35 Facts About Naseeruddin Shah

1.

Naseeruddin Shah 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.

2.

Naseeruddin Shah's sister-in-law is actress Supriya Pathak, who is married to actor Pankaj Kapur.

3.

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

4.

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

5.

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

6.

Naseeruddin Shah acted with Aditya Pancholi in films like Maalamaal and Game.

7.

Naseeruddin Shah has acted in several multi-star Bollywood films as well, such as Ghulami, Tridev and Vishwatma.

8.

Naseeruddin Shah strongly believed that the distinction between art and commercial films had largely reduced, especially with the directors of the former making commercial films.

9.

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

10.

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

11.

Naseeruddin Shah has starred in international projects, such as Monsoon Wedding in 2001 and a Hollywood adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in 2003, where he played Captain Nemo.

12.

Naseeruddin Shah 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.

13.

Naseeruddin Shah then went on to work in The Great New Wonderful.

14.

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

15.

Naseeruddin Shah 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.

16.

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

17.

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

18.

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

19.

Naseeruddin Shah has directed several plays written by eminent people such as Saadat Hasan Manto, Ismat Chughtai and Lavendar Kumar.

20.

In 1977, Naseeruddin Shah, Tom Alter and Benjamin Gilani formed a theatre group called Motley Productions.

21.

In mid 1990s, Naseeruddin Shah hosted some episodes of science magazine programme Turning Point.

22.

Naseeruddin Shah played a retired agent haunted by nightmares who is re-inducted as he apparently knows something about a dreaded terrorist somehow connected with his past.

23.

Naseeruddin Shah played the villain with the dual identity of a ghazal singer and a Pakistani spy who supports terrorism in India in Sarfarosh.

24.

Naseeruddin Shah was the first of several celebrity actors, who played narrator in the popular audiobook series for kids Karadi Tales.

25.

In 2017, Naseeruddin Shah returned to film, starring in Shakespearean adaption The Hungry, screened under special presentations at the Toronto International Film Festival 2017.

26.

Naseeruddin Shah acted as lead in The Coffin Maker directed by Veena Bakshi, which however never got released in public but only remained for private viewership.

27.

Naseeruddin Shah was married to Manara Sikri and had a daughter, Heeba, with her.

28.

Naseeruddin Shah penned down his thoughts occasionally during this period until he finally came up with 100-odd pages.

29.

Naseeruddin Shah then presented the unfinished version to his friend, historian Ramchandra Guha, who encouraged Shah to complete it and send it to a publication house.

30.

Naseeruddin Shah's memoir is titled And Then One Day, and was published by Hamish Hamilton.

31.

In July 2016, Naseeruddin Shah blamed Rajesh Khanna for mediocrity in movies with his poor acting during the 1970s.

32.

Naseeruddin Shah stated that Khanna was not an alert person whom he had met.

33.

However, later after criticism from several people in the Bollywood fraternity including Khanna's daughter Twinkle, Naseeruddin Shah apologized about his views.

34.

In January 2020, Naseeruddin Shah was targeted by media after criticizing his co-actor colleague Anupam Kher for his views supporting the Indian government's Citizenship Amendment Act, calling him a clown and sycophant.

35.

Naseeruddin Shah stated that he felt unsafe in current day India and was worried about the safety of his children if they were caught in a mob violence situation.