Nikesh Patel burst onto the scene as the broody, passionate Aafrin Dalal in the hit 2015 British Raj miniseries Indian Summers, and has since been chipping his way upwards. The 33-year-old Londoner, who graduated from Guildhall School Of Music and Drama, will next be seen in Mindy Kaling’s TV remake of the seminal Four Weddings And A Funeral, as well as Kenneth Branagh’s film adaptation of the cult young-adult fantasy fiction series Artemis Fowl. He tells us more:
ELLE: What can you tell us about the new Four Weddings And A Funeral?
Nikesh Patel: It stays very true to the spirit of the film—a group of friends navigating love and loss across four weddings and a funeral—but it’s shot through with Mindy’s distinctive voice and sense of humour.
ELLE: It’s nice to see diversity in the new cast.
NP: Mindy was very keen to tell a story that is representative of the world as it is now. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a rom-com with a cast that looks like ours, which is baffling, because the world is full of people of all shades falling in and out of love.
ELLE: What’s your character, Kash, like?
NP: Witty, kind, conflicted—it’s a brand new story with original characters…and if I tell you any more, the producers will send a hit squad after me.
ELLE: What did playing Aafrin teach you?
NP: It allowed me to explore a part of my history that I had never seen depicted in drama before. In Britain, there’s a real gap in our education about the Empire and its consequences. It’s mad that I can tell you what happened to each of Henry VIII’s wives, and yet, at school, I was taught nothing about how the Empire shaped the modern world.
ELLE: And what’s it like bringing to life a series as sensational as Artemis Fowl?
NP: It’s been a real pinch-me moment. Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench are screen and stage royalty. Ken’s enthusiasm and professionalism is inspiring, and his take on Artemis Fowl is that it should feel almost like a high-stakes thriller—albeit one set in this eye-catching fantasy world. As for Judi, I remember the first time I heard her speak on set. I don’t think audiences have ever seen her like this.
