Dalip Tahil

Biography

Dalip Tahil (born Dalip Tahilramani; 30 October 1952) is an Indian film, television, and theatre actor. He is best known for his work in Baazigar (1993), Raja (1995), Hum hai rahi pyar ke (1993), and Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988).

In the UK, he appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders as Dan Ferreira, the head of the Ferreira family, from June to December 2003.

Dalip Tahilramani was born on 30 October 1952 in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India into a Sindhi Hindu family which had recently migrated from Sindh during the Partition of India.

He studied at Sherwood College in Nainital, India. After attending Aligarh Muslim University for a year, he graduated from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai.

Tahil began to appear on stage while at Sherwood College, Nainital, at the age of 10. His participation over the years in choir, elocution competitions, nativity plays, and formal and informal concerts gave him a platform to be cast in principal parts.

During his senior years at school, he won the Kendall Cup for the best actor in two consecutive years, first as Joseph in the play My Three Angels and again as Macbeth in Shakespeare's Macbeth.

He was declared the best actor for a record third time in 1969, his final year at Sherwood College.

Director Shyam Benegal noticed Dalip and offered him a part in his first feature film Ankur in 1974. In 1980, Ramesh Sippy offered him the role of a villain in his epic production, Shaan. This was followed by a cameo in Sir Richard Attenborough's, Gandhi, in 1982.

He went on to play principal character roles of a villain or supporting role of a father, or police officer, in over 100 Bollywood films from the 1980s to 2013. He appeared in the Merchant Ivory English films The Deceivers and The Perfect Murder (1988).

On television, Tahil played roles in Sanjay Khan's television serial The Sword of Tipu Sultan and Ramesh Sippy's Buniyaad. Thereafter, Tahil worked on his first British television series, Bombay Blue (TV series).

Tahil gained national recognition across the UK when he won the role of Dan Ferreira, in the iconic BBC1 soap opera EastEnders in 2003, appearing in over 60 episodes. He made his last appearance in the episode aired on 30 December 2003.

As a result of an insufficient work permit application, Dalip had to exit the series which compelled him to appeal to the Secretary of State in the UK. Dalip was subsequently granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK in 2005.