Zakir Hussain is an Indian actor who primarily appears in

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 ...

films. He is known for his negative and comic roles. His best-known performances include those of Rashid in Ramgopal Varma's 2005 film '' Sarkar'', Shardul in Sriram Raghavan's 2007 film '' Johnny Gaddaar'' and Prakash Rao in Rohit Shetty's '' Singham Returns''.

Early life and background

Zakir Hussain was born and brought up in Jani Khurd, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. It was during his studies 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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

that he first got attracted to the world of theatre and cinema. He started out with "small time" theatre, and then joined the Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts. He then joined the prestigious National School of Drama and graduated in 1993.

Career

Hussain did theatre for a few years and then came to

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

to work in television and films. He started out with serials like ''Firdaus'', ''Kitty Party'' and ''Gaatha'', and this earned him recognition. Sriram Raghavan's 2004 film '' Ek Hasina Thi'' was his first film as actor. Hussain's role in the film was limited to two scenes, but he managed to impress director Ramgopal Varma, who then offered him the role of Rashid in ''Sarkar''. This role of a cold-blooded villain was much appreciated and Hussain received the "New Menace" award at the 2006 Stardust Film Awards. After ''Sarkar'', Varma cast Hussain in almost every production of his. Hussain's second noteworthy performance was his role of Shardul in another Raghavan film – '' Johnny Gaddaar''. This performance was so well received by audiences that people on the streets started addressing Hussain as Shardul. This was the film that brought him both decent pay cheques as well as fame. Hussain is also a talented musician – a percussionist as well as singer. However, he is not to be confused with the famous tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain (1951-2024), who starred in the film '' Heat and Dust''.

Filmography

Films

Television

Web series

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hussain, Zakir Indian male film actors Living people Male actors in Hindi cinema Actors from Meerut National School of Drama alumni Indian male television actors 21st-century Indian male actors Male actors from Uttar Pradesh Year of birth missing (living people)