Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1949) is an
Indian film and stage actor and director,
and a prominent figure in Indian parallel
cinema. He has won numerous awards in his
career, including three National Film Awards,
three Filmfare Awards and an award at the
Venice Film Festival. The Government of India
has honoured him with the Padma Shri and the
Padma Bhushan awards for his contributions
to Indian cinema. Shah has also acted in Pakistani
films.
== Early life ==
Shah was born into a Muslim family in Barabanki,
Uttar Pradesh, India, as one of the three
sons of Aley Mohammed Shah and his wife Farrukh
Sultan. He is a descendant of a 19th-century
Sayyid Afghan warlord Jan-Fishan Khan (Sayyid
Muhammad Shah), who participated in the First
Anglo-Afghan War and helped the British in
the subsequent Indian Rebellion of 1857.Shah
did his schooling at St. Anselm's Ajmer and
St Joseph's College, Nainital. 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, was Vice-Chancellor
of Aligarh Muslim University, whose son Mohommed
Ali Shah is an actor. Shah's nephew Salim
Shah is also a TV and film actor.
== Career ==
Shah has acted in movies 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, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro, And Jalwa.
to name a few.Shah became active in mainstream
Bollywood cinema with the 1980 film Hum Paanch.
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. His next major success
in mainstream films was the 1986 multi-starrer
film Karma where he acted alongside veteran
Dilip Kumar. 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).
He has acted in several multi-starrer Bollywood
films as well, such as Ghulami (1985), Tridev
(1989) and Vishwatma (1992). 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 critically
well acclaimed 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. In 2000, his dream of playing Mahatma
Gandhi was realised when he played Gandhi
in Kamal Hassan's critically acclaimed Hey
Ram which focused on the assassination of
Gandhi from the assailant's point of view.
Shah won critical acclaim by playing the role
of Mohit, the drunken coach to a deaf and
mute boy in Iqbal, which was written by Vipul
K Rawal with Shah specially in mind.
Shah was praised 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 critically
acclaimed A Wednesday (2008).
Shah has also starred in international projects,
such as Monsoon Wedding in 2001 and a Hollywood
comic book adaptation The League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen in 2003 (co-starring Sean Connery),
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 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). 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. 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.
=== As a director ===
Naseeruddin Shah has been giving performances
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.
His directorial debut in movies, Yun Hota
To Kya Hota, was released in 2006. It stars
several established actors such as Konkona
Sen Sharma, Paresh Rawal, Irrfan Khan, then-newcomer
Ayesha Takia, his son Imaad Shah and his old
friend Ravi Baswani.
=== Other media and art forms ===
In 1977, Shah, Tom Alter and Benjamin Gilani
formed a theatre group called Motley Productions.
Their first play was Samuel Beckett's Waiting
for Godot, which was staged at the Prithvi
Theatre on 29 July 1979.In 1988, he acted
in the eponymous television series based on
the life and times of Mirza Ghalib, directed
by Gulzar and telecast on DD National.In 1989,
he acted as the Maratha King Shivaji in another
eponymous television series Bharat Ek Khoj
based on Jawaharlal Nehru's book The Discovery
of India.In mid 1990s, Shah also hosted some
episodes of science magazine programme Turning
Point.In 1999, he acted as a special agent
in the TV series Tarkash on 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 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
in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi. In 2000,
he again portrayed the Mahatma, this time
on film, in Hey Ram.He played the villain
with the dual identity of a ghazal singer
and a Pakistani spy who supports terrorism
in India in Sarfarosh (1999).He was the first
of several celebrity actors, who played the
role of narrator in the popular audiobook
series for kids Karadi Tales. He was the narrator
in the film Paheli — the Indian entry to
the 2006 Academy Awards.In 2017, Shah returned
to film, starring in Shakespearean adaption
The Hungry, screened under special presentations
at the Toronto International Film Festival
2017.
== Personal life ==
In the 1970s, Shah had met and fallen in love
with Ratna Pathak, the daughter of Dina Pathak,
a well-respected character actress. Ratna's
sister, the actress Supriya Pathak, is married
to the actor Pankaj Kapoor, who is the father
of Shahid Kapoor by his first marriage. During
the 70s and 80s, Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna
Pathak co-starred in several films like Jaane
Tu... Ya Jaane Na, Mirch Masala and The Perfect
Murder. They were in a live-in relationship
for many years, while Shah put together the
mehr required to divorce Manara. Shah and
Pathak were finally married in 1982. By his
second marriage, Shah has two sons, Imaad
and Vivaan, both of whom are aspiring actors.
The couple lives in Mumbai with Heeba, Imaad
and Vivaan.
== Autobiography ==
Shah's memoir is titled And Then One Day,
and was published by Hamish Hamilton.
== Awards ==
=== Other awards ===
2000: Won: Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
2000: Won: International Indian Film Academy
Awards — Artistic Excellence for Performance
in a Negative Role for Sarfarosh
Shah has been awarded the life membership
of International Film And Television Club
of Asian Academy of Film & Television.
== Filmography ==
== 
See also ==
List of Bollywood villains
