# Satya Bhabha
**Satya Bhabha** (full name Satya Sorab Bhabha) is a British-born American actor and director, known for playing Matthew Patel in *Scott Pilgrim vs. the World* (2010) and its 2023 animated series *Scott Pilgrim Takes Off*, and the lead role of Saleem Sinai in [Deepa Mehta](https://www.edgepedia.org/deepa-mehta)'s 2012 film adaptation of [Salman Rushdie](https://www.edgepedia.org/salman-rushdie)'s *Midnight's Children*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/) • [2](https://scottpilgrim.fandom.com/wiki/Satya_Bhabha) Since the late 2010s he has also worked extensively as a television director, with episodes for Apple, Showtime, Amazon, Max, Peacock, and Hulu.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/) • [3](https://www.otherswans.com/satya-bhabha)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1983, London, England, UK[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/satya-bhabha/) |
| Signature roles | Matthew Patel in *Scott Pilgrim vs. the World* (2010) and *Scott Pilgrim Takes Off* (2023); Saleem Sinai in *Midnight's Children* (2012)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/) |
| Television acting | Shivrang on *New Girl* (7 episodes), Habib on *Sense8*, and appearances on *The Good Wife*, *NCIS*, and *Key & Peele*[5](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/8086/satya-bhabha) • [6](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-249294/filmografia/) |
| Directing | Episodes of *The Big Door Prize*, *Queer as Folk* (2022), *Gossip Girl* (2021), *Prodigal Son*, *Love, Victor*, *Love Life*, *The Resident*, *Single Parents*, *The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh*, and *Boarders*[6](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-249294/filmografia/) • [3](https://www.otherswans.com/satya-bhabha) |
| Education | Yale University, theater studies; recipient of the Louis Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Arts[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/bio/) |
| Family | Son of Harvard scholars Homi K. Bhabha and Jacqueline Bhabha; married to his husband since 2016[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/bio/) |
| Theater | Founding Artistic Director of the Los Angeles company Public Assembly; has performed at The Public Theater, Signature Theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, and the Kirk Douglas Theatre[3](https://www.otherswans.com/satya-bhabha) |
## Early life and family
Bhabha was born in London in 1983 to [Homi K. Bhabha](https://www.edgepedia.org/homi-k-bhabha), a Harvard professor of Parsi (Indian Zoroastrian) heritage, and Jacqueline Bhabha, a lawyer and human rights lecturer born in Bombay to German Jewish parents who grew up in Italy.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/bio/) • [8](https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/morning-with-midnights-child/articleshow/21427050.cms) He has an older brother, Ishan, and a younger sister, Leah.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/bio/)
**A peripatetic childhood.** When he was twelve, the family moved to Chicago, where his father taught at the University of Chicago and his mother also taught; he lived there until 2001 and finished his senior year of high school in [Cambridge, Massachusetts](https://www.edgepedia.org/cambridge-massachusetts), when his parents moved to Harvard.[3](https://www.otherswans.com/satya-bhabha) In London he had attended the Anna Scher Drama School and been accepted by the [National Youth Theatre](https://www.edgepedia.org/national-youth-theatre), and he assistant-directed for companies including Shunt, The Clod Ensemble, and [The Red Room](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-red-room).[8](https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/morning-with-midnights-child/articleshow/21427050.cms)
At Yale he read theater studies, art history, and anthropology, becoming one of two undergraduates to direct a mainstage show at the University Theatre, and graduated with the Louis Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Arts.[7](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/bio/) • [8](https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/morning-with-midnights-child/articleshow/21427050.cms) [In New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/in-new-york) he created and performed *Rum and Cash (In Love & War)*, a cabaret on the Thirty Years War using a fresh arrangement of Brecht's songs from *Mother Courage*.[8](https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/morning-with-midnights-child/articleshow/21427050.cms)
## Acting career
**Early screen work.** Bhabha's first screen appearance was in *Swordswallowers and Thin Men* (2003), and he appeared as Asa Zoranj on *NCIS* that year.[2](https://scottpilgrim.fandom.com/wiki/Satya_Bhabha) • [5](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/8086/satya-bhabha) His Hollywood breakthrough came in [Edgar Wright](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgar-wright)'s 2010 cult hit *Scott Pilgrim vs. the World*, in which he played Matthew Patel, the first of the title character's seven "evil exes".[9](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2F25%2F252d5715-5c1d-4dbc-9913-c2d807e2665d.pdf) • [10](https://openthemagazine.com/cinema/recreating-bombays-child) The same year he appeared in *Fair Game*, co-starring [Sean Penn](https://www.edgepedia.org/sean-penn).[9](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2F25%2F252d5715-5c1d-4dbc-9913-c2d807e2665d.pdf)
**Midnight's Children.** Bhabha's largest acting role to date is Saleem Sinai, the narrator and protagonist of Deepa Mehta's 2012 adaptation of Salman Rushdie's Booker Prize-winning novel.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/) • [10](https://openthemagazine.com/cinema/recreating-bombays-child) He was an unlikely choice: rumors had linked Bollywood actors including [Ranbir Kapoor](https://www.edgepedia.org/ranbir-kapoor), Shahid Kapoor, and [Imran Khan](https://www.edgepedia.org/imran-khan) to the part, and Bhabha says he was not vying for it.[10](https://openthemagazine.com/cinema/recreating-bombays-child) Mehta had met him in Toronto in 2009, and months later, at a New York screening of her film *Heaven on Earth*, she announced to the audience that he would play Saleem.[10](https://openthemagazine.com/cinema/recreating-bombays-child) • [8](https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/morning-with-midnights-child/articleshow/21427050.cms) It was his first leading film role.[11](https://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-interveiw-with-satya-bhabha-on-midnight-children/20130124.htm)
Preparation was extensive. He had first read *Midnight's Children* at age ten, and the book carried family significance; his maternal uncle Cyrus Guzder appears in it as "Cyrus the Great".[8](https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/morning-with-midnights-child/articleshow/21427050.cms) To build the character he spent months in Mumbai living with his grandmother, studying Hindi and exploring the city, and traveled around India.[11](https://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-interveiw-with-satya-bhabha-on-midnight-children/20130124.htm) • [12](https://bollyspice.com/its-a-sweeping-moving-exciting-adventure-a-true-epic-satya-bhabha-tells-us-about-midnights-children/) The cast, which included mainstream Bollywood actors such as [Shriya Saran](https://www.edgepedia.org/shriya-saran), Seema Biswas, and [Anupam Kher](https://www.edgepedia.org/anupam-kher), began with a weeklong workshop in Mumbai based on the *Natya Shastra*, and the film was shot in Sri Lanka over a seventy-day schedule.[9](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2F25%2F252d5715-5c1d-4dbc-9913-c2d807e2665d.pdf) Bhabha has said the project let him explore his Parsi heritage for the first time and left him feeling more connected to India.[13](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/english/hollywood/news/midnights-children-actor-satya-bhabha-visits-mumbai/articleshow/17922736.cms) • [11](https://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-interveiw-with-satya-bhabha-on-midnight-children/20130124.htm)
**Television.** Bhabha had a recurring role as Shivrang in the second season of the Fox sitcom *New Girl*, appearing in seven episodes between 2013 and the season finale.[5](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/8086/satya-bhabha) He played Habib in the second season of the Wachowskis' *Sense8*, appeared in the Peabody Award-winning *Key & Peele*, and guest-starred as Jimal Mifsud on *The Good Wife*.[6](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-249294/filmografia/) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/) In 2023 he reprised Matthew Patel, voicing the character in the Netflix anime series *Scott Pilgrim Takes Off*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/) • [5](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/8086/satya-bhabha) His film credits also include *Miss India America* (2015), *Dude* (2018), and *Change in the Air* (2018).[4](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/satya-bhabha/)
## Directing and theater work
Since the late 2010s Bhabha has built a television directing career. His credits include episodes of *The Resident* (2018–2019), *Single Parents* (2018), *Prodigal Son* (2020–2021), *Love, Victor* (2021), *Love Life* (2021), *Gossip Girl* (2021–2022), *Queer as Folk* (2022), *The Big Door Prize* (2023–2024), *The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh* (2024), and *Boarders* (2024), for which he directed the final three episodes of the series for the BBC.[6](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-249294/filmografia/) • [3](https://www.otherswans.com/satya-bhabha) By his own count he has directed more than twenty episodes of television.[3](https://www.otherswans.com/satya-bhabha)
**Theater remains central.** He has acted at [The Public Theater](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-public-theater), the Signature Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, St Ann's Warehouse, and The New Group in New York, at [Shakespeare's Globe](https://www.edgepedia.org/shakespeares-globe) in London, and at the Kirk Douglas Theatre and Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles.[3](https://www.otherswans.com/satya-bhabha) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/) His work with Target Margin Theater included *Ten Blocks on the Camino Real* and a two-year exploration of O'Neill's *Mourning Becomes Electra*, in a deliberately cross-racial casting he defended publicly.[14](https://www.targetmargin.org/margins/at-the-bar-with-satya-bhabha-2/) He is a founding Artistic Director of Public Assembly, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit theater company in Los Angeles dedicated to reinventing community theater there, and created the experimental performance piece *TRUE STORY*, which toured Europe and the United States.[3](https://www.otherswans.com/satya-bhabha) He has also created immersive theater, including the 48-hour luxury travel adventure *The Headlands Gamble*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/)
## Music and personal life
Bhabha has played the cello since childhood and has performed internationally with symphonies, chamber ensembles, and bands; he played cello for the Los Angeles band He's My Brother She's My Sister.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/) He has been married to his husband since 2016.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/) He has described himself as more a trans-Atlantic citizen than an Indian, reflecting a childhood split between London, Chicago, and the American East Coast.[13](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/english/hollywood/news/midnights-children-actor-satya-bhabha-visits-mumbai/articleshow/17922736.cms)
## References
1. [Satya Bhabha, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/)
2. [Satya Bhabha, Scott Pilgrim Wiki](https://scottpilgrim.fandom.com/wiki/Satya_Bhabha)
3. [Satya Bhabha, Other Swans interview](https://www.otherswans.com/satya-bhabha)
4. [Satya Bhabha, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/satya-bhabha/)
5. [Satya Bhabha, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/8086/satya-bhabha)
6. [Satya Bhabha: Filmografía, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-249294/filmografia/)
7. [Satya Bhabha Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1440863/bio/)
8. [Morning with Midnight's Child, Bangalore Mirror](https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/morning-with-midnights-child/articleshow/21427050.cms)
9. [Midnight's Children press kit, Mongrel Media](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2F25%2F252d5715-5c1d-4dbc-9913-c2d807e2665d.pdf)
10. [Recreating Bombay's Child, Open Magazine](https://openthemagazine.com/cinema/recreating-bombays-child)
11. ['Felt more connected to India after Midnight's Children', Rediff.com](https://www.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/slide-show-1-interveiw-with-satya-bhabha-on-midnight-children/20130124.htm)
12. ["It's a sweeping, moving, exciting adventure", BollySpice](https://bollyspice.com/its-a-sweeping-moving-exciting-adventure-a-true-epic-satya-bhabha-tells-us-about-midnights-children/)
13. ['Midnight's Children' actor Satya Bhabha visits Mumbai, Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/english/hollywood/news/midnights-children-actor-satya-bhabha-visits-mumbai/articleshow/17922736.cms)
14. [At the bar with Satya Bhabha, Target Margin Theater](https://www.targetmargin.org/margins/at-the-bar-with-satya-bhabha-2/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 2000s onward › Surnames Be to B*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license