Irshad Panjatan

Actor

Hyderabad, India

September 7, 1931

Biography

Irshad Panjatan (born September 7, 1931, in Hyderabad) is an Indian-German actor and mime. Irshad Panjatan began his artistic career in India, initially at the renowned Hindustani Theatre, where he worked as both an actor and a director. As early as the 1950s, he specialized in the art of pantomime—a discipline then scarcely known in India—drawing inspiration from figures such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Panjatan is regarded as one of the most significant pioneers of modern pantomime in India and has performed internationally with solo programs since the 1960s. Since the 1970s, Panjatan has lived in Berlin, where he ran a pantomime studio together with his wife, Ingrid, and gave numerous stage performances. From the 1990s onward, he appeared increasingly in German film and television productions. He gained widespread public recognition in 2001 for his role as the Shoshone chief "Listiger Lurch" (Cunning Newt) in Michael Herbig's film *Der Schuh des Manitu*. This was followed by roles in films such as *Kebab Connection*, *Free Rainer – Dein Fernseher lügt*, and *Iron Sky*, as well as guest appearances in television series including *Tatort*, *Der Bulle von Tölz*, *Stubbe – Von Fall zu Fall*, and *Pastewka*. In 2022, he came out of retirement to appear in the film *Träume sind wie wilde Tiger*.