
Title: Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World
Character: Translator
Released: January 20, 2006
Type: Movie
To improve its relations with Muslim countries, the United States government sends comedian Albert Brooks to south Asia to write a report on what makes followers of Islam laugh.
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Title: House
Character: Driver
Released: November 16, 2004
Type: TV
Dr. Gregory House, a drug-addicted, unconventional, misanthropic medical genius, leads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton–Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in New Jersey.
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Title: Crossing Jordan
Character: Dr. Singh
Released: September 24, 2001
Type: TV
Crossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that stars Jill Hennessy as Jordan Cavanaugh, M.D., a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
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Storm in the Afternoon
Title: Storm in the Afternoon
Released: December 12, 1998
Type: Movie
"What's life without a dream?" Starting from the premise "What's life without a dream", STORM in the AFTERNOON tells the story of four people caught at the crossroads of changing social and cultural mores. The ethos of an ethnic immigrant identity is examined against the backdrop of the mythical "American melting pot."
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Title: Mowgli: The New Adventures of the Jungle Book
Released: February 7, 1998
Type: TV
Mowgli: The New Adventures of the Jungle Book is an American live action series adapted from the Japanese Jungle Book Shōnen Mowgli series
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Title: Chicago Hope
Released: September 18, 1994
Type: TV
Chicago Hope is an American medical drama television series, created by David E. Kelley. It ran on CBS from September 18, 1994, to May 4, 2000. The series is set in a fictional private charity hospital in Chicago, Illinois. The show is set to return in the fall of 2013 on TVGN in reruns.
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All I Want for Christmas
Title: All I Want for Christmas
Character: Cabbie #2
Released: November 8, 1991
Type: Movie
Siblings Ethan and Hallie O'Fallon plot to get their divorced parents back together in time for Christmas.
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Title: Home Improvement
Character: Maitre D'
Released: September 17, 1991
Type: TV
The daily trials and tribulations of handyman Tim Taylor, a TV show host raising three boys with help from his loyal co-host, domineering wife, and unseen neighbor.
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Title: The New Adam-12
Character: Mustafa Hafiz
Released: September 24, 1990
Type: TV
The New Adam-12 is a syndicated revival of the 1968–1975 series of the same name. Like the original, this program focused on the daily jobs and lives of two police officers whose patrol car is designated "Adam-12". This time, the officers assigned to Adam-12 were Matt Doyle and his partner Gus Grant.
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Pet Sematary
Title: Pet Sematary
Character: Steve Masterton
Released: April 21, 1989
Type: Movie
After the Creed family's cat is accidentally killed, a friendly neighbor advises its burial in a mysterious nearby cemetery.
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Shooter
Title: Shooter
Released: September 11, 1988
Type: Movie
"Shooter," aka Matt Thompson aka Gruwald is a photographer in 1967 Saigon, Vietnam. Working out of a news agency for a major magazine, Thompson gets involved in the lives of the soldiers he meets and "shoots." There's Ngoc, the Vietnamese photo lab tech; Klause, a German photographer swiping Buddhas; Rene, a French photographer who carries an AK-47; Stork, Matt's superstitious roommate who is also a photographer; Rizzo, the irascible editor; Lan, an American-educated Vietnamese reporter and Tracey an embassy worker who is Matt's former flame.
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The Night Train to Kathmandu
Title: The Night Train to Kathmandu
Character: Prof. Dewan Godbothe
Released: June 5, 1988
Type: Movie
A young girl leaves for Nepal with her parents and brother. She is unhappy to leave her home at first, but soon isn't when she meets a handome young man. The story unfolds into a romantic and daring quest in search of the "Invisible City."
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Terror Squad
Title: Terror Squad
Character: Yassir
Released: April 1, 1988
Type: Movie
A squad of Libyan terrorists infiltrate the city of Kokomo, Indiana, with the goal of car bombing a nuclear power plant. While attempting to escape local law enforcement, a massive car chase ensues, terrorizing the entire town before the terrorists end up at the local high school and take the detention class hostage. Will they escape? Will the crafty delinquents foil their plans? Will Chuck Connors step more than two feet away from his car? Watch and find out!
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Blue Movies
Title: Blue Movies
Character: Mr. Singh
Released: February 1, 1988
Type: Movie
The "slippery" comedy is about 2 easy-living young men. They decide to make sex films. This adventurous enterprise could be a little complicated but nothing will deter them.
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The Three Kings
Title: The Three Kings
Character: Falafel Stand Worker
Released: December 17, 1987
Type: Movie
The made-for-TV film stars Jack Warden, Lou Diamond Phillips and Stan Shaw as three patients in a Los Angeles-area mental institution. Dressed as the Three Wise Men for a Christmas pageant, the trio is suddenly struck with the delusion that they are really their Biblical counterparts on a quest to find the Baby Jesus. As TV cameras grind away, the three ersatz Kings surreptitiously ride out of the gates of the asylum—on camels—and into the mean streets of LA. As the story draws to its conclusion, the three escapees find themselves providing a Christmas miracle (but not in the form of rap) for a group of homeless people on the outskirts of the city.
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Title: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Character: Singh
Released: September 28, 1987
Type: TV
Follow the intergalactic adventures of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and his loyal crew aboard the all-new USS Enterprise NCC-1701D, as they explore new worlds.
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Title: The New Adventures of Beans Baxter
Character: Dolph
Released: July 18, 1987
Type: TV
The New Adventures of Beans Baxter is an adventure/comedy television series The show revolves around the spy activities of Benjamin "Beans" Baxter Jr., a Kansas teenager who just moved with his parents and younger brother to Washington, D.C., as part of his father's reassignment as an employee of the US Postal Service. Beans witnesses his father's assassination via a bomb placed in his postal vehicle, then gets hired by the mysterious "Number Two", an agent/second-in-command of The Network, a secret spy agency. The main nemesis of The Network is the evil organization UGLI, headed by the equally evil Mr Sue and comedian Taylor Negron as his second-in-command henchman. Shortly after settling in his new hometown, Beans struck up a friendship with an all-around guy nicknamed "Woodshop" and his love life began in earnest when he later met a beautiful student nicknamed "Cake Lace". In one episode, former Miss Universe Shawn Weatherly played herself.
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Title: L.A. Law
Character: Rupesh Poondar
Released: September 15, 1986
Type: TV
L.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it contained many of Bochco's trademark features including a large number of parallel storylines, social drama and off-the-wall humor. It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s, and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights, homophobia, sexual harassment, AIDS, and domestic violence. The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff. The show was popular with audiences and critics, and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run, four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series.
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Under Siege
Title: Under Siege
Character: Saman Kadassi
Released: February 9, 1986
Type: Movie
Terrorists launch an attack against the USA. Their first strike is by a suicide squad that detonates a truckload of explosives at an army base in Washington DC. FBI probes indicate that the attack is by Arab terrorists led by Iranians. Subsequent attacks are via airplanes exploded in mid-air, crowded restaurants, and an attack on a mall. Administration cabinet heads push the President to retaliate. The director of the FBI believes that there may be more to the story than the investigation has revealed and the Secretary of Defense is the only other person urging caution.
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Title: The Colbys
Released: November 20, 1985
Type: TV
The Colbys is an American prime time soap opera, which originally aired on ABC from November 20, 1985 to March 26, 1987. Produced by Aaron Spelling, it was a spin-off of Dynasty, which had been the highest rated series for the 1984–1985 U.S. television season. The Colbys revolved around another wealthy, upper-class family, who were distant relatives of the Carringtons of Dynasty and who owned a large multi-national corporation. Intended to surpass its predecessor in opulence, the series' producers were handed an immensely high budget for the era and cast a handful of well-known movie stars among its leads, including Charlton Heston, Barbara Stanwyck, Katharine Ross and Ricardo Montalban. However, The Colbys was ultimately a ratings disappointment, and was canceled after two seasons.
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Murder: By Reason of Insanity
Title: Murder: By Reason of Insanity
Character: Dr. Honrada
Released: October 1, 1985
Type: Movie
A married couple from Poland emigrates to the U.S.,. but things don't turn out as well as they had imaged. The husband's business fails, while his wife's career really takes off. The husband, unable to cope with the pressures of his failed business, his failing marriage and the adjustments necessary to live in a completely different society, begins to take out his frustrations on his wife.
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Warning Sign
Title: Warning Sign
Character: Dr. Ramesh Kapoor
Released: August 23, 1985
Type: Movie
An accident occurs in an ultra-secret government biological weapons laboratory spreading a sinister bacteria.
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Title: Hunter
Character: Surgeon
Released: September 18, 1984
Type: TV
Hunter is an American police drama television series created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1991. However, Kramer left after the sixth season to pursue other acting and musical opportunities. In the seventh season, Hunter partnered with two different women officers. The titular character, Sgt. Rick Hunter, was a wily, physically imposing, and often rule-breaking homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. The show's main characters, Hunter and McCall, resolve many of their cases by shooting dead the perpetrators. The show's executive producer during the first season was Stephen J. Cannell, whose company produced the series.
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Title: Hardcastle and McCormick
Character: Rabin Casir
Released: September 18, 1983
Type: TV
Hardcastle and McCormick is an American action/drama television series from Stephen J. Cannell Productions, shown on ABC from 1983 through 1986. The series stars Brian Keith as Judge Milton C. Hardcastle and Daniel Hugh Kelly as ex-con and race car driver Mark "Skid" McCormick. The series premise was somewhat recycled from a previous Cannell series, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe.
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Title: The A-Team
Character: Korem
Released: January 23, 1983
Type: TV
A fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel work as soldiers of fortune while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit."
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Title: St. Elsewhere
Character: Vijay Kochar
Released: October 26, 1982
Type: TV
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series starred Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels as teaching doctors at a lightly-regarded Boston hospital who gave interns a promising future in making critical medical and life decisions.
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Beyond the Next Mountain
Title: Beyond the Next Mountain
Released: March 11, 1981
Type: Movie
The story of how the Gospel of John changed the course of history for a tribe of headhunters.
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Keefer
Title: Keefer
Character: Bakhshish (uncredited)
Released: March 16, 1978
Type: Movie
An U.S. Army colonel leads a crack group of secret agents operating behind enemy lines in occupied France during World War II.
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Title: M*A*S*H
Character: Rammurti Lal
Released: September 17, 1972
Type: TV
The 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital is stuck in the middle of the Korean war. With little help from the circumstances they find themselves in, they are forced to make their own fun. Fond of practical jokes and revenge, the doctors, nurses, administrators, and soldiers often find ways of making wartime life bearable.
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Barefoot Warriors
Title: Barefoot Warriors
Character: Manna Singh
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie
In a quaint Punjab Village in North India, events unfold upon the arrival of an American man seeking to redeem his own failures in life. He ends up fulfilling century old dreams for the village folks.
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Site
Title: Site
Character: Ronith Nanda
Released: December 31, 1969
Type: Movie
After a terrifying encounter at an abandoned government test site, a small town family man begins seeing haunting visions of a past that threatens to destroy his present.