Married to one of British television’s most decorated actresses, Rajesh Nihalani has spent more than two decades staying almost entirely out of the spotlight while his wife built one of the most celebrated careers in modern TV drama. Nihalani is best known as the husband of Archie Panjabi, the first Asian actor to win a Primetime Emmy, and as a working bespoke tailor whose own professional life remains far less documented than hers. Here’s a clear look at what’s actually known, and what isn’t, about the man behind one of Britain’s most private celebrity marriages.
Quick Facts
| Nationality | Indian (British citizenship by marriage) |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Bespoke Tailor |
| Date of Birth | May 1970 |
| Wife | Archie Panjabi |
| Children | One son and one daughter |
Biography
Rajesh Nihalani was born in India in May 1970, making him 56 years old as of 2026. His exact birth date, hometown, parents, and siblings have never been made public, and none of the biographical details about his early life or education that circulate on smaller celebrity sites can be traced back to a source that actually checks out.
Several of those sites also describe Nihalani as ethnically White. That’s inaccurate. He is of Indian descent and holds British citizenship through his marriage in addition to his Indian nationality. Beyond that, his upbringing stays private, and ThrillNG isn’t going to fill that gap with claims nobody can back up.
Career
Nihalani works as a bespoke tailor, a trade built on making garments by hand to a client’s exact measurements rather than adjusting ready-made stock. He’s widely reported online to run a London tailoring business called Imperial Tailoring, and that claim actually holds up better than most of what circulates about him. A Times of India article from September 2010, covering his theft case, identified him as the owner of Imperial Tailoring, lending the claim a genuine news source rather than just repetition across biography sites. Whether the business is still active or still his today, sixteen years later, is a separate question nobody has addressed on the record.
UK Companies House records add a different layer to his career history. Public filings show Nihalani has held five appointments across three companies since 2003, including a directorship at Stonegrove House Ltd, an active real estate management company, and an earlier one at FENZ Properties Ltd, a residents’ property management company dissolved in 2011.
One of those companies stands out. FENZ Productions Limited, an arts and literary production company, was co-registered in July 2003 by Nihalani as Secretary and Panjabi as Director, listed under her married name Archana Nihalani, which suggests it functioned as a personal service company tied to her acting work before it was dissolved in 2012. None of his five appointments are registered under the name Imperial Tailoring, though that’s not unusual for a small bespoke operation, which could easily run as a sole trader rather than a limited company and wouldn’t appear on the register either way.
There are unverified claims that he has dressed A-list actors or worked on major film productions.
Marriage to Archie Panjabi
Nihalani and Panjabi married in 1998 in an arranged marriage set up by their families, when Panjabi was 24. It’s a tradition she has said she initially resisted before warming to the match once she actually met him. Speaking to the Times of India, she described her husband as her best friend, calling him very honest and always supportive, and said no agent or publicist could ever put in the effort that someone who genuinely loves you would.
The marriage hasn’t been without controversy. Nihalani was arrested at the couple’s North London home about a week after Panjabi won her first Emmy in August 2010. According to a Times of India report from the time, he was accused of buying a camera, a digital camera memory card, and an Apple Mac laptop from a John Lewis store in Brent Cross using his credit card, then claiming the card had been stolen, rather than simply shoplifting the items. He faced up to seven years in jail if convicted and stood trial at Wood Green Crown Court starting October 11, 2010, though the outcome of the case was never made public.
For years, most reporting held that the couple had no children. That has since changed. Panjabi confirmed in a 2024 interview tied to her role in Under the Bridge that she is the mother of a son and a daughter, and her biographical record now lists two children. Neither child’s name has been made public, and the family has kept that part of their lives almost entirely out of the media.
Who Is Archie Panjabi?
Panjabi, born Archana Panjabi on May 31, 1972, in Edgware, London, is a British actress of Sindhi Hindu Indian descent. She graduated from Brunel University with a degree in management studies in 1994 and trained in ballet before building her career on screen.
Her breakout international role came as Kalinda Sharma on the CBS legal drama The Good Wife, a performance that earned her a Primetime Emmy Award in 2010 and made her the first Asian actor to win a Primetime Emmy for acting. She’s since played Nas Kamal on NBC’s Blindspot, Kendra Malley on the Global drama Departure, and Suman Virk in Hulu’s Under the Bridge. In 2025, she joined the cast of Doctor Who as the Rani, one of the show’s longest-running villains.
Net Worth
Because so little about Nihalani’s professional life can be independently verified, there’s no credible estimate of his net worth to report. Figures floating around online range from a few hundred thousand dollars to several million, but none of them are backed by a documented income source, a business filing, or a reliable report, so ThrillNG isn’t publishing a number for him.
His wife’s finances are far better documented. Archie Panjabi’s net worth is generally estimated at between $3 million and $5 million, built over a decades-long acting career highlighted by her Emmy-winning run on The Good Wife and her continued work on shows like Blindspot, Departure, and Doctor Who.
