Actor, Toby Stephens, the surprise package of Mangal Pandey - The Rising, seamlessly straddles diverse dramatic worlds.

Theatre, television and cinema…Toby Stephens – the son of actress, Dame Maggie Smith (Harry Potter’s Professor McGonagall) and the late Sir Robert Stephens – has straddled diverse dramatic worlds with effortless efficiency. In his latest avatar as Captain William Gordon, the multi-faceted actor makes a whammy impact on Bollywood’s silver screen. Playing a Scottish officer with a distinct fondness for the native culture, he proves to be the surprise package of Mangal Pandey - The Rising.

He makes his presence felt as he gulps down bhaang with his sepoy pal, Mangal, rescues a young widow from a disastrous end or passionately advocates his rebel-friend’s innocence. In a film revolving around an Indian historical figure, with a power-performer like Aamir Khan in the title role, you come away remembering ‘Captain Gordon’ with fondness and sympathy.
Not without reason though...for Toby is a well-respected man of many roles.

Interestingly, known for his ‘bad’ big screen impersonations (Die Another Day was his last appearance, as a Bond villain) and tired of the various negative roles that Hollywood was continuing to offer, Toby, in a role reversal of sorts, signed Ketan Mehta’s period flick as ‘a change and a challenge’.

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