Naseeruddin Shah
Encyclopedia
Naseeruddin Shah is an Indian / Bollywood film
Cinema of India
The cinema of India consists of films produced across India, which includes the cinematic culture of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. Indian films came to be followed throughout South Asia and...

 actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

. He is considered to be one of the finest actors of Indian cinema. In 2003, the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

 honored him with the Padma Bhushan
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...

 for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

Early life

Shah was born on 20 July 1950 in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, india
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. He is a descendant of the 19th-century Afghan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

 warlord Jan Fishan Khan
Jan Fishan Khan
Jan-Fishan Khan, born Sayyid Muhammed Shah, was a 19th century Afghan warlord who participated in the First Anglo-Afghan War and the subsequent Indian Rebellion of 1857....

, and related to the Afghan writer Idries Shah
Idries Shah
Idries Shah , also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi , was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen critically acclaimed books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.Born in India, the descendant of a...

, the famous Pakistani actor, Syed Kamal Shah , Director General of IB, Pakistan, Shah Mahboob Alam and the cricketer Owais Shah
Owais Shah
Owais Alam Shah is an English cricketer. A middle-order batsman, he played for Middlesex between 1996-2010, before joining Essex CCC in the winter of 2010. He has represented England in all forms of the games.Between 2001 and 2009, he played 71 ODIs and 17 Twenty20 Internationals...

. Naseeruddin Shah did his schooling at St. Anselm's Ajmer
St. Anselm's Ajmer
St. Anselm's Ajmer was established in 1904 by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Fortunatus Henry Caumont O.F.M.. He was born on December 10 1817 in France, and came to Ajmer to start modern education and started the school in 1904....

 and St Joseph's College, Nainital
St Joseph's College, Nainital
St Joseph's College Nainital is a day boarding and residential school in Nainital, Uttarakhand, India providing public school education. Starting from 2010 academic session, the school will also accept girls for day boarding, for classes 11 and 12.-Overview:...

. He graduated in arts from Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University
Aligarh Muslim University ,is a residential academic university, established in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan as Mohammedan Angelo-Oriental College and later granted the status of Central University by an Act of the Indian Parliament in 1920...

 in 1971 and attended National School of Drama
National School of Drama
National School of Drama is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India, established . It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and became an independent school in 1975...

 in Delhi.

He has seen success in both mainstream Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 cinema as well as in Parallel Cinema
Parallel Cinema
The Indian New Wave, commonly known in India as Art Cinema or Parallel Cinema as an alternative to the mainstream commercial cinema, is a specific movement in Indian cinema, known for its serious content, realism and naturalism, with a keen eye on the sociopolitical climate of the times...

. He also appeared in many international films, most notably playing Captain Nemo in the Hollywood comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 adaptation The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a 2003 superhero film adaptation loosely based on characters from the comic book limited series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore, who is also famous for Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell. It was released on July 11, 2003, in the...

.

His elder brother Lt. General Zameerud-din Shah
Zameerud-din Shah
Lt. General Zameerud-din Shah was the Deputy Chief of Army Staff of India .-Military Career:General Shah attended the National Defence Academy , Khadakwasla, Pune. He was commissioned with the Indian 185 Light Infantry Regiment on June 9, 1968 .He took part in the Battle of Longewala in...

 PVSM, SM, VSM, also an alumnus of St. Joseph's Nainital
St Joseph's College, Nainital
St Joseph's College Nainital is a day boarding and residential school in Nainital, Uttarakhand, India providing public school education. Starting from 2010 academic session, the school will also accept girls for day boarding, for classes 11 and 12.-Overview:...

, retired from the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...

 in early 2008 as Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Planning and Systems) and formerly commanded Dimapur based 3 Corps. He also served as Director Indian Defence Attache to Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

 from Feb 1994 -April 1997.

Career

Shah has acted in movies such as Nishant
Nishant (film)
Nishant is a 1975 Hindi crime drama film directed by Shyam Benegal, and written by noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar. The film stars Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil...

, Aakrosh
Aakrosh (1980 film)
Aakrosh is a 1980 Hindi arthouse film directed by auteur Govind Nihalani and written by renowned Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar.The film starred Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Amrish Puri in lead roles and went to win 1980 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and several Filmfare...

, Sparsh
Sparsh (film)
Sparsh is a 1980 Bollywood feature film directed by Sai Paranjpye. It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi playing the characters of a visually impaired principal and a "sighted" teacher in a School of the Blind, where both the characters fall in love with each other though soon their complexes...

, Mirch Masala
Mirch Masala
-Story:The film opens with an arrogant subedar and his soldiers rampaging through a village. The subedar has an eye for women and soon spots Sonbai on the riverbank. Sonbai is an intelligent, beautiful and strong woman. Her confidence intrigues the subedar.The film moves deeper into the village...

, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai, Trikal
Trikaal
Trikal is an Indian movie written and directed by Shyam Benegal, set in Goa during the early 1960s Period. The film starred yester years actress, Leela Naidu, in a comeback role after many decades....

, Bhavni Bhavai
Bhavni Bhavai
Bhavni Bhavai is a 1980 Gujarati film directed by Ketan Mehta. Ketan Mehta's debut film is a successful adaptation of folk idioms into cinema. The film is dedicated to Bertolt Brecht, Goscinny and to the inventor of the Bhavai, Asait Thakore, who was a Brahmin outcast and lived among the lower...

, Junoon
Junoon (1978 film)
The soundtrack features 4 songs, composed by Vanraj Bhatia, with original lyrics from Yogesh Praveen and other lyrics by Amir Khusro, Jigar Moradabadi and Sant Kabir.#"Khusro rain piya ki jaagi pee ke sang" – Jamil Ahmad...

, Mandi
Mandi (film)
Mandi is a 1983 Hindi movie directed by Shyam Benegal.The film is a satirical comedy on politics and prostitution, and stars Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil...

, Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!
Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!
Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! is a 1984 Hindi art film, made by Saeed Akhtar Mirza, based on his own story, during the Parallel Cinema period of Indian cinema....

, Ardh Satya
Ardh Satya
Ardh Satya is a 1983 film directed by Govind Nihalani, his second offering after another angst-ridden movie Aakrosh . The screenplay of both movies was by Vijay Tendulkar, the noted Marathi playwright; this one was based on the short story, 'Surya', by D.A...

, Katha, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro
This article is about the 1983 film. For the 2007 film with a similar title, see Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is a 1983 Hindi film directed by Kundan Shah and produced by NFDC...

, etc. In the very early stages of his career he acted in a film Dil Aakhir Dil Hai directed by noted director Ismail Shroff, with Rakhi where she played the character of Naseer's elder girl friend kusumji whom he was forced to marry unwillingly because he is quite younger to her(in the film). One of his most important films Masoom
Masoom
Masoom is a 1983 Indian film and Shekhar Kapur's first directorial venture. The critically acclaimed film starred Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Tanuja, Supriya Pathak and Saeed Jaffrey, as well as child actors Jugal Hansraj, Aradhana and Urmila Matondkar. The screenplay and dialogues were...

(1983) was shot at St Joseph's College, Nainital.

He became active in mainstream Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...

 cinema with the 1980 film Hum Paanch
Hum Paanch (film)
Hum Paanch is a 1980 Hindi language film directed by Bapu and produced by Boney Kapoor. The film features a huge all-star cast including Sanjeev Kumar, Shabana Azmi, Mithun Chakraborty, Nasiruddin Shah, Raj Babbar, Gulshan Grover and Amrish Puri. A young Anil Kapoor who is producer Boney Kapoor's...

. His next major success in mainstream films was the 1986 multi-starrer film Karma
Karma (film)
Karma is a 1986 Bollywood film directed by Subhash Ghai. The film reunites Subhash Ghai and Dilip Kumar after the success of their last film together Vidhaata . The film also marked the first time Dilip Kumar was paired with veteran actress Nutan.-Plot summary:When Jailer Vishwa Pratap Singh ...

where he acted alongside veteran Dilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar
Dilip Kumar , is an Indian actor and a former Member of Parliament.He lives in Pali Hill, Bandra in Mumbai, India. He is commonly known as "Tragedy King",and is described as "the ultimate method actor" by Satyajit Ray....

. Starring roles for films such as, Ijaazat
Ijaazat
Ijaazat is an acclaimed 1987 Indian Hindi film directed by Gulzar, based on a Bengali story, Jatugriha by Subodh Ghosh....

(1987), Jalwa (1988) and Hero Hiralal
Hero Hiralal
Hero Hiralal is a 1988 film directed by Ketan Mehta. It is a movie about an auto rickshaw driver who falls in love with a film actress.The movie had some good performances by the lead actors and by Saeed Jaffrey and Satish Shah in their supporting roles....

(1988) followed. In 1988 he played opposite his wife Ratna Pathak
Ratna Pathak
Ratna Pathak Shah is an Indian actress who works in Bollywood films.-Early life:Ratna Pathak was born in Mumbai, India to Bollywood actress, Dina Pathak. Her sister is actress Supriya Pathak. She is a very fine stage actor-Career:...

 as Inspector Ghote
Inspector Ghote
Inspector Ganesh V. Ghote is a fictional police officer who is the main character in H. R. F. Keating's detective novels. Ghote is an inspector in the police force of Bombay , India....

, the fictional detective of H. R. F. Keating
H. R. F. Keating
Henry Reymond Fitzwalter "Harry" Keating was an English crime fiction writer most notable for his series of novels featuring Inspector Ghote of the Bombay CID.-Life:...

's novels in the Merchant-Ivory English language film The Perfect Murder.

He has acted in several multi-starrer Bollywood films as well, such as, Ghulami
Ghulami
Ghulami is a 1985 Hindi-language Indian feature film directed by J.P. Dutta. The film has an ensemble cast comprising Dharmendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Mazhar Khan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raza Murad, Smita Patil, Reena Roy, Anita Raj, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Shivpuri...

(1985), Tridev
Tridev
Tridev is a 1989 Indian film directed by Rajiv Rai. The movie is an action-packed saga of three men — Naseeruddin Shah, Sunny Deol and Jackie Shroff — standing up against a crime lord called Bhujang , who has plans to spread menace in the country...

(1989) and Vishwatma
Vishwatma
Vishwatma is a 1992 Indian action film directed by Rajiv Rai. This film marked the Hindi film debut of the late actress Divya Bharti and Jyotsna Singh who did not appear in any other films after this. The film was a boxoffice success...

(1992). In 1994, he acted as the villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...

 in Mohra
Mohra
Mohra is a 1994 Indian movie starring Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Paresh Rawal and Naseeruddin Shah.The film was one of the major hits of 1994 in India...

, his 100th film as an actor. He strongly believed that the distinction between art and commercial films had largely reduced, especially with the directors of the former also making commercial films. In 2000 his dream of playing Mahatma Gandhi was realized when he played Gandhi in Kamal Hassan's critically acclaimed Hey Ram
Hey Ram
Hey Ram is a controversial Indian film released both in Tamil and Hindi in 2000 and written, directed, produced by and starring Kamal Haasan...

which focused on the assassination of Gandhi from the assailant's point of view. He won a lot of critical acclaim by acting as Mohit, the drunken coach to a deaf and mute boy in Iqbal which was written by Vipul K Rawal
Vipul K Rawal
-Early years:Born on 7th November, 1968 in the former princely state of Wadhwan, Vipul K Rawal did his schooling from a Military School in Dehradun and later in Vapi, Gujarat. It was during his college days in Madras, that the filmy bug really bit him. His college was situated in Kodambakkam, also...

 keeping specially him in mind. He also worked in the critically acclaimed A Wednesday (2008).

Later, he starred in international projects such as Monsoon Wedding
Monsoon Wedding
* Originally featured in the Hindi film Loafer * Originally featured in the Hindi film Biwi No.1 -Awards:The movie won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival...

in 2001 and a Hollywood comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 adaptation The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a 2003 superhero film adaptation loosely based on characters from the comic book limited series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore, who is also famous for Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell. It was released on July 11, 2003, in the...

in 2003 (co-starring Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...

) where he played the role of Captain Nemo. His portrayal of Nemo was very close to the design of the graphic novel, although his Nemo was far less manic. He worked in an Indian adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...

, titled Maqbool
Maqbool
Maqbool , a 2004 Indian film directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and starring Pankaj Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Tabu and Masumeh Makhija is an adaptation of the play Macbeth by Shakespeare....

and Rajiv Rai
Rajiv Rai
Rajiv Rai is an Indian film writer, editor and director. He is the son of the late producer Gulshan Rai. He has directed all this films under his father's production company Trimurti Films...

's Asambhav
Asambhav
Asambhav is a Bollywood action thriller directed by Rajiv Rai, the film released on 23 July 2004, starring Arjun Rampal, Priyanka Chopra, Naseeruddin Shah and Dipannita Sharma, in pivotal roles. The film was shot entirely in Switzerland.-Plot:...

in 2004. He then went on to work in The Great New Wonderful
The Great New Wonderful
The Great New Wonderful is a 2005 film written by Sam Catlin and directed by Danny Leiner.-Plot:The Great New Wonderful is a series of vignettes of incidents taking place concurrently around Manhattan. The only other thing linking the incidents is the month in which they occur: September 2002...

. He was most recently seen in Ishqiya
Ishqiya
Ishqiya is a 2010 Indian film starring Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, and Salman Shahid in the lead roles. The film is directed by Abhishek Chaubey in his directorial debut and is produced by Raman Maroo and Vishal Bharadwaj. The film was released on 29 January 2010.Upon release, the...

. Shah's upcoming films include The Hunt
The Hunt (2010 film)
The Blueberry Hunt is an upcoming Indian film starring Naseeruddin Shah, Vipin Sharma, Aahana Kumra, PJ Unnikrishnan, Yadu Sankalia, Vinay Forrt, and Kartik Elangovan. The film is scheduled to be released in India on November, 2011. It will be distributed by PVR Pictures.Principal shooting of the...

where he plays a recluse growing marijuana in his forest retreat.

He made his Pakistani
Cinema of Pakistan
The cinema of Pakistan refers to Pakistan's film industry. Most of the feature films shot in Pakistan are in Urdu language but may also include films in English, Punjabi, Pashto, Balochi or Sindhi languages....

 film debut in the critically acclaimed and controversial film Khuda Ke Liye
Khuda Ke Liye
Khuda Kay Liye is a 2007 Pakistani Urdu-language drama film written, directed and produced by Shoaib Mansoor, starring Shaan, Iman Ali, Fawad Afzal Khan and Hameed Sheikh...

by Shoaib Mansoor
Shoaib Mansoor
Shoaib Mansoor , PP, SI, is an acclaimed Pakistani film and television producer, director, writer, lyricist and composer.-Career:...

 where he played a short cameo.

Other media and art forms

In 1977, he along with Tom Alter
Tom Alter
Tom Alter is an Indian actor of American origin. As a thespian and television actor, he is best known for his work in Bollywood, but has also worked in the theatre...

 and Benjamin Gilani
Benjamin Gilani
Benjamin Gilani is an Indian actor of film, television and theatre. He portrayed Jawaharlal Nehru in the 1993 film Sardar. He also acted in the movie "Hum Dum"....

 formed a theatre group called Motley Productions. Their first play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 was Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...

's play Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...

, which was staged at Prithvi Theatre
Prithvi Theatre
Prithvi Theatre is one of Mumbai's best known theatres. It belongs to the Kapoor family, one of the most influential actor/director families in Bollywood. The theatre is named after Prithviraj Kapoor who first founded 'Prithvi Theatres', a travelling theatre company in 1944. The company ran for...

 on 29 July 1979.

In 1988, he acted in the eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

ous television series based on the life and times of Mirza Ghalib
Mirza Ghalib
Dabir-ul-Mulk, Najm-ud-Daula Mirza Asadullah Baig Khan , pen-name Ghalib and Asad , was a classical Urdu and Persian poet from India during British colonial rule...

, directed by Gulzar
Gulzar (lyricist)
Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...

 and telecast on DD National
DD National
DD National or DD1 is Doordarshan's flagship channel and the most widely available terrestrial television channel in India.-The Early Years:...

.

In 1989, he had also acted as the Maratha
Maratha
The Maratha are an Indian caste, predominantly in the state of Maharashtra. The term Marāthā has three related usages: within the Marathi speaking region it describes the dominant Maratha caste; outside Maharashtra it can refer to the entire regional population of Marathi-speaking people;...

 King Shivaji in another eponym
Eponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...

ous television series Bharat Ek Khoj
Bharat Ek Khoj
Bharat Ek Khoj is a 53-episode television series that dramatically unfolds the 5000 year history of India from its beginnings to the coming of independence in 1947...

based on Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...

's book The Discovery of India
The Discovery of India
The Discovery of India was written by India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru during his imprisonment in 1942-1946 at Ahmednagar in the Ahmednagar Fort....

 directed by noted film director Shyam Benegal
Shyam Benegal
Shyam Benegal is a prolific Indian director and screenwriter. With his first four feature films Ankur , Nishant Manthan and Bhumika he created a new genre, which has now come to be called the "middle cinema" in India although he himself has expressed dislike in the term preferring his work to...

. The role of Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb
Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...

 was performed by Om Puri
Om Puri
Om Puri is an Indian actor who has appeared in both mainstream Indian films and art films. His credits also include appearances in British and American films. He has received an honorary OBE.-Early life:...

. The story of Shivaji was spread over two episodes.

In 1999, he acted as a special agent in a TV Series Tarkash, coming in Zee TV. He played the role of a retired agent haunted by nightmares who is re-inducted as he apparently knows something about a dreaded terrorist somehow connected with his past.

In 1998, he played the role of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

 in the play Mahatma Vs. Gandhi, (which looked at the Mahatma's relation with Harilal Gandhi, his first son). With this, he achieved his objective of portraying Mahatma Gandhi, a role he had auditioned for Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...

's Gandhi. Incidentally, in 2000, he again portrayed the Mahatma, this time on film, in Hey Ram
Hey Ram
Hey Ram is a controversial Indian film released both in Tamil and Hindi in 2000 and written, directed, produced by and starring Kamal Haasan...

.

His performance in Sarfarosh
Sarfarosh
Sarfarosh was a critically and commercially successful action film, released in 1999. It was directed by John Matthew Matthan and starred Aamir Khan, Sonali Bendre and Naseeruddin Shah. John started working on Sarfarosh in 1992...

 (1999) was widely acclaimed. He played the villain with dual identity of a Ghazal
Ghazal
The ghazal is a poetic form consisting of rhyming couplets and a refrain, with each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as a poetic expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in 6th century...

 singer and Pakistani spy who supports terrorism in India.

He was widely appreciated in his role of Mohit a drunken coach in the critically acclaimed film Iqbal (film). The role was specially written keeping him in mind by Vipul K Rawal
Vipul K Rawal
-Early years:Born on 7th November, 1968 in the former princely state of Wadhwan, Vipul K Rawal did his schooling from a Military School in Dehradun and later in Vapi, Gujarat. It was during his college days in Madras, that the filmy bug really bit him. His college was situated in Kodambakkam, also...

, the writer of Iqbal (film). The role got him rave reviews. The film was also recently voted as one of Ten Hindi Films that is considered ideal training and motivational material.

He was the first of several celebrity actors, who played the role of narrator
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...

 in the popular audiobook series for kids Karadi Tales,. He was also the narrator in the film Paheli
Paheli
Paheli is a Bollywood ghost movie, released in India on 24 June 2005, directed by Amol Palekar and produced by Gauri Khan, Sanjiv Chawla and Shahrukh Khan, who also plays the male lead...

 - the Indian entry to the 2006 Academy Awards
79th Academy Awards
The 79th Academy Awards ceremony , honored the best films of 2006 and took place on February 25, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on ABC. Ellen DeGeneres hosted the ceremony for the first time. The producer was Laura Ziskin. The announcers were Don LaFontaine and Gina Tuttle.The nominees were...

.

He has been awarded the life membership of International Film And Television Club of Asian Academy Of Film & Television
Asian Academy of Film & Television
The Asian Academy of Film & Television is a film school located in India's Noida Film City in India's Capital region, NCR. It is affiliated with the International Film & Television Research Center and the Marwah Films & Video Studios....

.

As director

Naseeruddin Shah has been giving performances with his theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 troupe at places such as New Delhi, Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

, Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...

 and Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

. He has directed plays written by Lavender Kumar, Ismat Chughtai
Ismat Chughtai
Ismat Chughtai 1 was an eminent Urdu writer, known for her indomitable spirit and a fierce feminist ideology. She was considered the grand dame of Urdu fiction, as one of the four pillars of modern Urdu short story, the other three being Saadat Hasan Manto, Krishan Chander, and Rajinder Singh Bedi...

 and Saadat Hasan Manto
Saadat Hasan Manto
Saadat Hassan Manto was a short story writer of the Urdu language. He is best known for his short stories, 'Bu' , 'Khol Do' , 'Thanda Gosht' , and his magnum opus, 'Toba Tek Singh'....

.

His directorial debut in movie, Yun Hota To Kya Hota
Yun Hota To Kya Hota
Yun Hota To Kya Hota is a 2006 Hindi film. The film directed by Naseeruddin Shah stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Ayesha Takia, Jimmy Shergill, Paresh Rawal, Boman Irani, Saroj Khan and Irfan Khan...

, was released in 2006. The movie stars several established actors such as Konkona Sen Sharma
Konkona Sen Sharma
Konkona Sen Sharma is an Indian actress. She is the daughter of actress and filmmaker Aparna Sen. Sharma appears primarily in Indian arthouse and independent films, and her achievements in the genre have established her as one of the leading actresses of contemporary parallel cinema.Making her...

, Paresh Rawal
Paresh Rawal
Paresh Rawal is an Indian actor of Gujarati background.Making his film debut in 1984, he mainly played supporting and villain roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Since 2000 he has mostly played comic roles.- Family and early life :...

, Irfan Khan
Irfan Khan (actor)
Sahabzade Irrfan Ali Khan, popularly known as Irrfan Khan , is an Indian actor in film, television and theatre. He received recognition for his roles in The Warrior , Maqbool , Haasil , The Namesake , A Mighty Heart , Life in a.....

, newcomer Ayesha Takia
Ayesha Takia
-Early life:Ayesha was born in Chembur Mumbai, Maharashtra to a Gujarati father, Nishit and a mother of mixed British-Maharashtrian descent, Faridah. She attended St. Anthony's High School in Chembur...

, his son Imaad Shah
Imaad Shah
Imaad Shah, born Imaad-ud-Din Shah, is an Indian actor and musician and also the son of actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, his maternal grandmother was actress Dina Pathak...

 and his old friend Ravi Baswani
Ravi Baswani
Ravi Baswani was a well known Indian film actor, most famous for his role in Sai Paranjpe's Chashme Buddoor and Kundan Shah's cult comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro , for which he won Filmfare Best Comedian Award in 1984. He was noted for his comic timing and underplaying of a character in the true sense...

.

Personal life

He is married to Bollywood actress Ratna Pathak Shah with whom he has two sons, Imaad
Imaad Shah
Imaad Shah, born Imaad-ud-Din Shah, is an Indian actor and musician and also the son of actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah, his maternal grandmother was actress Dina Pathak...

 and Vivaan
Vivaan Shah
Vivaan Shah is an Indian actor working in the Hindi film industry, who made his film debut with Saat Khoon Maaf to critical acclaim...

. They have co-starred in the films like Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na, Mirch Masala
Mirch Masala
-Story:The film opens with an arrogant subedar and his soldiers rampaging through a village. The subedar has an eye for women and soon spots Sonbai on the riverbank. Sonbai is an intelligent, beautiful and strong woman. Her confidence intrigues the subedar.The film moves deeper into the village...

 and The Perfect Murder
The Perfect Murder
The Perfect Murder is a 1988 English language Indian film directed by Zafar Hai and produced by Merchant-Ivory. The film is based on the 1964 novel The Perfect Murder by British crime fiction writer HRF Keating and stars Naseeruddin Shah as Inspector Ghote, the leading character in Keating's novels...

.
He has a daughter, Heeba Shah, from his first marriage. Naseeruddin Shah married Ratna Pathak after the demise of Heeba Shah's mother.

Awards

Award Film Year Status
  • Civilian Awards
Padma Shri
Padma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...

 
India's fourth highest civilian award 1987 Won
Padma Bhushan
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...

 
India's Third highest civilian award 2003 Won
  • National Film Award
  • National Film Award for Best Actor
    National Film Award for Best Actor
    The National Film Award for Best Actor is an honor presented annually at the National Film Awards of India to an actor who has delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry.-Background:The Directorate of Film Festivals makes awards annually in several categories...

     
    Sparsh
    Sparsh (film)
    Sparsh is a 1980 Bollywood feature film directed by Sai Paranjpye. It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi playing the characters of a visually impaired principal and a "sighted" teacher in a School of the Blind, where both the characters fall in love with each other though soon their complexes...

    1979 Won
    National Film Award for Best Actor
    National Film Award for Best Actor
    The National Film Award for Best Actor is an honor presented annually at the National Film Awards of India to an actor who has delivered the best performance in a leading role within the Indian film industry.-Background:The Directorate of Film Festivals makes awards annually in several categories...

     
    Paar
    Paar (film)
    Paar is a 1984 Hindi movie directed by Goutam Ghose. The film stars Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri. Naseeruddin Shah won a Volpi Cup for his role as Naurangia.- Plot :...

    1984 Won
    National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
    National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
    The National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual award that was first given in 1968. The actors to have won the most awards in this category include Nana Patekar, Atul Kulkarni, and Pankaj Kapoor, each have received two....

     
    Iqbal 2006 Won
  • Filmfare Award
  • Filmfare Best Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954....

     
    Aakrosh
    Aakrosh (1980 film)
    Aakrosh is a 1980 Hindi arthouse film directed by auteur Govind Nihalani and written by renowned Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar.The film starred Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Amrish Puri in lead roles and went to win 1980 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and several Filmfare...

    1981 Won
    Filmfare Best Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954....

     
    Chakra
    Chakra
    Chakra is a concept originating in Hindu texts, featured in tantric and yogic traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism. Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for "wheel" or "turning" .Chakra is a concept referring to wheel-like vortices...

    1982 Won
    Filmfare Best Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954....

     
    Masoom
    Masoom
    Masoom is a 1983 Indian film and Shekhar Kapur's first directorial venture. The critically acclaimed film starred Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Tanuja, Supriya Pathak and Saeed Jaffrey, as well as child actors Jugal Hansraj, Aradhana and Urmila Matondkar. The screenplay and dialogues were...

    1984 Won
    Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role...

     
    Sir
    Sir (film)
    Sir is a 1993 Bollywood film directed by Mahesh Bhatt starring Naseeruddin Shah, Pooja Bhatt, Atul Agnihotri and Paresh Rawal.-Plot:Bombay-based Professor Amar Verma lives a middle-class lifestyle with his wife, Shobha , and 6 year old son, Kunal...

    1993 Nominated
    Filmfare Best Villain Award
    Filmfare Best Villain Award
    The Filmfare Best Villain Award was given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise an actor who had delivered an outstanding performance in a negative role...

     
    Mohra
    Mohra
    Mohra is a 1994 Indian movie starring Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Paresh Rawal and Naseeruddin Shah.The film was one of the major hits of 1994 in India...

    1995 Nominated
    Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a supporting role...

     
    Naajayaz
    Naajayaz
    Naajayaz is an Indian film. It was also a blockbuster in 1995 and Ajay Devgan was nominated for best actor at Filmfare for his role in this film.-Plot:...

    1996 Nominated
    Filmfare Best Villain Award
    Filmfare Best Villain Award
    The Filmfare Best Villain Award was given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise an actor who had delivered an outstanding performance in a negative role...

     
    Chaahat 1998 Nominated
    Filmfare Best Villain Award
    Filmfare Best Villain Award
    The Filmfare Best Villain Award was given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise an actor who had delivered an outstanding performance in a negative role...

     
    Sarfarosh
    Sarfarosh
    Sarfarosh was a critically and commercially successful action film, released in 1999. It was directed by John Matthew Matthan and starred Aamir Khan, Sonali Bendre and Naseeruddin Shah. John started working on Sarfarosh in 1992...

    2000 Nominated
    Filmfare Best Villain Award
    Filmfare Best Villain Award
    The Filmfare Best Villain Award was given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise an actor who had delivered an outstanding performance in a negative role...

     
    Krrish
    Krrish
    Krrish is a 2006 Indian superhero science-fiction film The film was directed, produced, and written by Rakesh Roshan, while the screenplay was written by Robin Bhatt, Sachin Bhowmick, Honey Irani, Akarsh Khurana, and Sanjay Masoom. The film is a sequel to Koi.....

    2007 Nominated
    Filmfare Best Actor Award
    Filmfare Best Actor Award
    The Filmfare Award for Best Actor is given by Filmfare as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films, to recognise a male actor who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role. The award was first given in 1954....

     
    A Wednesday  2008 Nominated
  • Venice Film Festival
    Venice Film Festival
    The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...

  • The Volpi Cup (Award for Best Actor) Paar
    Paar
    The Paar is a river in Germany and a right tributary of the Danube. For several tens of kilometers it flows parallel to the Lech, at only a few km distance. Near Augsburg, the Paar leaves the Lech valley and turns north-east towards Ingolstadt. It flows into the Danube near Vohburg...

    1984 Won

    Other Awards

    • 2000: Won: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
      Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
      Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists since 2003 of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram , and a tamrapatra...

    • 2000: Won: IIFA (International Indian Film Academy) Award — Artistic Excellence for Performance in a Negative Role for Sarfarosh

    Selected filmography

    • Nishant
      Nishant (film)
      Nishant is a 1975 Hindi crime drama film directed by Shyam Benegal, and written by noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar. The film stars Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil...

      (1975) — Smita Patil
      Smita Patil
      Smita Patil was an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Regarded among the finest stage and film actresses of her times, Patil appeared in over 75 Hindi and Marathi films in a career that spanned just over a decade. During her career, she received two National Film Awards and a...

      , Shabana Azmi
      Shabana Azmi
      Shabana Azmi is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. An alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India of Pune, she made her film debut in 1974 and soon became one of the leading actresses of parallel cinema, an Indian New Wave movement known for its serious content and...

       — as Vishwam
    • Manthan
      Manthan
      Manthan was a 1976 Hindi film made by Shyam Benegal, based on a story written jointly by Verghese Kurien and director Shyam Benegal...

      (1976) — Smita Patil — as Bhola
    • Bhumika
      Bhumika
      Bhumika is a 1977 Indian film directed by Shyam Benegal. The movie stars Smita Patil, Amol Palekar, Anant Nag, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri....

      (1977) — Smita Patil — as Sunil Verma
    • Tabbaliyu Neenaade Magane
      Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane (1977 film)
      Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane was an Indian Kannada film directed by Girish Karnad and B. V. Karanth , with Nasiruddin Shah, Manu as cast. The movie is based S. L. Bhyrappa Kannada novel of the same name.-Plot:...

      (1977) (Kannada) — as Shastri
    • Junoon
      Junoon (1978 film)
      The soundtrack features 4 songs, composed by Vanraj Bhatia, with original lyrics from Yogesh Praveen and other lyrics by Amir Khusro, Jigar Moradabadi and Sant Kabir.#"Khusro rain piya ki jaagi pee ke sang" – Jamil Ahmad...

      (1978) — Shabana Azmi — as Sarfaraz Khan
    • Sparsh
      Sparsh (film)
      Sparsh is a 1980 Bollywood feature film directed by Sai Paranjpye. It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi playing the characters of a visually impaired principal and a "sighted" teacher in a School of the Blind, where both the characters fall in love with each other though soon their complexes...

      (1979) — Shabana Azmi — as Aniruddh Parmar
    • Aakrosh
      Aakrosh (1980 film)
      Aakrosh is a 1980 Hindi arthouse film directed by auteur Govind Nihalani and written by renowned Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar.The film starred Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri and Amrish Puri in lead roles and went to win 1980 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi and several Filmfare...

      (1980) — Smita Patil — as Bhaskar Kulkarni
    • Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai
      Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai
      Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai, , is an 1980 Bollywood film directed by Saeed Akhtar Mirza based on his own story...

      (1980) — Shabana Azmi — as Albert Pinto
    • Bhavni Bhavai
      Bhavni Bhavai
      Bhavni Bhavai is a 1980 Gujarati film directed by Ketan Mehta. Ketan Mehta's debut film is a successful adaptation of folk idioms into cinema. The film is dedicated to Bertolt Brecht, Goscinny and to the inventor of the Bhavai, Asait Thakore, who was a Brahmin outcast and lived among the lower...

      (1980) — Smita Patil
    • Hum Paanch (1980) — as Suraj (as Nasiruddin Shah)
    • Chakra (1981) — Smita Patil — as Lukka
    • Umrao Jaan
      Umrao Jaan
      Umrao Jaan is a 1981 Bollywood film, directed by Muzaffar Ali. It is based on the Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada , written by Mirza Hadi Ruswa based on the famous Lucknow courtesan...

      (1981) — Rekha — as Gohar Mirza
    • {[Dil Aakhir Dil hai ]}
    • Bazaar
      Bazaar (1982 film)
      Bazaar is a 1982 Indian film directed by Sagar Sarhadi and starring Naseeruddin Shah, Farooq Shaikh, Smita Patil and Supriya Pathak.The film highlights the tragedy of young girls being sold by needy parents to affluent Indians in the Gulf...

      (1982) — Smita Patil — as Salim
    • Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron (1983) — Bhakti Barve
      Bhakti Barve
      Bhakti Barve was an Indian film, theatre and television actress in Marathi, Hindi, and Gujarati. She is best known for her role in Kundan Shah's comedy Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro , where she acted alongside Naseeruddin Shah, Satish Shah and Ravi Basvani....

       — as Vinod Chopra
    • Katha (1983) — Deepti Naval
      Deepti Naval
      Deepti Naval is an acclaimed Indian actress. She has acted in over 75 Hindi films, and most often worked in arthouse and independent films, known as parallel cinema in India.-Early life:Born in Amritsar, Punjab, India...

       — as Rajaram Purshotam Joshi
    • Masoom
      Masoom
      Masoom is a 1983 Indian film and Shekhar Kapur's first directorial venture. The critically acclaimed film starred Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Tanuja, Supriya Pathak and Saeed Jaffrey, as well as child actors Jugal Hansraj, Aradhana and Urmila Matondkar. The screenplay and dialogues were...

      (1983) — Shabana Azmi — as DK
    • Woh Saat Din
      Woh Saat Din
      Woh Saat Din, or Woh 7 Din, is a 1983 Hindi film directed by Bapu. Produced by Surinder Kapoor, it stars his son Anil Kapoor along with Padmini Kolhapure and Naseeruddin Shah. It is a remake of the 1981 Tamil film Antha Ezhu Naatkal, which was written and directed by the veteran filmmaker K....

      (1983) — Padmini Kohlapure — as Dr. Anand
    • Paar
      Paar (film)
      Paar is a 1984 Hindi movie directed by Goutam Ghose. The film stars Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri. Naseeruddin Shah won a Volpi Cup for his role as Naurangia.- Plot :...

      (1984) — Shabana Azmi — as Naurangia
    • Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!
      Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!
      Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! is a 1984 Hindi art film, made by Saeed Akhtar Mirza, based on his own story, during the Parallel Cinema period of Indian cinema....

      (1984) — as Lawyer Malkani
    • Holi
      Holi (film)
      Holi is a 1984 Indian film, directed by Ketan Mehta, whose socially conscious work has been compared to American director, Spike Lee. The film is based on eponymous play by Marathi writer, Mahesh Elkunchwar...

      (1984) — as Professor Singh
    • Ghulami
      Ghulami
      Ghulami is a 1985 Hindi-language Indian feature film directed by J.P. Dutta. The film has an ensemble cast comprising Dharmendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Mazhar Khan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raza Murad, Smita Patil, Reena Roy, Anita Raj, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Shivpuri...

      (1985) — Smita Patil — as SP Sultan Singh
    • Trikaal
      Trikaal
      Trikal is an Indian movie written and directed by Shyam Benegal, set in Goa during the early 1960s Period. The film starred yester years actress, Leela Naidu, in a comeback role after many decades....

      (1985) — Leela Naidu
      Leela Naidu
      Leela Naidu was an Indian actress who starred in a small number of Hindi and English films, including Yeh Raaste Hain Pyaar Ke , based on the real-life Nanavati case, and The Householder, Merchant Ivory Productions' first film...

      , Kulbhushan Kharbanda
      Kulbhushan Kharbanda
      Kulbhushan Kharbanda is an Indian actor, who worked in Hindi and Punjabi films, and is known as character Shakaal in Shaan inspired by the character of Blofeld from James Bond movies...

       — as Ruiz Pereira
    • Mirch Masala
      Mirch Masala
      -Story:The film opens with an arrogant subedar and his soldiers rampaging through a village. The subedar has an eye for women and soon spots Sonbai on the riverbank. Sonbai is an intelligent, beautiful and strong woman. Her confidence intrigues the subedar.The film moves deeper into the village...

      (1985) — Smita Patil — as subedar
    • Karma
      Karma (film)
      Karma is a 1986 Bollywood film directed by Subhash Ghai. The film reunites Subhash Ghai and Dilip Kumar after the success of their last film together Vidhaata . The film also marked the first time Dilip Kumar was paired with veteran actress Nutan.-Plot summary:When Jailer Vishwa Pratap Singh ...

      (1986) — as Khairuddin Chishti
    • Jalwa (1987) — Archana Puran Singh — as Kapil
    • Tamas (1987)
    • Ijaazat
      Ijaazat
      Ijaazat is an acclaimed 1987 Indian Hindi film directed by Gulzar, based on a Bengali story, Jatugriha by Subodh Ghosh....

      (1987) — Rekha — as Mahender
    • Hero Hiralal
      Hero Hiralal
      Hero Hiralal is a 1988 film directed by Ketan Mehta. It is a movie about an auto rickshaw driver who falls in love with a film actress.The movie had some good performances by the lead actors and by Saeed Jaffrey and Satish Shah in their supporting roles....

      (1988) — Sanjana Kapoor
      Sanjana Kapoor
      Sanjana Kapoor is an Indian theatre personality and former Indian film actress, who has been running the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai since 1993. till 2012 February. -Biography:...

       — as Hero Hiralal
    • Maalamaal (1988) — as Raj
    • Pestonjee (1988) — Shabana Azmi — as Phirojshah
    • The Perfect Murder (1988) — Ratna Pathak — as Inspector Ghote
    • Tridev
      Tridev
      Tridev is a 1989 Indian film directed by Rajiv Rai. The movie is an action-packed saga of three men — Naseeruddin Shah, Sunny Deol and Jackie Shroff — standing up against a crime lord called Bhujang , who has plans to spread menace in the country...

      (1989) — Sonam — as Jay Singh
    • Mane (The House) (1989) (Kannada) — Deepti Naval — as Rajshekar
    • Ek Ghar
      Ek Ghar
      Ek Ghar is a 1991 Hindi film directed by Girish Kasaravalli with Deepti Naval, Naseeruddin Shah and Rohini Hattangadi....

      (1991)
    • Vishwatma
      Vishwatma
      Vishwatma is a 1992 Indian action film directed by Rajiv Rai. This film marked the Hindi film debut of the late actress Divya Bharti and Jyotsna Singh who did not appear in any other films after this. The film was a boxoffice success...

      (1992) — Sonam — as Suryapratap Singh
    • Electric Moon
      Electric Moon
      Electric Moon is a 1992 Indian film directed by Pradip Krishen and written by Arundhati Roy. The film was produced by Grapevine Media for Channel 4 Television and Bobby Bedi's Kaleidoscope Entertainment and was reviewed at the International Film Festival of India and the 36th London Film Festival...

      (1992) — Goswani, Roshan Seth
      Roshan Seth
      Roshan Seth is an Indian-born British actor, who appears mainly in British and American films. He is known for his critically acclaimed performances in the films Gandhi, Mississippi Masala, Not Without My Daughter, My Beautiful Laundrette, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Such a Long...

      , Leela Naidu — as Rambuhj Goswami
    • Chamatkar
      Chamatkar
      Chamatkar is a Hindi movie which was directed by Rajiv Mehra and released in India in 1992. It cast Naseeruddin Shah and Shahrukh Khan in pivotal roles....

      (1992) — Shahrukh Khan
      Shahrukh Khan
      Shahrukh Khan , often credited as Shah Rukh Khan, is an Indian film actor, as well as a film producer and television host. Often referred to as "the King of Bollywood", Khan has acted in over 70 Hindi films....

      , Urmila Matondkar
      Urmila Matondkar
      Urmila Matondkar is an Indian film actress.Matondkar, who made her screen debut as a child artist in the 1980 film Kalyug, debuted as an adult in Narasimha...

       — as Amar Kumar (alias Marco)
    • Panaah
      Panaah
      Panaah is a Hindi drama television series dealing with female feoticide, that airs on DD National on every Tuesday at 9:30pm IST.-External links:*...

      (1992)
    • Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa
      Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa
      Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa is a 1993 Indian Bollywood film directed by Kundan Shah, and starring Shahrukh Khan, Suchitra Krishnamurthy, and Deepak Tijori. This is one of the rare mainstream Hindi movies in which the hero plays the role of a loser...

      (1993) — as Father Breganza
    • Sir
      Sir (film)
      Sir is a 1993 Bollywood film directed by Mahesh Bhatt starring Naseeruddin Shah, Pooja Bhatt, Atul Agnihotri and Paresh Rawal.-Plot:Bombay-based Professor Amar Verma lives a middle-class lifestyle with his wife, Shobha , and 6 year old son, Kunal...

      (1993) — Soni Razdan — as Professor Amar Verma
    • Ponthan Mada
      Ponthan Mada
      Ponthan Mada is a 1994 Malayalam-language Indian feature film written and directed by T. V. Chandran. The film stars Mammootty and Naseeruddin Shah.-Plot:...

      (1994)(Malayalam film) — Mammootty
      Mammootty
      Mammootty is an Indian film actor and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in a few Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada films. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has acted in more than 360 films, and is only next to Prem Nazir in the number of lead roles...

       — as Sheema Thampuran
    • Mohra
      Mohra
      Mohra is a 1994 Indian movie starring Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Raveena Tandon, Paresh Rawal and Naseeruddin Shah.The film was one of the major hits of 1994 in India...

      (1994) — as Mr. Zindal
    • Drohkaal
      Drohkaal
      Drohkaal is a 1994 Indian film directed and produced by Govind Nihalani which deals with India's fight against terrorism. The film examines the mental and psychological trauma that honest police officers go through in their fight against a group of ruthless terrorists. This movie was remade into...

      (1994) — as DCP Abbas Lodhi
    • Naajayaz
      Naajayaz
      Naajayaz is an Indian film. It was also a blockbuster in 1995 and Ajay Devgan was nominated for best actor at Filmfare for his role in this film.-Plot:...

      (1995) — Reema Lagoo
    • Chaahat (1996) — as Raj Solanki
    • Bombay Boys
      Bombay Boys
      Bombay Boys is an unorthodox comedy film written and directed by the Indian director Kaizad Gustad. It follows the adventures of three young men in modern-day Mumbai . The boys are of Indian origin, but were all raised in the West. Krishna Sahni is an aspiring actor from New York who wants to...

      (1997) — as Mastana
    • Chinagate
      China Gate (1998 film)
      China Gate is a 1998 Hindi film directed by Rajkumar Santoshi. The film is a "humble tribute to the late Akira Kurosawa", crediting Seven Samurai as its inspiration...

      (1998) — as Major Sarfaraz Khan
    • Such a Long Journey (1998) — as Jimmy Bilimoria
    • Sarfarosh
      Sarfarosh
      Sarfarosh was a critically and commercially successful action film, released in 1999. It was directed by John Matthew Matthan and starred Aamir Khan, Sonali Bendre and Naseeruddin Shah. John started working on Sarfarosh in 1992...

      (1999) — as Gulfaam Hasan
    • Bhopal Express
      Bhopal Express (film)
      Bhopal Express is a 1999 Hindi film directed by Mahesh Mathai. The movie stars Kay Kay Menon, Naseeruddin Shah, Nethra Raghuraman, Zeenat Aman and Vijay Raaz. The story is penned by renowned ad film maker Prasoon Pandey and his brother Piyush Pandey...

      (1999) — as Bashir
    • Hey Ram
      Hey Ram
      Hey Ram is a controversial Indian film released both in Tamil and Hindi in 2000 and written, directed, produced by and starring Kamal Haasan...

      (2000) — as Mahatma Gandhi
      Mahatma Gandhi
      Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...

    • Monsoon Wedding
      Monsoon Wedding
      * Originally featured in the Hindi film Loafer * Originally featured in the Hindi film Biwi No.1 -Awards:The movie won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival...

      (2001) — as Lalit Verma
    • The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
      The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (film)
      The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a 2003 superhero film adaptation loosely based on characters from the comic book limited series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore, who is also famous for Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell. It was released on July 11, 2003, in the...

      (2003)(US film) — as Captain Nemo
      Captain Nemo
      Captain Nemo, also known as Prince Dakkar, is a fictional character featured in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island ....

    • Encounter: The Killing (2002) — as Inspector Bharucha
    • Maqbool
      Maqbool
      Maqbool , a 2004 Indian film directed by Vishal Bhardwaj and starring Pankaj Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Tabu and Masumeh Makhija is an adaptation of the play Macbeth by Shakespeare....

      (2003) — as Inspector Purohit
    • 3 Deewarein
      3 Deewarein
      3 Deewarein is a 2003 Hindi film written, directed and co-starred by Nagesh Kukunoor. Jackie Shroff, Juhi Chawla, Naseeruddin Shah and Gulshan Grover form the rest of the cast. The film narrates the story of three prisoners and a documentary filmmaker who, while filming their reformation story in...

      (2003) — Sujata Mehta
      Sujata Mehta
      Sujata Mehta is an Indian actress of Gujarati origin who has acted in plays and Bollywood films.Sujata started her acting career by participating in Gujarati stage plays wherein she played small cameos and alter on sheer hardwork and perseverance graduated to playing lead roles.Her first big break...

       — as Ishaan
    • Main Hoon Na
      Main Hoon Na
      Main Hoon Na is a Bollywood masala film written and directed by Farah Khan. It was the first film of Khan production company Red Chillies Entertainment. It was released on 30 April 2004 and went on to become a box-office success...

      (2004) — as Brig. Shekhar Sharma
    • Paheli
      Paheli
      Paheli is a Bollywood ghost movie, released in India on 24 June 2005, directed by Amol Palekar and produced by Gauri Khan, Sanjiv Chawla and Shahrukh Khan, who also plays the male lead...

      (2005) — Voice of narrator
    • Iqbal
      Iqbal (movie)
      Iqbal is a 2005 Hindi Bollywood film written by Vipul K Rawal and directed by Nagesh Kukunoor and was released under Subhash Ghai's new banner, "Mukta Searchlight Films"....

      (2005) — as Mohit, cricket coach
    • Being Cyrus
      Being Cyrus
      Being Cyrus is an English language Indian film directed by Homi Adajania and released in 2006. It is a psychological drama revolving around a dysfunctional Parsi family...

      (2006) — Dimple Kapadia
      Dimple Kapadia
      Dimple Chunnibhai Kapadia is an Indian film actress. She made her acting debut at the age of 16, playing the title role in Raj Kapoor's teen romance Bobby . In that same year she married Indian actor Rajesh Khanna, and retired from acting. Kapadia returned to films in 1984 after her separation...

       — as Dinshaw Sethna
    • Krrish
      Krrish
      Krrish is a 2006 Indian superhero science-fiction film The film was directed, produced, and written by Rakesh Roshan, while the screenplay was written by Robin Bhatt, Sachin Bhowmick, Honey Irani, Akarsh Khurana, and Sanjay Masoom. The film is a sequel to Koi.....

      (2006) — as Dr. Siddhant Arya
    • Omkara (2006) — as Bhaisaab
    • Banaras (2006) — as Babaji
    • Parzania
      Parzania
      Parzania is a 2007 Indian drama film co-written and directed by Rahul Dholakia; David N. Donihue is the other co-writer. The film featured Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika in the lead roles, while Corin Nemec and Raj Zutshi played supporting roles...

      (2007) — Sarika — as Cyrus
    • Amal
      Amal (film)
      Amal , 2007, is a Canadian drama film directed and written by Richie Mehta. Set in modern-day New Delhi, India, it tells the story of a poor autorickshaw driver, Amal Kumar....

      (2007) — Seema Biswas
      Seema Biswas
      Seema Biswas is an Indian film and theatre actress from Assam who shot into prominence with the role of Phoolan Devi in Shekhar Kapur's film Bandit Queen . She has a reputation for performing strong character roles.Biswas won the 1996 National Film Award for Best Actress for her role in the film...

       — as G.K. Jayaram
    • Khuda Ke Liye
      Khuda Ke Liye
      Khuda Kay Liye is a 2007 Pakistani Urdu-language drama film written, directed and produced by Shoaib Mansoor, starring Shaan, Iman Ali, Fawad Afzal Khan and Hameed Sheikh...

      (A Pakistani film) (2007) — as Maulana Wali
    • Dus Kahaniyaan
      Dus Kahaniyaan
      Dus Kahaniyaan is a 2007 anthology Indian film comprising ten short films telling ten different stories which are directed by a host of six directors...

      (2007)
    • Mithya
      Mithya
      Mithya is a 2008 Indian film co-written and directed by Rajat Kapoor and produced by Planman Motion Pictures. The film stars Ranvir Shorey, Neha Dhupia, Naseeruddin Shah and Vinay Pathak in pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack is composed by Sagar Desai...

      (2008)
    • Shoot on Sight
      Shoot on Sight
      Shoot on Sight is a 2007 film directed by Jag Mundhra and produced by Aron Govil. The film was marketed and distributed globally by Aron Govil Productions Inc...

      (2008) — as Tariq Ali
    • Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na
      Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na
      Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na is a 2008 Bollywood film, written and directed by Abbas Tyrewala. The film stars Imran Khan and Genelia D'Souza in pivotal roles...

      (2008) — as Amar Singh Rathore, Jai's father
    • A Wednesday (2008) — Anonymous antagonist
    • Maharathi
      Maharathi
      Maharathi is a Hindi movie produced by Dhilin Mehta. The film was directed by Shivam Nair and stars Boman Irani, Neha Dhupia, Ashwin Nayak, Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Naseeruddin Shah and Tara Sharma. The films music is by Shibani Kashyap-Cast:...

      (2008) — as Jaisingh Adenwalla
    • Barah Aana
      Barah Aana
      Barah Aana is a 2009 Indian comedy-drama film written and directed by Raja Menon. The title refers to 12 Barah in Hindustani aanas , which was a unit of Indian currency before decimalisation. Barah Aana stars Naseeruddin Shah, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Vijay Raaz and Arjun Mathur...

      (2009) — as Shukla
    • Firaaq
      Firaaq
      Firaaq is a 2008 Hindi political thriller film set one month after the 2002 violence in Gujarat, India, and looks at the aftermath in terms of the effects on the lives of everyday people. It claims to be based on "a thousand true stories". Firaaq means both separation and quest in Urdu...

      (2009) — as Khan Sahab
    • Today's Special
      Today's Special (2009 film)
      Today's Special is a 2009 independent comedy film loosely inspired by Aasif Mandvi's Obie Award-winning play, Sakina's Restaurant. The film was directed by David Kaplan...

      (2009) — as Akbar
    • Marathi
    • Ishqiya
      Ishqiya
      Ishqiya is a 2010 Indian film starring Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, and Salman Shahid in the lead roles. The film is directed by Abhishek Chaubey in his directorial debut and is produced by Raman Maroo and Vishal Bharadwaj. The film was released on 29 January 2010.Upon release, the...

      (2010) — as Khalu Jaan/Khalu/Iftikhar
    • Raajneeti (2010) — as Bhaskar Sanyal
    • Allah Ke Banday
      Allah Ke Banday
      Allah Ke Banday is a 2010 Bollywood crime drama film produced by Ravi Walia and directed by Faruk Kabir.-Plot:Allah Ke Banday tells the tale of two 12 year old boys who grow up in the slums of India...

      (2010) — as Warden
    • 7 Khoon Maaf (2011) — as Dr. Modhusudhon Tarafdar
    • That Girl in Yellow Boots
      That Girl in Yellow Boots
      That Girl in Yellow Boots is a 2011 Indian thriller film by director Anurag Kashyap, starring Kalki Koechlin and Naseeruddin Shah. The film was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2010, followed by Venice Film Festival after it played in several festivals...

      (2011)
    • The Hunt - Feature Film - India (2011) — Post-Production, as Colonel
    • Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
      Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
      Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a 2011 Bollywood coming-of-age film, directed by Zoya Akhtar and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani of Excel Entertainment. The film features an ensemble cast including Hrithik Roshan as Arjun, Abhay Deol as Kabir and Farhan Akhtar as Imraan...

      (2011) — as Salman Habib
    • The Dirty Picture (2011) - Production
    • Deool - Marathi (2011)
    • Mad Dad (2012) - Announced

    External links

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