Hemanth Rao

Born in Hyderabad, India, Hemanth's family moved to Bombay in 1980. There he studied in school, taking part in dramatics at early age. Having excelled in Speech & Drama at the Trinity College of London examinations, his drama teacher soon cast him in the school productions * starting with Tea-house of the August Moon, as Sgt. Gregovich. His performance as Juan the Mexican about to be executed in one of the school plays won his team the best production award. His acting improved with performances as Bagheera, in the Jungle Book and finally as the Pharaoh, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph & The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. With these performances, he was chosen by Rick McCallum (Exec Producer * Star Wars, and Young Indiana Jones Chronicles) and Deepa Mehta (director) to star as the young philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurthy, in the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. In the Benaras 1910 episode, he plays a role where he teaches the young Indi all about religion, and God. Wanting to pay more attention to his education, Hemanth got a scholarship to study at the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales on the Prince of Wales Scholarship. Here he also became a Surf lifeguard. He went on to complete his degree in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech in Atlanta in 2000, and moved back to Bombay where his family firm is building a port for the largest container and bulk ships.