# Saurabh Shukla

Saurabh Shukla (born 5 March 1963) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, and film director who works in Hindi and a few Tamil and Telugu films. He is best known for his roles in Satya (1998), Nayak: The Real Hero (2001), Yuva (2004), Lage Raho Munna Bhai (2006), Barfi! (2012), Jolly LLB (2013); for latter, he won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. Other notable films are 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.

## 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 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.

## Career

Shukla began serious theatre in 1986 with roles in plays like A View From The Bridge (Arthur Miller), Look Back in Anger (John Osborne), Ghashiram Kotwal (Vijay Tendulkar) 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.
Shukla also did the role of Vijay Anand's sidekick Gopi in the 1994 Doordarshan crime drama 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, which had Raghubir Yadav 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 for Best Screenplay alongside Anurag Kashyap.
"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:
   If you carefully see my work, it is all [comedy]. We usually categorize subjects as comedy and serious. But there is more than just this. Like when we laugh, we sometimes also cry. There can be certain viciousness to this action if there is too much of it. It is the same with romance, which gets too much after a point. There is always a comic element in every situation.
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 and Academy Award-winning Slumdog Millionaire, as the character Constable Srinivas. In 2013, he appeared as policeman Sudhanshu Dutta in Barfi!, a film through which director Anurag Basu and co-actor Ranbir Kapoor, he said, "revived [him] as an actor".

## Filmography
### Films

Key :
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1994 | Bandit Queen | Kailash | |
| 1996 | Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin | Vilas Pandey | |
| 1998 | Kareeb | Birju's father | |
| 1998 | Zakhm | Gurdayal Singh | |
| 1998 | Satya | Kallu Mama | |
| 1999 | Taal | Banerjee | |
| 1999 | Arjun Pandit | Johnny | |
| 1999 | Baadshah | Saxena | |
| 1999 | Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan | Mr. Malhotra "Chhotey" | |
| 2000 | Hey Ram | Manohar Lalwani | Hindi-Tamil bilingual film. |
| 2000 | Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!! | Gaitonde | |
| 2000 | Mohabbatein | Sanjana's father | |
| 2000 | Snip! | Munna | |
| 2001 | Nayak: The Real Hero | Pandurang | |
| 2001 | Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar | Mama Kaanden | |
| 2001 | Moksha | Kale | |
| 2002 | Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai | Lachhu Mama | |
| 2002 | Karz: The Burden of Truth | Suraj's drunk friend | Uncredited |
| 2003 | Yeh Dil | Economics Teacher | |
| 2003 | Calcutta Mail | Ghatak | |
| 2003 | Raghu Romeo | Mario | |
| 2003 | Xcuse Me | Hotel Manager | |
| 2003 | Mumbai Matinee | Nitin Kapoor | |
| 2003 | Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi | Senior Bihari Constable | |
| 2003 | Mudda - The Issue | Dinanath | |
| 2004 | Yuva | Gopal | |
| 2005 | Balu ABCDEFG | Khan's brief | Telugu film |
| 2005 | Mumbai Xpress | Kishore Mehta | |
| 2005 | Anniyan | Cable Company Owner | Tamil film Dubbed as Aparichitudu in Telugu and Aparichit (2006) in Hindi |
| 2005 | Yakeen | Chamanlal | |
| 2005 | Home Delivery | Pandey | |
| 2005 | Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow | Rajesh Jalan | |
| 2005 | Chehraa | Director | |
| 2005 | Allari Bullodu | Karim Lala | Telugu film |
| 2006 | Mixed Doubles | Sammy | |
| 2006 | Lage Raho Munna Bhai | Batuk Maharaj | |
| 2006 | Care of Footpath | Ranga | Kannada film |
| 2007 | Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love | Dotcom Paaji | |
| 2007 | Khoya Khoya Chand | Producer Khosa | |
| 2007 | Showbiz | Inder Raj Bahl | |
| 2008 | My Name is Anthony Gonsalves | Murthy | |
| 2008 | Mithya | Shetty | |
| 2008 | De Taali | Godbole | |
| 2008 | Hari Puttar: A Comedy of Terrors | Diesel | |
| 2008 | Slumdog Millionaire | Head Constable Srinivas | English/Hindi film |
| 2008 | Dasvidaniya | Dasgupta | |
| 2008 | Oh, My God | God | |
| 2009 | Luck By Chance | Nand Kishore | |
| 2009 | Love Khichdi | Krishnan | |
| 2009 | Chintu Ji | Malkani | |
| 2010 | Tera Kya Hoga Johnny | Begum | |
| 2010 | Lahore | Madhav Suri | |
| 2010 | Paathshaala | Lallan Sharma | |
| 2010 | Mirch | Satish | |
| 2011 | Utt Pataang | Nandu Pandey | |
| 2011 | Yeh Saali Zindagi | Mehta | |
| 2011 | Aarakshan | Mantri Baburao | |
| 2011 | Shakal Pe Mat Ja | Vijay Dinanath Chauhan | |
| 2011 | Pappu Can't Dance Saala | Producer of dance album | |
| 2012 | Staying Alive | Shaukat Ali | |
| 2012 | I M 24 | | |
| 2012 | Barfi! | Sudhanshu Dutta | Nominated—IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated— Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards for Best Actor in a Supporting Role |
| 2012 | Delhi Safari | Bharela | Voice only |
| 2012 | The Last Act | Theatre troupe director | |
| 2013 | David | David's father | |
| 2013 | Jolly LLB | Justice Sunderlal Tripathi | National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 2013 | Phata Poster Nikhla Hero | Gundappa Das | |
| 2013 | Kalpvriksh | Shankar Dada | |
| 2014 | Gunday | Kaali Kaka | |
| 2014 | Main Tera Hero | Balli | |
| 2014 | Gang of Ghosts | Bhoothnath Bhaduri | |
| 2014 | Ek Tho Chance | TBA | |
| 2014 | Kick | Brijesh Mehra | |
| 2014 | PK | Tapasvi Maharaj | |
| 2015 | Kaun Kitne Paani Mein | Braj Singh Deo | |
| 2015 | Mohalla Assi | Upadhyay Pandit | |
| 2016 | Dhilluku Dhuddu | Kajal's father | Tamil film dubbed as Raj Mahal 3 (2017) in Hindi. |
| 2017 | Jolly LLB 2 | Justice Sunderlal Tripathi | |
| 2017 | The Wishing Tree (2017) | Dhaba Owner | |
| 2017 | Jagga Jasoos | Ex IB Officer Sinha | |
| 2018 | Raid | Rameshwar "Rajaji" Singh a.k.a. "Tauji" | |
| 2018 | Shabhash Kundu | Robin Roy | |
| 2018 | Daas Dev | Awadesh Pratap Chauhan | |
| 2019 | Fraud Saiyaan | Murari Chaurasia | |
| 2019 | Family Of Thakurganj | Baba Bhandari | |
| 2019 | Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyun Aata Hai? | Nayyar | Remake of classic Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyoon Aata Hai |
| 2019 | The Zoya Factor | Nikhil's dad | |
| 2019 | The Verdict - State vs Nanavati | Russi Karanjia | Web series on ALTBalaji and ZEE5 |
| 2019 | Ujda Chaman | Guruji | |
| 2019 | Bala | Hari Shukla | |
| 2019 | Pagalpanti | Raja Sahab | |
| 2019 | Aadhaar | Parmanand Singh | |
| 2020 | Chhalaang | Mr. Shukla | |
| 2021 | Madam Chief Minister | Master Suraj Bhan |
| 2021 | The Big Bull | Manu Malpani | |
| 2021 | Tadap | Ishana's father | |
| 2022 | Shamshera | Shamshera's friend, Bali's ally | |
| 2022 | Drishyam 2 | Murad Ali | |
| 2022 | Bhediya | Bagga, Bhaskar's boss | |
| 2025 | Jolly LLB 3 † | Justice Sunderlal Tripathi | Filming |
| TBA | Identity Card † | Ghulam Nabi | Post-production |
| TBA | No Rules for Fools † | TBA | Post-production |
| TBA | Manohar Pandey † | TBA | |

### Web series

| Year | Title | Role | Platform | Notes |
| 2022 | Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein | Akheraj Awasthi "Vidrohi", Purva's Father | Netflix | |
| 2023 | Pop Kaun? | KBC | Disney+ Hotstar | |

### As writer and director

| Year | Film | Director | Producer | Screenwriter | Notes |
| 1998 | Satya | | | Yes | Star Screen Awards for Best Screenplay with Anurag Kashyap |
| 2000 | Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!! | | | Yes | |
| 2003 | Raghu Romeo | | | Yes | |
| 2003 | Calcutta Mail | | | Yes | Nominated—Zee Cine Award for Best Screenplay |
| 2003 | Mudda - The Issue | Yes | | Yes | |
| 2005 | Chehraa | Yes | | Yes | |
| 2005 | Mumbai Xpress | | | Yes | |
| 2007 | Salaam-e-Ishq: A Tribute to Love | | | Yes | |
| 2008 | Mithya | | | Yes | |
| 2009 | Acid Factory | | | Yes | |
| 2009 | Raat Gayi Baat Gayi? | Yes | | Yes | New York South Asian International Film Festival for Best Film with Rajat Kapoor |
| 2011 | Utt Pataang | | | Yes | |
| 2011 | Pappu Can't Dance Saala | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 2012 | Fatso! | | | Yes | |
| 2012 | I M 24 | Yes | | Yes | |
| 2023 | Dry Day | Yes | | Yes |

### As lyricist

| Year | Film | Notes |
| 2006 | Mixed Doubles | |

## 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.