Ankur Vikal

Biography

Ankur Vikal is an award-winning film and stage actor of Indian Origin. He was drawn to acting during his working-class upbringing in Gujarat, India, where he grew up listening to his grandfather's stories. His childhood sensitized him to the narratives around him and drew him to the power of inspiring storytelling.

He graduated from the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi, in 2000, after studying architecture at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He has worked as a multi-lingual stage actor with the Motley Theatre Company and is highly regarded among critics and theatergoers.

Ankur has played the lead in several Motley plays. His film career began in 2001 with the ground-breaking Indian film Mango Souffle. 

Ankur also played the role of "Maman" in Slumdog Millionaire, for which he received a SAG award in 2009 for Best Ensemble Cast. 

His performance as the equally frightening and charming "Maman" was praised by critics and audiences worldwide.

This was followed by Nirbhaya, a play about the gang rape on a bus in New Delhi on 16 December 2012. The play went on to win a Fringe First Award, an Amnesty Award, and a Herard's Angel Award when it opened at Edinburgh in 2013.

 It was performed in many countries around the world and was considered the most important work in Human Rights Theatre in the world that year.

He continues to do meaningful work in films, web series, and on stage.

Ankur's paternal grandfather grew up in an Orphanage in Lahore. He was a poet and Vikal was his pen name. He did not believe in religion, but worshiped nature, and taught him yoga and meditation from a very young age.

Ankur's maternal grandmother is from a royal family in Jammu and Kashmir.

Ankur studied Architecture before being chosen as a national scholar to pursue his post-graduation in Acting at the National School of Drama in New Delhi, India.