Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor and director. He has acted in over 100 films and directed the 2006 Bollywood film, Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota, starring Irrfan Khan and Konkana Sen Sharma.
He began his acting career playing Vishwan in the 1975 Hindi film, Nishant. Since then, he has done several movies in English and some regional languages of India while he mainly appeared in Hindi films.
He published his autobiography in 2014, titled And then one day: A Memoir.
Feature films
Hindi films Year Film Role Notes Ref. 1975 Nishant Vishwam 1976 Manthan Bhola 1977 Bhumika Sunil Verma Godhuli Priest 1978 Junoon Sarfaraz Khan Hungama Bombay Ishtyle Raju 1979 Sparsh Aniruddh Parmar Sunayana Raju 1980 Beqasoor Sunil Verma Aakrosh Bhaskar Kulkarni Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai Albert Pinto Hum Paanch Suraj Khwab Gopal 'Gopi' Mathur 1981 Chakra Lukka Sazaye Maut Uday Jagirdar / Omkar Puri Tajurba Umrao Jaan Gohar Mirza 1982 Bazaar Salim Sitam Subhash Dil...Akhir Dil Hai Vimal Mehta 1983 Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro Vinod Chopra Katha Rajaram Purshottam Joshi Masoom D.K. Malhotra Mandi Tungrus Woh Saat Din Dr. Anand Ardh Satya Mike Lobo 1984 Paar Naurangia Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho! Advocate Malkani Maan Maryada Thakur Ganga Singh Party Amrit Cameo Holi Professor Singh Khandhar Subhash 1985 Ghulami SP Sultan Singh Trikaal Ruiz Pereira Mirch Masala Subedar Apna Jahan Anil Sahani Khamosh Captain Bakshi 1986 Karma Khairuddin Chishti Genesis The Farmer Musafir 1987 Jalwa Inspector Kapil Yeh Woh Manzil To Nahin Trivedi Ijaazat Mahender 1988 Hero Hiralal Hero Hiralal Maalamaal Raj Rihaee Mansukh Pestonjee Phirojshah 1989 Tridev Jay Singh 1990 Police Public Sr. Inspector Mahar Singh Gadhwal Chor Pe Mor Inspector Chanakya 1991 Ek Ghar Rajashekhara K. S Sau Crore Somnath Lakshmanrekha Amar Kapoor 1992 Vishwatma Suryapratap Singh Chamatkar Amar Kumar (Marco) Panaah Devaa Hasti Vishal Tahalka Captain Ranvir 1993 Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa Father Breganza Sir Professor Amar Verma 1994 Mohra Mr. Kushal Jindal Drohkaal DCP Abbas Lodhi 1995 Naajayaz Raj Solanki Takkar Inspector De Costa 1996 Himmat Luka Chaahat Ajay Narang 1997 Bombay Boys Mastana Daava Bhishma 1998 Chinagate Major Sarfaraz Khan Dandnayak 1999 Sarfarosh Gulfaam Hasan Bhopal Express Bashir Kabhi Pass Kabhi Fail Punjabi Restaurant Owner 2000 Hey Ram Mahatma Gandhi Bilingual film 2001 Kasam Mangal Singh Monsoon Wedding Lalit Verma 2002 Encounter: The Killing Inspector Bharucha 3 Deewarein Ishaan 2003 Maqbool Inspector Purohit 2004 Asambhav Sameer "Sam" Hans Main Hoon Na Brig. Shekhar Sharma 2005 Paheli Male Puppet (voice) Iqbal Mohit 2006 Being Cyrus Dinshaw Sethna Krrish Dr. Siddhant Arya Omkara Bhaisaab Shoonya Old man Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota Narrator Banaras Babaji Valley of Flowers Yeti Bilingual film 2007 Parzania Cyrus Amal G.K. Jayaram Dus Kahaniyaan Muslim Man Segment:"Rice Plate" 2008 Mithya Gawde Shoot on Sight Tariq Ali Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na Amar Singh Rathore A Wednesday! A Common Man Maharathi Jaisingh Adenwalla Mere Baap Pehle Aap Nirmal Kapoor Bombay to Bangkok Khan 2009 Barah Aana Shukla Firaaq Khan Sahab Bolo Raam N.S. Negi 2010 Peepli Live Salim Kidwai Ishqiya Iftikhar Raajneeti Bhaskar Sanyal Allah Ke Banday Warden 2011 7 Khoon Maaf Dr. Modhusudhon Tarafdar That Girl in Yellow Boots Diwakar The Blueberry Hunt Colonel Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara Salman Habib The Dirty Picture Suryakanth Chaalis Chauraasi Pankaj Purushottam Suri (Sir) Michael Michael Chargesheet The Boss 2012 Maximum Arun Inamdar 2013 Sona Spa Baba Dayanand Jackpot Boss Siddharth Jisa Mastaan John Day John Day Krrish 3 Dr. Siddhant Arya Cameo Taak Jhaank Bilingual film 2014 Dedh Ishqiya Iftekhar (Khalu Jaan) Dil Bhi Khaali Jeb Bhi Khaali 2015 Dirty Politics Manoj Singh Dharam Sankat Mein Neel Anand Baba Welcome Back Wanted Bhai Charlie Kay Chakkar Mein Sanket Pujari Waiting Prof. Shiv Kumar 2016 Bankster Babbar Teraa Surroor Robin "Bird" Dharamraj Santino The Blueberry Hunt Colonel 2017 Ok Jaanu Gopi Shrivastava Irada Parabjeet Walia Begum Jaan Raja Sahib The Hungry Tathagat Ahuja 2018 Aiyaary Baburao Shastri Hope Aur Hum Nagesh Srivastava 2019 The Tashkent Files PKR Natrajan Ramprasad Ki Tehrvi Babuji 2020 Mee Raqsam Hashim Seth 2022 Gehraiyaan Vinod Khanna Naam Tha Kanhaiyalal Himself Documentary 2023 Kuttey Narayan Khobre 2025 Fateh Raza Gustaakh Ishq Aziz Baig / Babba 2026 Safia/Safdar Assi The umbrella man Main Vaapas Aaunga Ishar Singh Grewal 2027 Filming
Other language films Year Film Role Language Notes 1977 Tabbaliyu Neenade Magane Shastri Kannada 1980 Bhavni Bhavai King Chakrasen Gujarati 1982 Naseeb Ni Balihari 1983 Protidan Prabhat Roy Bengali 1988 The Perfect Murder Inspector Ghote English 1990 Mane (The House) Rajshekar Kannada 1994 Ponthan Mada Sheema Thampuran Malayalam 1998 Such A Long Journey Jimmy Bilimoria English 2000 Hey Ram Mahatma Gandhi Tamil Bilingual film 2003 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Captain Nemo English 2005 The Great New Wonderful Avi 2006 Valley of Flowers Yeti Japanese 2007 Khuda Ke Liye Maulana Wali Urdu 2009 Today's Special Akbar English 2011 Deool Dacoit Marathi 2013 Khasi Katha– A Goat Saga Butcher Bengali Zinda Bhaag Pehlwan Punjabi The Coffin Maker Anton Gomes English Sunglass Bengali 2014 Finding Fanny Ferdinand "Ferdie" Pinto English Khasi Katha Butcher Bengali 2016 Mango Dreams Abhay English Jeewan Hathi Urdu Gardaab 2017 Dhh Magician Surya Samrat Gujarati 2024 Far From Home Afghan, Hindi and English Documentary; Executive Producer 2025 The Brown Heart Himself English Documentary; Commentary 2026 Rehmat Rashid Ali Punjabi, English 2026 OM Chapter 1 – Udhiram: The Blood Wood Tamil
As director Yun Hota To Kya Hota (2006)
Short films Year Title Role Notes 2010 Wilson Periera Voice 2014 Interior Cafe Night The Man 2017 Punarjanma Narrator Voice2018 Skin Of Marble Bhupinder Singh Rogan Josh Vijay Kapoor 2019 Bin Bulaaye Saket Diwan The Wallet Samar 2022 Half Full Stranger The Miniaturist Of JunagadhHussain SahabThe Daughter 2023 2100 Foot Gulshan Jorahat The Broken Table Giridhar Man Woman Man Woman writer only
Television Year Title Role Notes Ref.1988 Bharat Ek Khoj Shivaji I Mirza Ghalib GhalibParam Vir Chakra Abdul Hamid1992 Electric Moon Rambuhj Goswami Television film 1998Turning PointHost1999TarkashPraveen2007KaramchandMr. RoyGuest 2015 Mid Wicket Tales Host2020Bandish BanditsRadhe Mohan Rathod2022Kaun Banegi ShikharwatiRaja Mrityunjay Singh ShikharwatModern Love MumbaiPappi SinghEpisode:"Mumbai Dragon"2023Taj: Divided by BloodAkbarSaas, Bahu Aur FlamingoSahebjiCharlie Chopra & The Mystery Of Solang ValleyDr. Rai2024ShowtimeViktor Khanna IC 814: The Kandahar HijackCabinet Secretary IAS Vinay Kaul2026Made In India: A Titan Story J. R. D. Tata
References