Zeishan Quadri is an Indian writer, actor, director and producer who wrote the story and co-wrote the

screenplay ''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993. Background After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, fe ...

for the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

crime genre film ''

Gangs of Wasseypur ''Gangs of Wasseypur'' is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language two-part crime film produced and directed by Anurag Kashyap, and written by Kashyap and Zeishan Quadri. Centered on the coal mafia (Mafia Raj) of Dhanbad, and the underlying power struggle ...

'', directed by

Anurag Kashyap Anurag Kashyap (born 10 September 1972) is an Indian filmmaker and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to film, the Government of France a ...

. Quadri has also acted in ''

Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2 A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

''. He has directed and produced the film ''

Meeruthiya Gangsters ''Meeruthiya Gangsters'' () is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language crime-comedy film written and directed by Zeishan Quadri and produced by Gibran Noorani. The film score is composed by Vivek Kar and Siddhant Mishra. ''Meeruthiya Gangsters'' was releas ...

''.

Early life

Zeishan Quadri was born in

Wasseypur Wasseypur is a neighbourhood locality in the city of Dhanbad in Dhanbad Sadar subdivision of Dhanbad district in the state of Jharkhand in India. Wasseypur was once in Bengal, then in Bihar and is now in Jharkhand. Surrounded by coal rich region ...

Dhanbad Dhanbad is the second-most populated city in the Indian state of Jharkhand after Jamshedpur. It ranks as the 42nd largest city in India and is the 33rd largest million-plus urban agglomeration in India. Dhanbad shares its land borders with Pa ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

(now in

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

) in 1983. He is the only son and the youngest child of Syed Imran Quadri, a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

. Quadri grew up in a strict and protective environment. He has two elder sisters. Quadri was educated in

. Quadri left Dhanbad to study for

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(BA) from Meerut. Quadri worked in a

call center A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center (American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone. ...

and for HCL computers in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

for 18 months before coming to Mumbai in 2008.

Film career

In 2009, Quadri moved to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

to pursue a career in

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

. Quadri studied

world cinema World cinema is a term in film theory that refers to films made outside of the American motion picture industry, particularly those in opposition to the aesthetics and values of commercial American cinema.Nagib, Lúcia. "Towards a positive de ...

including film makers such as

Majid Majidi Majid Majidi ( fa, مجید مجیدی, ; born 17 April 1959) is an Iranian film director, producer, and screenwriter, who started his film career as an actor. In his films, Majidi has touched on many themes and genres and has won numerous inte ...

, Fateh Akın and

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

. Quadri has worked in the genre of Bollywood crime films. His film ''

Revolver Rani ''Revolver Rani'' () is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language crime comedy drama film written and directed by Sai Kabir. Presented by Wave Cinemas, the film stars Kangana Ranaut and Vir Das, with Piyush Mishra, Zakir Hussain and Pankaj Saraswat in suppor ...

'' was directed by

Sai Kabir Sai or SAI may refer to: Companies * Science Applications Incorporated, original name of Leidos * ICAO designator for Shaheen Air, a Pakistani airline * Skandinavisk Aero Industri, a former Danish aeroplane manufacturer * Software Architects, Inc ...

and starred

Kangana Ranaut Kangna Amardeep Ranaut (; born 23 March 1987) is an Indian actress and filmmaker who works in Hindi films. Known for her work in female-led films, she is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards and five Filmfar ...

and

vir Das Vir Das (born 31 May 1979) is an Indian comedian, actor and musician. After beginning a career in standup comedy, Das moved to Hindi cinema starring in films like ''Badmaash Company'' (2010), '' Delhi Belly'' (2011), and ''Go Goa Gone'' (2013) ...

. His first film as a director and producer was ''

''. The editing of the film has been done by veteran filmmaker Anurag Kashyap who presented the film along with Prateek Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Quadri visited many cities for the promotion of the film including

Aligarh Aligarh (; formerly known as Allygarh, and Kol) is a city in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Aligarh district, and lies northwest of state capital Lucknow and approximately southeast of the capita ...

at Aligarh Muslim University.

Projects

In 2014, Quadri acted in a movie directed by Vipin Sharma and produced by Bohra bros, as well as a negative lead in the upcoming movie ''Banana'' directed by Sajid Ali, produced by

John Abraham Entertainment John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor, film producer, writer and former model working in Hindi films. He has won a National Film Award and received five Filmfare nominations. After modelling for advertisements and companies, ...

. He is also working on a script with

Madhur Bhandarkar Madhur Bhandarkar (born 26 August 1968) is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer. In 2016,Bhandarkar was honoured with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour, by the Government of India. The drama film ''Chandni Ba ...

for his upcoming movie ''Madamji'' starring

Priyanka Chopra Priyanka Chopra Jonas (; ; born 18 July 1982) is an Indian actress and producer. The winner of the Miss World 2000 pageant, Chopra is one of India's highest-paid actresses and has received numerous accolades, including two National Film Awar ...

. He has written a script ''Oh Womaniya'' for

Pritish Nandy Communications Pritish Nandy (born 15 January 1951) is an Indian poet, painter, journalist, parliamentarian, media and television personality, animal activist and maker of films, TV and streaming content. He was a parliamentarian in the Rajya Sabha from Mahara ...

to be helmed by Anu Menon, and a script for

Fardeen Khan Fardeen Khan (; born 8 March 1974) is an Indian actor. He is the recipient of a Filmfare Award (1999) and is the son of the actor, director, and film producer Feroz Khan. Early life and education Fardeen Khan was born on 8 March 1974 in Mumba ...

Productions tentatively titled ''Firauti''. According to ''Mumbai Mirror'', Anurag Kashyap and Quadri are collaborating on the third installment of the ''

'' franchise, with Kashyap insisting that Quadri writes and directs the film. Quadri initially planned to produce ''

Sarbjit Sarabjit or Sarbjit is a gender-neutral Punjabi Indian and Pakistani given name. Notable people with the name include: * Rai Sarabjit Singh (1853-1910), Indian ruler of a princely state * Sarabjit Ladda (born 1982), Indian cricketer * Sarabjit Si ...

'', and brought in

Omung Kumar Omung Kumar Bhandula is an Indian film director, and production designer, known for his works in Hindi cinema. He had hosted one of the famous show Ek Minute on Zee TV 90s. He made his directorial debut with the 2014 biographical sports drama '' ...

, who directed the film released in 2016. Quadri and

Ekta Kapoor Ekta Kapoor (born 7 June 1975) is an Indian television producer, film producer and director who works in Hindi cinema and soap opera. She is the joint managing director and creative head of Balaji Telefilms Limited, which was founded in 1994. ...

are collaborating on a new non-fiction TV series.

Awards

;Honours * Jury member at the 8th

Filmsaaz Filmsaaz is an international short film festival began in 2008 by the University Film Club, Aligarh Muslim University. Until the fifth edition of the festival in 2012, it was a national-level competition, but beginning with the sixth edition i ...

''Gangs of Wasseypur 2''

"Gangs of Wasseypur" is based on real life events in the

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

rich city of

. It is a story about the "coal mafia" that spans several generations from 1941 to 2010 in two parts. On 30 May 2009, Quadri's story was sold to

. Quadri negotiated to write the script and play the character "Definite" in the second part.

Filmography

Films

Web Series

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quadri, Zeishan 1983 births Living people Indian male film actors Indian male screenwriters Male actors from Bihar People from Dhanbad district Male actors from Jharkhand De Nobili Schools alumni Screenwriters from Bihar