Naseeruddin Shah

Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor.

He is notable in Indian parallel cinema and has starred in various international productions.

He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.

The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan awards for his contributions to Indian cinema.

Naseeruddin Shah was born on 20 July 1950 in Barabanki town, Uttar Pradesh, into a Nawab family.

His great-great-grandfather was the Afghan warlord Jan-Fishan Khan, who would go on to become the Nawab of Sardhana.

His relatives include Ikbal Ali Shah, Amina Shah, Omar Ali-Shah and Idries Shah.

Shah attended St. Anselm's Ajmer school and St Joseph's College, Nainital.

He made his debut with a small role in film Aman (1967) starring Rajendra Kumar and Saira Banu.

He graduated in arts from Aligarh Muslim University in 1971 and attended National School of Drama in Delhi.

His elder brother, Lt. General Zameerud-din Shah (Retd.) PVSM, SM, VSM, had a distinguished career in the military, having served as Deputy Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army, and later was appointed a member of the Armed Forces Tribunal and also Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University.

Shah has acted in films such as Nishant, Aakrosh, Sparsh, Mirch Masala, Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai, Trikal, Bhavni Bhavai, Junoon, Mandi, Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!, Ardh Satya, Katha, and Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro.

Shah became active in mainstream Bollywood cinema with the 1980 film Hum Paanch.

In 1982, he married his second wife, actress Ratna Pathak, daughter of actress Dina Pathak, with whom he has two sons.

His sister-in-law is actress Supriya Pathak, who is married to actor Pankaj Kapur.

In 1982, he acted in the film Dil Aakhir Dil Hai directed by Ismail Shroff, opposite Rakhee.

One of his most important films, Masoom, was released in 1983 and was shot at St Joseph's College, Nainital.

He has acted in several multi-star Bollywood films as well, such as Ghulami (1985), Tridev (1989) and Vishwatma (1992).

His next major success in mainstream films was the 1986 multi-star film Karma where he acted alongside veteran Dilip Kumar.

His second Pakistani film Zinda Bhaag was selected as the country's official entry to the 86th Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film award.

Shah has performed with his theatre troupe at places such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Lahore.

He has directed plays written by Lavender Kumar, Ismat Chughtai and Saadat Hasan Manto.

Starring roles for films such as Ijaazat (1987), Jalwa (1988) and Hero Hiralal (1989) followed.

In 1988, he played opposite his wife Ratna Pathak as Inspector Ghote, the fictional detective of H. R. F. Keating's novels in the Merchant Ivory English language film The Perfect Murder.

He acted with Aditya Pancholi in films like Maalamaal (1988) and Game (1993).

In 1994, he acted as the villain in Mohra, his 100th film as an actor.

He forayed into Malayalam cinema the same year, through T. V. Chandran's drama Ponthan Mada.

The film portrayed the irrational bonding of a feudal serf (played by Mammootty) and a colonial landlord (played by Shah).

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.

Shah was noted for his roles in the 1999 Aamir Khan-starrer Sarfarosh, where he played Gulfam Hassan – a ghazal singer-cum-terrorist mastermind — and in Neeraj Pandey's A Wednesday (2008).

In 2000, Shah played Mahatma Gandhi in Kamal Haasan's Hey Ram which focused on the assassination of Gandhi from the assailant's point of view.

Shah played Mohit, the drunken coach to a deaf and mute boy in Iqbal.

Shah has also starred in international projects, such as Monsoon Wedding in 2001 and a Hollywood adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in 2003 (co-starring Sean Connery), where he played 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 Vishal Bhardwaj's Indian adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth, titled Maqbool, in 2003, and Rajiv Rai's Asambhav opposite Arjun Rampal and Priyanka Chopra in 2004.

He then went on to work in The Great New Wonderful (2005).

Shah played a pivotal role in Today's Special, Aasif Mandvi's 2009 independent comedy film.

In 2011, Shah was seen in The Dirty Picture.

He acted in Anup Kurian's The Blueberry Hunt, playing a recluse growing marijuana in his forest retreat, and in Waiting, starring opposite Kalki Koechlin, both of which were released in 2016.

Shah made his Pakistani film debut in Khuda Ke Liye by Shoaib Mansoor, where he played a short cameo.