Vijay Raaz (born 5 June 1963) is an Indian actor, film director and

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

, who predominantly appears in Hindi films. He debuted with ''Bhopal Express'' (1999) and since worked in more than 90 films. His breakthrough came when he played the role of Dubeyji in the movie ''

Monsoon Wedding ''Monsoon Wedding'' is a 2001 Indian comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair and written by Sabrina Dhawan. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah and Vasundhara Das. The story depicts romantic entanglements during a tradi ...

'' in 2001. Raaz garnered recognition for his comedic role in '' Run'' (2004) and ''

Dhamaal ''Dhamaal'' () is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Indra Kumar and produced by Ashok Thakeria. The film stars Sanjay Dutt, Ritesh Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Aashish Chaudhary and Javed Jaffrey in the lead roles while Asrani, ...

'' (2007). He is noted for playing gangster roles in '' Delhi Belly'' (2011) and ''

Dedh Ishqiya ''Dedh Ishqiya'' () is a 2014 Indian black comedy film directed by Abhishek Chaubey and starring Arshad Warsi, Naseeruddin Shah, Madhuri Dixit, Huma Qureshi and Vijay Raaz. Produced by Raman Maroo of Shemaroo Entertainment and by Vishal Bhara ...

'' (2014) as well as other notable films include '' Stree'' (2018),

Zoya Akhtar Zoya Akhtar (born 14 October 1972) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Hindi cinema. After completing a diploma in filmmaking from NYU, she assisted directors such as Mira Nair, Tony Gerber and Dev Benegal, before becomin ...

's ''

Gully Boy ''Gully Boy'' is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film directed by Zoya Akhtar, and written by Akhtar and Reema Kagti. The film was produced by Ritesh Sidhwani, Akhtar and Farhan Akhtar under the banners of Tiger Baby Films and Excel ...

'' (2019), ''

Lootcase ''Lootcase'' is a 2020 Indian black comedy crime film directed by Rajesh Krishnan, of '' TVF Tripling'' fame. The film is produced and bankrolled by Fox Star Studios. It features Kunal Kemmu and Rasika Dugal in lead roles, and Vijay Raaz, R ...

'' (2020),

Sanjay Leela Bhansali Sanjay Leela Bhansali (; born 24 February 1963) is an Indian filmmaker, director, screenwriter, and music composer who is known for his work in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several awards, including four National Film Awards, ten Filmfar ...

's ''

Gangubai Kathiawadi ''Gangubai Kathiawadi'' is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language biographical crime drama film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and produced by Bhansali and Jayantilal Gada. The film stars Alia Bhatt as the titular character with Ajay Devgn, Shantanu ...

'' (2022). In 2014, he debuted as a director with '' Kya Dilli Kya Lahore''. His gruff baritone voice has been used in voice-over work, including films and commercials.

Early life and career

Raaz was born 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 ...

on 5 June 1963. During his studies at P.G.D.A.V. College, University of Delhi, he was a part of the dramatic society. He decided to focus on film career and moved to

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

where he gained a small but significant role in

Ram Gopal Varma Penmetsa Ram Gopal Varma (born 7 April 1962), often referred to by his initials RGV, is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Telugu cinema in addition to Hindi, Kannada language films, and television.** * ...

's ''

Jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''ja� ...

''. Naseeruddin Shah had seen him perform at the

NSD In Internet computing, NSD (for "name server daemon") is an open-source Domain Name System (DNS) server. It was developed by NLnet Labs of Amsterdam in cooperation with the RIPE NCC, from scratch as an authoritative name server (i.e., not imple ...

and recommended him to Mahesh Mathai for '' Bhopal Express'' and to

Mira Nair Mira Nair (born 15 October 1957) is an Indian-American filmmaker based in New York City. Her production company, Mirabai Films, specializes in films for international audiences on Indian society, whether in the economic, social or cultural spher ...

for ''

''. After the success of ''Monsoon Wedding'', Raaz received many roles. His first mainstream film cast as the leading actor was ''

Raghu Romeo ''Raghu Romeo'' is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language black comedy film directed by Rajat Kapoor, starring Vijay Raaz, Sadiya Siddiqui, Maria Goretti, Manu Rishi and Saurabh Shukla. The film was released on 15 August 2003 to critical acclaim and succe ...

'', a box-office success where Raaz depicts the life of a confused lower-class Indian fellow. Raaz garnered recognition for his comedic role in the 2004 film '' Run''. In 2011, he played a ruthless gangster in '' Delhi Belly''. His gruff baritone voice has been used in voice-over work, including films and commercials.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Vijay Raaz: Filmography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raaz, Vijay Indian male film actors Living people People from Delhi Kirori Mal College alumni 1963 births