# Yashpal Sharma (actor)

Yashpal Sharma is an Indian actor primarily working in Hindi-language films and theatre. He is best known for his role as Randhir Singh in Sudhir Mishra's 2003 Hindi movie Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, apart from Lagaan (2001), Gangaajal (2003), Ab Tak Chhappan (2004), Apaharan (2005), Lakshyam (2007), Singh Is Kinng (2008), Aarakshan (2011), Rowdy Rathore (2012), and Ayothi (2023), Kudi Haryane Val Di (2024).
He also played the role as Don Rana in a sequence of popular TV sitcom Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah (2008–present) on SAB TV. He played Kuwar Singh in Zee's Mera Naam Karegi Roshan. Yashpal is also a stage actor and appears in live plays. He formerly starred in Zee's Neeli Chhatri Waale. His Haryanvi film Pagdi: The Honour was awarded at the 62nd National Film Awards.

## Early life and education

Sharma was born and brought up in a lower-middle-class family in Hisar in the state of Haryana. Since childhood, he was interested in acting and used to actively organise and participate in Ramlila during Dasara festivals.
He graduated from the National School of Drama, Mandi House, New Delhi in 1994, the lead role of his theatre play franchise (Koi Baat Chale) with writer and director Ramji Bali.

## Career

After his graduation he joined the National School of Drama Repertory Company in Delhi, where he worked for about two years before moving to Mumbai in 1997.
His first big break was Govind Nihlani's film, Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa (1998), which gave him a chance to act alongside Jaya Bachchan and Nandita Das. He also started appearing in commercial films, like Shool and Arjun Pandit. However, it was the Academy Award-nominated Lagaan (2001) which brought him to the limelight, and thereafter he appeared in Gangajal (2003) and Ab Tak Chhappan. He has been a regular in films of Shyam Benegal and Prakash Jha and continues to work as a stage actor in Mumbai.
In 2010, he acted in Rage productions' bilingual play, One on One and the play Lakeerein, written by Gulzar and directed by Salim Arif, opposite actor, Lubna Salim.
He made his television debut with Mera Naam Karegi Roshan on Zee TV in 2010. Then he played a cameo role in Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah on SAB TV in 2011. The same year, he appeared in a significant role in Dev Anand's Chargesheet, which turned out to be the veteran actor's last film before his death.
Sharma returned on television in a lead role as Bhagwandas with Neeli Chhatri Waale on Zee TV in 2014. His upcoming film as lead is Das Capital, directed by Rajen Kothari.
He briefly appeared in a short documentary The Facebook Generation, produced by Blue Strike Productions and Dev Samaj Modern School and directed by Sahil Bhardwaj. The film competed in the Reel to Real film making competition at Harmony 2012 organised by The Global Education and Leadership Foundation and was among the top 10 finalists.
He turned to film direction with a biopic on Haryanvi poet Pandit Lakhmi Chand, which he wrote as well.

## Filmography
### Films

Key :
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa | Laltu (Brati's comrade) | |
| 1998 | Shool | Lalan Singh | |
| 1998 | Arjun Pandit | Shiva | |
| 1999 | Samar | Ramesh Singh | |
| 2000 | Pukar | Major Katar Singh | |
| 2000 | Bawandar | Sarju | |
| 2001 | Aalavandhan / Abhay | The Kashmiri terrorist | Hindi-Tamil bilingual film |
| 2001 | Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai | Batsman/gang leader | |
| 2001 | Avgat | Inspector A. Tadlapurkar | Marathi film |
| 2001 | Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India | Lakha | |
| 2002 | Gunaah | Parshuram | |
| 2003 | Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost | Rudra Pratap Singh | |
| 2003 | Chameli | DCP K.P. Singh | |
| 2003 | Dhoop | Inspector Ram Singh Malik | |
| 2003 | Amma | Raghunath | |
| 2003 | Dum | Babu Kasai | |
| 2003 | Gangaajal | Sunder Yadav | Nominated, Filmfare Best Villain Award |
| 2003 | Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi | Randhir Singh | |
| 2004 | Asambhav | Randit Parmar | |
| 2004 | Ab Tak Chhappan | Sub-Inspector Imtiaz Siiddiqui | |
| 2005 | Kisna: The Warrior Poet | Shankar Singh | |
| 2005 | D | Shabbir | |
| 2005 | Yahaan | Shakil Ahmed | |
| 2005 | Amu | Gobind | |
| 2005 | Apaharan | Gaya Singh | |
| 2005 | Dhadkanein | | |
| 2006 | Bas Ek Pal | Swamy | |
| 2007 | Khanna & Iyer | | |
| 2007 | Benaam | | |
| 2007 | Aaja Nachle | Inspector Sahib | |
| 2007 | Lakshyam | Section Shankar | Telugu film |
| 2007 | Anwar | S.P. Tiwari | |
| 2007 | Risk | Arbaaz Bin Jamal | |
| 2008 | Tashan | ACP Kuldeep Singh Hooda | |
| 2008 | Deshdrohi | Baba Qadum | |
| 2008 | Welcome to Sajjanpur | Ramsingh | |
| 2008 | Singh Is Kinng | Pankaj Udaas | |
| 2009 | Sankat City | Pachisia | |
| 2009 | Well Done Abba! | Ramiyya - Police constable | |
| 2010 | Mumbai Cutting | | |
| 2010 | Don Seenu | Baiju | Telugu film |
| 2010 | Lamhaa | Rauf | |
| 2010 | Rivaaz | Inspector Sadanand Pathak | |
| 2010 | Road, Movie | Waterlord | |
| 2010 | Yeh Sunday Kyun Aata Hai | | |
| 2011 | Yeh Saali Zindagi | Badey | |
| 2011 | Aarakshan | Shambhu Kaka | |
| 2011 | Sahi Dhandhe Galat Bande | Malik | |
| 2011 | Monica | Public Prosecutor Mathur | |
| 2011 | Chargesheet | Suraj | |
| 2012 | Jal | Ramkhiladi | |
| 2012 | Chakradhaar | Yogiraj Chaudhary | |
| 2012 | Rowdy Rathore | Inspector Vishal Sharma | |
| 2012 | Sooper Se Ooper | Bhairu | |
| 2012 | Gangs of Wasseypur | Singer in a band | |
| 2012 | Jeena Hai Toh Thok Daal | Mahkoo | |
| 2012 | Oass | John | |
| 2013 | Ajoba | | Marathi film |
| 2013 | Singh Saab The Great | Lallan Singh | |
| 2013 | Geetiyan | | Dogri film |
| 2014 | Jatt James Bond | Bant Mistri | Punjabi film |
| 2014 | Manjunath | Golu Goyal | |
| 2014 | Pagdi The Honour | Police Officer | Haryanvi Film |
| 2015 | Aisa Yeh Jahaan | Nalia Kai | |
| 2015 | Mukhtiar Chadha | Chidi Hussain | Punjabi film |
| 2016 | Sardaar Ji 2 | Teja | Punjabi film |
| 2016 | Chinese Bhassad | TT Bhaiyya | Voot Originals |
| 2016 | Bahniman | | Assamese film |
| 2017 | Hameer | Hameer | Gujarati Film |
| 2017 | Tubelight | Major Rajbir Tokas | |
| 2017 | Toofan Singh | Arvind Ram | Punjabi Film |
| 2017 | Game Over | Inspector Pandurang Kadam | |
| 2017 | Panchlait | Sarpanch Naginaa Mahto | |
| 2017 | Babuji Ek Ticket Bambai | | |
| 2017 | Journey of Bhangover | | |
| 2018 | Bharat Ane Nenu | Manohar Rao | Telugu film |
| 2018 | S. P. Chauhan | Jai Singh | |
| 2019 | Family of Thakurganj | Sajjan Singh | |
| 2019 | Fagun Haway | Zamsed | Bangladeshi Film |
| 2020 | Das Capital: Gulamon Ki Rajdhani | Purushottam Ram | Streaming on Cinemapreneur |
| 2021 | Dada Lakhmi | Lakhmi Chand | 68th National Film Awards in Best Feature Film category in Haryanvi Also director Haryanvi film |
| 2021 | Bunty Aur Babli 2 | Chutwa Chaubey | |
| 2023 | Ayothi | Balram | Debut film in Tamil |
| 2023 | The Great Indian Family | Pandit Jagannath Mishra | |
| 2023 | The Rise of Sudarshan Chakra | Chandgi Ram | Hindi |
| 2024 | Bastar: The Naxal Story | Utpal Trivedi | |
| 2024 | Chandu Champion | Uttam Singh | |
| 2025 | Welcome To The Jungle † | TBA | |

### Television

| Year | Name | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | Aahat | Police inspector | Season 1 Episode 55 "Jaal" |
| 2001 | Ssshhhh...Koi Hai | Jaspal | episode "Vidyut" |
| 2010 | Mera Naam Karegi Roshan | Kunwar Kuldeep Singh | |
| 2011 | Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah | Don Kuldeep Singh Rana | |
| 2014–2015 | Neeli Chhatri Waale | Bhagwan Das Chaubey | |

### Short films

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2016 | Sanyog | | |
| 2016 | Moksha | Asif security guard | WWI Films |
| 2017 | Carbon | Yakub | Long Short Films |
| 2017 | Mukti | General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi | SonyLIV |
| 2018 | Kaagpanth | Iqbal | |
| 2020 | Khayali Pulao | Handball coach | YouTube - Mostly Sane |

### Web series

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2020 | Your Honor | Pandit | Sony Liv |
| 2020 | PariWar | Mahipal Narayan | Hotstar |
| 2020 | A Simple Murder | Pandit | SonyLIV |
| 2020 | Chitthi | Ravi Asthana | Dhaivat Records & Productions |
| 2023 | Kaalkoot | Sattu Yadav | JioCinema |
| 2024 | Maamla Legal Hai | Adv. Mahendra Phorey | Netflix |
| 2024 | IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack | Sanjay Mehta | Netflix |
| 2025 | Dupahiya | Mithlesh Kushwaha | Amazon Prime Video |

## Awards and nominations

* 2004: Nominated: Filmfare Best Villain Award for Gangaajal
* 2004: Nominated: IIFA Best Performance in a Negative Role for Gangaajal
* 2004: Nominated: Screen Weekly Awards for Gangaajal
* 2004: Nominated: Zee Cine Awards for Gangaajal
* 2022: Won: 68th National Film Awards for Dada Lakhmi in Best Feature Film in Haryanvi