Saurabh Shukla (born 5 March 1963) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, and film director who works in
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...
and a few
Tamil and
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
films. He is famous for his roles in ''
Satya'' (1998), ''
Nayak: The Real Hero'' (2001), ''
Yuva'' (2004), ''
Lage Raho Munna Bhai'' (2006), ''
Barfi!
''Barfi!'' is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Anurag Basu and produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as the eponymous lead, alongs ...
'' (2012), ''
Jolly LLB'' (2013), ''
Kick'' (2014), ''
PK'' (2014), ''
Jolly LLB 2'' (2017)'' and
Raid'' (2018). He has also worked in a short documentary with Ruth Agnihotri and Rachael Agnihotri in Goa.
In 2014, he won the
National Film Award for
Best Supporting Actor for his role in ''
Jolly LLB''.
Early life
Born to Jogamaya Shukla, who was the first female tabla player of India and Shatrughan Shukla, a vocalist from Agra Gharana, Shukla's family left
Gorakhpur for
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 wi ...
when he was two years old. He completed his schooling and did graduation from
S.G.T.B. Khalsa College, Delhi. His professional career began in 1984 with entry into the theatre.
[Fat lot of good](_blank)
Rediff, 1998.
Career
Shukla began serious theatre in 1986 with roles in plays like ''
A View From The Bridge'' (
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), ''Death of a Salesman'' (19 ...
), ''
Look Back in Anger
''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...
'' (
John Osborne
John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his prose that criticized established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play '' Look Back in Anger'' tr ...
), ''
Ghashiram Kotwal'' (
Vijay Tendulkar
Vijay Dhondopant Tendulkar (6 January 1928 – 19 May 2008) was a leading Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist, and social commentator primarily in Marāthi. His Marathi plays established him as ...
) and ''Hayvadan''. In 1991, he joined the NSD Repertoire Company – the professional wing of the
National School of Drama – as an actor.
The next year he got his first break when
Shekhar Kapur, impressed with his work, created a role for him in ''
Bandit Queen
''Bandit Queen'' is a 1994 Indian Hindi-language biographical action-adventure film based on the life of Phoolan Devi as covered in the book ''India's Bandit Queen: The True Story of Phoolan Devi'' by the Indian author Mala Sen. It was written, ...
''.
Shukla also did the role of
Vijay Anand's
sidekick Gopi in the 1994
Doordarshan
Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest b ...
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
''
Tehkikaat''. The series was directed by
Karan Razdan, but Kapur directed the first episode. He also wrote and acted in Zee TV's ''
9 Malabar Hill''.
He also appeared in a recurring albeit a short role of an aamir's jasoos (chieftain's spy) in the 1990s Doordarshan TV serial
Mulla Nasiruddin
''Mulla Nasruddin'' was a television programme on Doordarshan, which aired in 1990. The titular role was played by Raghubir Yadav, who pops up in all sorts of places with his faithful donkey Fidhu.
The episodes were based on stories of Nasredd ...
, which had
Raghubir Yadav
Raghubir Yadav is an Indian actor, music composer, singer and set designer who works in Hindi films. He made his film debut with ''Massey Sahib'' (1985), in which he played the title role. He has won two International Awards as Best Actor for ...
in the lead role. The series was based on the folklore of Mulla Nasiruddin.
Shukla is also a part of a comic theater play ''2 to Tango, 3 to Jive.''
Breakthrough (1998–present)
Shukla's biggest break came when he co-wrote the script for
Ram Gopal Varma's 1998 cult classic ''
Satya'' and played the role of gangster Kallu Mama in the film. He won the
Star Screen Award
The Screen Awards is an annual awards ceremony held in India honouring professional excellence in Bollywood. The nomination and award selection is done by a panel of distinguished professionals from the industry. The awards were introduced by t ...
for Best Screenplay alongside
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 aw ...
.
"Why do I make realistic films, like Satya? Because that's the kind of films I like to do. Capturing reality is very difficult and challenging," he said in a 2000 interview to
Rediff.com, making it clear that he prefers realism in his scripts. In the same interview he also talked about his preferred genre of film making –
comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term ori ...
:
In 2003, he wrote the screenplay for ''
Calcutta Mail''. He received his first award for this film, the
Zee Cine Award for Best Screenplay. In 2008, he acted in his first international film, the
Golden Globe
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
and
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
-winning ''
Slumdog Millionaire
''Slumdog Millionaire'' is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel '' Q & A'' (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Pat ...
'', as the character Constable Srinivas. In 2013, he appeared as policeman Sudhanshu Dutta in ''
Barfi!
''Barfi!'' is a 2012 Indian Hindi-language romantic comedy drama film directed by Anurag Basu and produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur under UTV Motion Pictures. The film stars Ranbir Kapoor as the eponymous lead, alongs ...
'', a film through which director
Anurag Basu and co-actor
Ranbir Kapoor
Ranbir Kapoor (; born 28 September 1982) is an Indian actor known for his work in Hindi-language films. He is one of the highest-paid actors of Hindi cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. Kapoor is the re ...
, he said, "revived
imas an actor".
Filmography
As actor
As writer and director
As lyricist
Awards
Shukla won the
National Film Award and the
Screen Award for the Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in ''
Jolly LLB''.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shukla, Saurabh
1963 births
Living people
Indian male film actors
Male actors from Delhi
People from Gorakhpur
Indian male television actors
Indian male stage actors
Indian male screenwriters
Hindi-language film directors
Delhi University alumni
Best Supporting Actor National Film Award winners
Screen Awards winners
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Film directors from Delhi
Screenwriters from Delhi
Hindi screenwriters