Nassar (born Muhammad Hanif; 5 March 1958) is an Indian actor, director, producer, dubbing artist, singer and politician who mainly works in the
Tamil,
Telugu and
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
film industries. He has also worked in few
Kannada
Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...
,
English,
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
and
Bengali films. He is the incumbent president of the
Nadigar Sangam.
Early life and education
Nassar was born as Muhammad Hanif on March 5, 1958, into a
Tamil family in
Palur,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. His parents were Mehaboob Basha and Mumtaz. He studied in
St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School (Chengalpattu). He moved to
Madras
Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
(now Chennai) after school, where he finished his pre-university at
Madras Christian College. At Madras Christian College, he was an active member of the Dramatic Society. Later for a brief time, he worked in the
Indian Air Force. He trained in two acting schools: the
South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce's Film Institute and the Tamil Nadu Institute for Film and Television Technology.
Career
Nassar made his acting debut in
K. Balachander's ''
Kalyana Agathigal'' (1985) portraying a secondary supporting role, before moving on to play villainous roles in
S. P. Muthuraman's ''
Velaikaran'' (1987) and ''
Vanna Kanavugal'' (1987). He played the protagonist in
Yuhi Sethu's ''
Kavithai Paada Neramillai'' (1987), though his breakthrough role came through his performance as a police officer in
Mani Ratnam's ''
Nayakan'' (1987). He subsequently became a regular in Mani Ratnam and
Kamal Haasan
Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...
's ventures, appearing in pivotal character roles in ''
Roja'' (1992), ''
Thevar Magan'' (1992), ''
Bombay
Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...
'' (1995), ''
Kuruthipunal'' (1995), ''
Chachi 420'' (1997) and ''
Iruvar'' (1997).
Nassar made his directorial debut with ''
Avatharam'' (1995), a film based on the backdrop of a folk art troupe. Starring
Revathi as his co-star, Nassar stated that the idea had come to him as a result of his childhood memories of watching
theru koothu being performed on the streets alongside his father. The film won critical acclaim, but failed to become a commercially successful venture.
Soon afterwards, he made ''
Devathai'' (1997), stating he remembered a story he had first heard as a child, which became the "creative seed for this film" about reincarnation.
He stated that his immediate busy schedule had subsequently cost him a role in
Aamir Khan's ''
Lagaan'' (2001). He subsequently continued to work in films in the late 1990s, portraying a blind musician in
Rajiv Menon's ''
Minsara Kanavu'' (1997), a political leader in
Mani Ratnam's ''
Iruvar'' (1997) and as the father of a pair of separated twins in
S. Shankar's ''
Jeans'' (1998).
In Malayalam cinema, he is noted for his roles alongside
Mohanlal in films like ''
Mukham'' (1990), ''
Butterflies'' (1993) and ''
Olympian Anthony Adam'' (1999). Some of the films that he has acted in Telugu include ''
Chanti'' (1992), ''
Seshu'' (2002), ''
Bhageeratha'' (2005), ''
Athadu'' (2005), ''
Pokiri'' (2006), ''
Golimaar'' (2010), ''
Shakthi'' (2011), ''
Dookudu'' (2011), ''
Businessman'' (2012) and among others.
Besides South Indian language films, he has acted in Hindi language films like ''
Chachi 420'' (1997), ''
Phir Milenge'' (2004), ''
Nishabd'' (2007), ''
Rowdy Rathore'' (2012), (2016) and ''
Serious Men'' (2020) among others.
He played Bijjaladeva, a pivotal role in the films ''
Baahubali: The Beginning'' (2015) and ''
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion'' (2017).
He was seen as the mysterious antagonist in ''
Ponniyin Selvan: I'' (2022) and ''
Ponniyin Selvan: II'' (2023). He plays a two-faced character in the Hindi web series ''
The Jengaburu Curse'' (2023).
Personal life
Nassar is married to psychologist and producer turned politician Kameela and they have three sons. The eldest, Abdul Asan Faizal, was initially reported to be making his acting debut in a film to be produced by
T. Siva, but eventually did not do so. In 2014, he was involved in a serious road accident but recovered after being critically injured. Their second son,
Luthfudeen, made his acting debut in
A. L. Vijay's ''
Saivam'' (2014) portraying the grandson of the character played by Nassar. Their third son Abi Hassan is also an actor and featured in Nassar's ''
Sun Sun Thatha'' (2012) as well as
Rajesh Selva's 2019 action thriller ''
Kadaram Kondan''.
References
External links
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{{authority control
Indian male film actors
20th-century Indian people
Tamil male actors
Indian male voice actors
Living people
1958 births
Male actors in Kannada cinema
Male actors in Tamil cinema
Male actors in Hindi cinema
Male actors in Malayalam cinema
Madras Christian College alumni
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners
Tamil Muslims
Actors from Kanchipuram district
Male actors in Telugu cinema
Film directors from Chennai
Male actors from Chennai
Film producers from Chennai