Sugith Varughese

Sugith Varughese
Born (1957-04-25) 25 April 1957 (age 69)
Cochin, Kerala, India
Occupations
  • Actor
  • writer
  • director
Years active1983–present

Sugith Varughese (born 25 April 1957) is an Indian actor, writer and director.

Early life and education

Varughese was born in Cochin, Kerala, India, into a Syriac Saint Thomas Christian family. His family moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, when he was a child, when his neurosurgeon father obtained a professional appointment there.

Varughese began university studies at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon with a double major in pre-medicine and drama. He continued on to an undergraduate degree in drama at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and a Master of Fine Arts at York University in Toronto. He went on to write, act in and direct film and television productions in Canada and the United States, and was accepted to attend the Canadian Film Centre as a writer-director. As a director, he has been nominated for and won several Canadian film and television and international film festival awards. He also holds a black belt in karate.

Career

Actor

Television

Varughese made his screen debut on television in 1983, and was nominated for an ACTRA Award for his first role in the CBC-TV movie, Best of Both Worlds. Some of his other television movie roles include the Transcorp Reporter in Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (1984), and Patal in Solar Attack (2006).

In television series, Varughese was a regular as Aftab in the CBC-TV comedy An American in Canada (aka Frostbite in Australia) for which he received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Ensemble Performance. Other recurring roles include Palash on OMNI TV's nighttime soap opera Metropia, Faisal on Little Mosque on the Prairie, Tariq Barr on the Starz series The Girlfriend Experience, Mr. Mehta on Kim's Convenience, David Paster for three episodes of The Expanse (2021), and Aajay Singh on the CTV series Transplant. His television guest appearances include the crime-fighting series Counterstrike (1992), the action/crime drama Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (1993),[citation needed] the film-based thriller F/X: The Series (1996),[citation needed] the adventure series Veritas: The Quest (2003), and a role as the informant on 72 Hours: True Crime (2004).[citation needed]

Film

Some of his theatrical film appearances include the psychological slasher Orphan (2009), and the science fiction film Mission to Mars (2000).

Theatre

Varughese's stage roles and venues include the following.

  • Estelle Singerman (Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company)
  • The Wrong Bashir (Crow's Theatre)
  • The Men in White (Factory Theatre)
  • Animal Farm (Soulpepper Theatre)
  • Little Pretty and the Exceptional (Factory Theatre) for which he was nominated a Dora award for Outstanding Performance-male
  • The Postman (Panamania) (also co-writer)
  • The Container (Summerworks)
  • The Post Office (Pleiades Theatre)
  • Tideline (Factory Theatre)
  • Bhopal (Cahoots Theatre)
  • Indian Ink (CanStage / National Arts Centre).

Writer

Theatre
Film and television

As scriptwriter he worked on animated shorts, Talespinners Collection 1, Talespinners Collection 2 (NFB); Short film, Tongue Tied; TV series The Blobheads (YTV, 1 episode); IMAX documentary Lost Worlds: Life in the Balance; TV series Blue Murder (Global TV, 2 episodes); TV series Groundling Marsh (YTV, 1 episode); TV series On My Mind (TVOntario, 1 episode); Short film Mela's Lunch (NFB); Short film Kumar and Mr. Jones (Canadian Film Centre); TV series Mount Royal (CTV, 1 episode); TV movie Best of Both Worlds (CBC); TV series Fraggle Rock (Jim Henson Company) (10 episodes); TV series The Phoenix Team (CBC, 1 episode); radio drama In the Mountains (CBC Radio) based on Rohinton Mistry's novel A Fine Balance; radio drama Entry Denied (CBC Radio) which was Canada's entry in the Worldplay Festival and broadcast worldwide.

Awards

Director

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1987 Blindside Two Tone
2000 Mission to Mars 2nd Capcom
2009 Orphan ICU Doctor
2016 Remember Hotel Clerk
2018 The Joke Thief Jerry the Uber Driver
2018 Red Rover Gopi 
2019 Guest of Honor Indian Restaurant Manager
2022 Ashgrove Frank
2022 Mistletoe Time Machine Peter 
2022 A Gingerbread Christmas Ted
2023 Flipping for Christmas Mayor Kumar
2024 Super Icyclone Monty

Television

Sugith Varughese television credits
YearTitleRoleNotes Ref.
1983Best of Both WorldsAnilTV movie
1984Overdrawn at the Memory BankTranscorp ReporterTV movie
1992CounterstrikeTerroristEpisode: "Prize Package"
1992Quiet KillerSara's DoormanTV movie
1993Kung Fu: The Legend ContinuesMr. Cyril1 episode[citation needed]
1996F/X: The SeriesDirector1 episode[citation needed]
1996Toe TagsDr. Kilami, the CoronerTV movie
1997PSI Factor: Chronicles of the ParanormalIan Vethamany1 episode
1997Too Close to HomeHenry SingTV movie
1997Major CrimeJimmy ChaddhaTV movie
1997Earth: Final ConflictDr. Basi (uncredited)Episode: "Scorpions Dream"
1998Naked City: Justice with a BulletPrabadthTV movie
1998A Father for BrittanyDoctorTV movie
1998 Defenders: Taking the FirstDr CasterTV movie
1999Freak CityDr. RashdiTV movie
1999Lethal VowsDr. SinghTV movie
2001Criminal Instinct: A Colder Kind of DeathPaul GuptaTV movie
2002Get a ClueHomeless Man / Gary EicarTV movie
2002–2003An American in CanadaAftab6 episodes. AKA Frostbite (Australia)[citation needed]
2003Veritas: The QuestAuctioneer1 episode
2003, 2004Degrassi: The Next GenerationDr. Moragoda2 episodes[citation needed]
200472 Hours: True CrimeInformantEpisode: "Burning Obsession"[citation needed]
2004–2005MetropiaPalash[citation needed]
2005Kevin HillJudge Ames Stewart1 episode
2006Solar AttackPatelTV movie
2007The GatheringMale InternistTV miniseries
2007–2011Little Mosque on the PrairieFaisal19 episodes[citation needed]
2015The StrainNaren Gupta4 episodes[citation needed]
2016The Girlfriend ExperienceTariq Barr7 episodes (Season 1)
2016, 2018SuitsJudge Howard2 episodes[citation needed]
2016–2021Kim's ConvenienceMr. Mehta25 episodes[citation needed]
2018TakenEdwin Brown1 episode
2018ImpostersDr. Robert John1 episode
2020–2024TransplantAajay Singh29 episodes
2021The ExpanseDavid Paster3 episodes[citation needed]
2022Scentsational ChristmasJamarTV movie
2025Law & Order Toronto: Criminal IntentLewis Jenkins1 episode[citation needed]
2025Late BloomerRichard Matthias1 episode[citation needed]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Varughese," also sometimes spelled "Varghese" and "Verghese" and variously pronounced, is Syriac-Malayalam for "George"

References

  1. 1 2 Chhabra, Aseem (18 May 2001). ""I Didn't Want To Be Invisible."". Rediff.com. Retrieved 28 September 2007.
  2. 1 2 Lima, Paul. "The Writer As Warrior: Sugith Varughese". The W Files. Writers Guild of Canada. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
  3. 1 2 Easterbrook, Ian K.; Waterman MacLean, Susan, eds. (1996). Canada and Canadians in Feature Films: A Filmography, 1928-1990. University of Guelph: Canadian Film Project. pp. 163, 508. ISBN 9780889554153. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  4. 1 2 "American Playhouse: Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (TV)". The Paley Center for Media. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "Sugith Varughese: Filmography". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 27 January 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "Sugith Varughese". Apple TV+. Apple, Inc. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Sugith Varughese". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media / NBCUniversal. Retrieved 31 August 2025.
  8. 1 2 Monush, Barry; Willis, John, eds. (April 2002). Screen World. Vol. 52 (2001 ed.). Bloomsbury Academic. p. 29. ISBN 9781557834782. Retrieved 22 July 2025.
  9. ↑ Writing at the Intersection: The Diaspora Crosswalk. Diaspora Dialogues Archived 18 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 29 September 2007.
  10. ↑ Best Prices.com. Where Is Here? : A CBC Radio Drama Anthology. Retrieved 29 September 2007. [dead link]