Born in 1950 in India, Naseeruddin Shah is an award-winning actor and an iconic figure of Indian cinema whose career spans more than three decades. He studied at the National School of Drama in Delhi before his debut role in Nishant (1975) opposite legendary Indian actresses Smita Patil and Shabana Azmi. Shah’s early roles defined him as one of the most important actors of Indian Parallel (or arthouse) Cinema. In the 1980s, he began to work on more mainstream projects such as Hum Paanch (1980) and Karma (1986). In 1983 he starred in Shekar Kapur’s directorial debut, Masoom, again with Shabana Azmi. He went on to make Mirch Masala (1985) and The Perfect Murder (1988) and played one of the three heroes in Rajiv Rai’s, Tridev(1989), which was a huge commercial success. He played Mahatma Gandhi in Hey Ram (2000) and is widely known for his performance as a hapless father arranging his daughter’s wedding in Mira Nair’s Monsoon Wedding (2001). In 2003, he played Captain Nemo in Stephen Norrington’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (co-starring Sean Connery) and his recent roles include the Pakistani film, Khuda Ke Liye (2007), and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (2008). Shah was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2009 by the Government of India, a civilian decoration to recognise distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
