Basdeo Panday, who played a laundryman in the movie "Nine Hours to Rama", was from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. He went to England to study law, had acted in plays in his homeland and was also a capable singer. He also acted in the movie "The Winston Affair" (1964). After making the bar he returned to his homeland where he became actively involved in workers' rights, Hindu/East Indian rights and politics, becoming a leader in the local trade Union movement and party politics. He eventually became Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (1995 - 2001).
Panday was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician, trade unionist, economist, actor, and civil servant who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001.
In 2005, he was awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
In addition to speaking English, Panday studied Hindi and he gave speeches at the Hindi FoundationTT on the importance of the language in Trinidad and Tobago.
He was the first person of Indian descent along with being the first Hindu to hold the office of Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago.
He attended New Grant Government School and St. Julien Presbyterian School. He was later enrolled in Presentation College, San Fernando.