Utkarsh Ambudkar

Utkarsh Ambudkar (/ˈʊtkɑːrʃ æmˈbʊdkɑːr/ UUT-karsh am-BUUD-kar;[3] born December 8, 1983), also known by his stage name UTK the INC, is an Indian-American actor, rapper, and singer. He is known for his film roles including Pitch Perfect (2012), Game Over, Man! (2018), Blindspotting (2018), Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019), The Broken Hearts Gallery (2020), Free Guy (2021), Tick, Tick... Boom! (2021), and World's Best (2023). His television roles include The Mindy Project, White Famous, Never Have I Ever, and Ghosts. He recently appeared in the Hulu limited series The Dropout (2022).

Utkarsh Ambudkar
Ambudkar at the 2022 New York Comic Con
Born (1983-12-08) December 8, 1983
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Other names
  • UTK the INC
  • UTK
Alma materTisch School of Arts
Occupations
  • Actor
  • rapper
  • singer
Years active2004–present
Spouse
Naomi
​
(m. 2019)​
[1]
Children3[2]

He made his Broadway debut in Lin-Manuel Miranda's improvisational hip-hop show Freestyle Love Supreme in 2019.

Early life

Ambudkar was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He grew up in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where his parents, who had emigrated from India in the 1980s, were research scientists at the National Institutes of Health. He starred in comedy roles at Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville, Maryland, and he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 2004.[4][5][6][7]

Through his mother, Ambudkar is a descendant of the lawyer and jurist Sir Vembakkam Bhashyam Aiyangar.[8]

Career

Ambudkar is a former VJ for MTV Desi. He appeared in the comedy film Pitch Perfect as the character Donald, and in the television shows The Mindy Project and The Muppets.[9] He was set to star in the Fox series Eat, Pray, Thug[10] but the show was not picked up.[11] Ambudkar originated the role of Aaron Burr in the developmental readings of Hamilton.[4][12] He formerly played Raj on the sitcom Brockmire.[4] He played Jern in the 2019 film Brittany Runs a Marathon.[13]

He played Skatch, a con artist, in a deleted scene of the 2020 Disney live-action remake of Mulan.[14] That same year he appeared in Disney's Godmothered, and then in the 2021 action comedy Free Guy.[15][16] In 2020, Ambudkar debuted as the mongoose Chikku in the Disney Junior animated series Mira, Royal Detective. He is currently starring in the CBS supernatural sitcom Ghosts (2021).[17]

He was a member of the musical group "The Beatards."[4] Since 2005, Ambudkar has been a part of hip-hop improv group Freestyle Love Supreme under the name UTK the INC.[4] As part of the group, he participated in the limited television series for Pivot in 2014[18] and made his Broadway debut in the group's self-titled show on October 2, 2019.[19]

Ambudkar has appeared in several Youtube sketch comedy skits including the comedy groups CollegeHumor and Key & Peele. Ambudkar starred in Force Grey: Giant Hunters (2016) and Force Grey: Lost City of Omu (2017), a Dungeons & Dragons actual play web series with Matthew Mercer as the Dungeon Master, where he played the character Hitch, a rogue with a nefarious past.[20][21] In 2023, he appeared as a guest player in Critical Role's third campaign, also hosted by Mercer, as the sorcerer Bor'Dor.[22][23]

Personal life

Ambudkar married in 2019, and has three children.[1] In a 2023 interview, he revealed that he has been sober for eight and a half years. He also stated that his lack of sobriety at the time was why he was replaced as Aaron Burr in Hamilton.[24] Ambudkar is a fan of the Washington Wizards.[25]

Discography
  • The Gold Tusk EP (2006)
  • Members Only EP (2012)[26]
  • Vanity (2019)
  • Petty (2019)

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Rocket Science Ram
2008 Last Call Nikash
2012 Pitch Perfect Donald
2015 Freaks of Nature Parminder
2016 Ride Along 2 Amir
Barbershop: The Next Cut Raja
2017 Basmati Blues Rajit
2018 Blindspotting Rin
Game Over, Man! Bae Awadi
2019 Brittany Runs a Marathon Jern Dahn
2020 Mulan Skatch Deleted scene
The Broken Hearts Gallery Max Vora
Godmothered Grant
2021 Tom & Jerry Real Estate Rat Voice
Free Guy Mouser
Tick, Tick... Boom! Todd
2022 The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild Orson Voice
Marry Me Coach Manny
2023 World's Best Suresh Patel Also writer

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2006; 2010 The Electric Company UTK; Harry 2 episodes
2011 Danni Lowinski Rasoul Television film
2012 Freestyle Love Supreme UTK Television film
2013–2017 The Mindy Project Rishi Lahiri 10 episodes
2013 China, IL Aladdin Voice, episode: "Wild Hogs"
2016 The Simpsons Jay Voice, episode: "Much Apu About Something"
2016 The Muppets Pizza 3 episodes
2017 White Famous Malcolm 10 episodes
2017 The Problem with Apu Himself Documentary television film
2018 Trolls: The Beat Goes On! Master Controll Episode: "Big Poppy"
2018 Bartlett Sanjay Kahn 4 episodes
2018–2020 Brockmire Raj 5 episodes
2018–2020 Harvey Street Kids Fredo, Teen Boy, Tiny Duck Voice, 17 episodes
2020 Mira, Royal Detective Chikku, Male Judge, Train Engineer, Engineer, Passenger, Uncle Voice, main role
2020 Central Park — Songwriter: "The Park Is Mine" (with Rafael Casal)[27]
2021-2023 Never Have I Ever Mr. Kulkarni Recurring (season 2-4)
2021 Blindspotting Niles Turner Guest Star (season 1, episode 8)
2021 Robot Chicken Aang, Sora, Xenomorph Student #1 Voice, episode: "May Cause Numb Butthole"
2021–present Ghosts Jay Arondekar Main role[28]
2021 Special Ravi 3 episodes
2022 The Dropout Rakesh Madhava Recurring
2023 Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Anand Voice, recurring role
2023 Celebrity Jeopardy! Himself Contestant
2024 Avatar: The Last Airbender King Bumi Recurring[29]

Web
Year Title Role Notes
2016 Force Grey: Giant Hunters Hitch Main role; 6 episodes[30][20]
2017–2018 Force Grey: Lost City of Omu Main role; 20 episodes[31][21]
2023 Critical Role (campaign three) Bor'Dor Dog'Son Guest role; 5 episodes[22][23]

Theatre
Year Title Role Venue Ref.
2004 History of the Word Ali Crossroads Theatre [32][33]
2005 The Me Nobody Knows Performer Staged Reading, Vineyard Theatre [34]
2005 The Snow Queen Kay Urban Stages [35][36]
2007 History of the Word Ali Washington Irving High School
LaGuardia Performing Arts Center		 [37][38][39]
2008 Rafta, Rafta... Etash Tailor Acorn Theater/The New Group, Off-Broadway [40][41]
2008 Animals Out of Paper Suresh McGinn/Cazale Theatre, Off-Broadway [42][43]
2009 Dov and Ali Ali Cherry Lane Theatre, Off-Broadway [44][45]
2010 The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity Vigneshwar Paduar Second Stage Theatre, Off-Broadway [46]
2012 Modern Terrorism, or They Who Want to Kill
Us and How We Learn to Love Them		 Rahim Second Stage Theatre, Off-Broadway [47][48][49]
2013 Hamilton Aaron Burr Vassar College, Workshop [50]
2019 Freestyle Love Supreme Himself Greenwich House Theater, Off-Broadway [51][52][53]
2019–20 Booth Theatre, Broadway [54][55]

References
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  2. "Instagram". Archived from the original on 2023-04-25. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
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  4. Caramanica, Jon (2019-09-26). "Utkarsh Ambudkar Finally Gets His Broadway Shot in 'Freestyle Love Supreme'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  5. Marks, Peter (September 26, 2019). "How chill can Broadway get? Lin-Manuel Miranda and company throw down some 'Freestyle Love' to find out". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  6. Williams, Elizabeth (November 16, 2000). "A Comedy That'll Slay You". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  7. Wilcher, Joel (March 29, 2001). "An 'Anything' With Everything". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 31, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2020.
  8. Mathai, Kamini (February 14, 2020). "Utkarsh Ambudkar, rapper who stole the show at Oscars, has a Chennai connection". The Times of India. Mumbai. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  9. Peitzman, Louis (8 January 2013). ""Pitch Perfect" Breakout Utkarsh Ambudkar Takes On "The Mindy Project"". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on 21 July 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  10. Andreeva, Nellie (28 September 2015). "Utkarsh Ambudkar To Star In Fox Comedy 'Eat Pray Thug' Inspired By Rapper Heems". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
  11. "Heems' TV Show Is Not Happening". Pitchfork. 20 October 2016. Archived from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  12. "Utkarsh Ambudkar and Nisha Ganatra Reveal What Has (and Hasn't) Changed in Hollywood", Spotify, 2 February 2019, archived from the original on 2023-05-27, retrieved 2023-09-27
  13. N'Duka, Amanda (November 22, 2017). "Jillian Bell To Star In 'Brittany Runs A Marathon'; Michaela Watkins, Utkarsh Ambudkar & Lil Rel Howery Also Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 22, 2018. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
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  50. {[cite news| title=Who Is Utkarsh Ambudkar, the Guy Who Just Freestyle Rap Recapped the Oscars?| url=https://www.thewrap.com/who-is-utkarsh-ambudkar-the-guy-who-just-freestyle-rap-recapped-the-oscars/%7C first=Tim| last=Baysinger| date=February 9, 2020| website=TheWrap| access-date=2023-09-27| df=mdy-all}}
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