Inaamulhaq

Inaamulhaq (born 14 November 1979) is an Indian actor and screenwriter^[1] who has been part of several commercial and critically acclaimed Bollywood films, including Filmistaan,^[2] Jolly LLB 2 and Airlift. In 2019 Inaamulhaq has bagged the Best Actor Award at the DCSAFF (Washington DC South Asian Film Festival) for outstanding performance in his film Nakkash.^[3][4] and Best Actor Award at India International Film Festival of Boston (IIFFB) 2019.^[5]

Inaamulhaq
Inaamulhaq at Cannes Film Festival 2018
Born	(1979-11-14) 14 November 1979 (age 44) Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India
Alma mater	National School of Drama
Occupations	Actor screenwriter
Spouse	Shibli Anwer
Website	inaamulhaq.com

He has written for TV shows including Comedy Circus and dialogue for the Hindi film Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap.^[6]

Early life and education

Born in Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh, India),^[7] Inaamulhaq first appeared on stage at the age of twelve. Later, he joined the Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) in Saharanpur, and acted in numerous plays as a lead. In 2003, he graduated from the National School of Drama (NSD)^[8] New Delhi, with specialisation in acting.

Career

In Mumbai he started his career as a writer for season 2 of Karamchand, directed by Pankaj Parashar.

After working as a scriptwriter and creative consultant with Comedy Circus for two and a half years, he moved into films and wrote dialogue for Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap in 2011.

As an actor, he got his first film break with the critically acclaimed Firaaq in 2008. His first major role in a feature film was as the Pakistani national Aaftab, in Nitin Kakkar's National Award winner Filmistaan (2012),^[9] for which he was named in the "Top 10 Stand-Out Actors of 2014" by Mid-Day,^[10] and "The Most Prominent Debuts of 2014" by IBNlive.com^[11] in their Year-ender 2014. He is also listed in IMDB'S Top 200 Best Indian Actors and Actresses.^[12] Madhureeta Mukherjee from Times of India wrote: "Inaamulhaq piques the emotions with perfection. The camaraderie between the pure souls who understand only the language of Bollywood is heart-warming".^[13] Shubha Shetty-Saha from Mid-Day praised him saying: "But it is Inaamulhaq, who steals your heart with the most natural, endearing performance".^[14]

Inaamulhaq appeared in the Askhay Kumar-starrer Airlift. He plays the role of an Iraqi Major Kahalf Bin Zayd, who is the main antagonist of the evacuation that the film is based on. Airlift is one of the biggest success of the actor and his performance in Airlift received a positive review from the critics. 'Airlift was released 22 January 2016. Bollywood Hungama praised him in their review saying: "Inaamulhaq as the Amitabh Bachchan fan Iraqi Major Khalaf Bin Zayd is a delight".^[15] Critic Komal Nahta from ETC Bollywood Business stated in his review: "Inaamulhaq is entertaining as the Iraqi major".^[16]

His played a cameo in Jolly LLB 2 as a Kashmiri. Mentioning about Inaamulhaq's performance in Jolly LLB-2 review, Sudhir Redkar from KoiMoi.com wrote: "Inaamulhaq has a small cameo that turns out to be an interesting twist".^[17] Anna MM Vetticad from FirstPost.com wrote: "Watch Inaamulhaq playing a Kashmiri pronounce "card" differently within a span of a few seconds".^[18] He also appeared in Lucknow Central and Firangi and Phullu in and was praised for his performance. Sukanya Verma from Rediff.com praised Inaamulhaq’s performance in Phullu quoting "No wonder a brief cameo by Inaamulhaq, once again reiterating his appeal in showy, idiosyncratic characters, makes more sense that most of this movie".^[19]

Inaamulhaq's film Nakkash was released on limited screens on 31 May 2019, in which he played the lead role. The first look poster of Nakkash was unveiled at India Pavilion of the Cannes Film Festival 2018.^[20][21][22] Pallabi Dey Purkayastha wrote in her The Times of India review "The protagonist, played by Inaamulhaq, is a revelation and his chemistry with his on-screen son almost evokes a sense of resentment towards the society we live in, mainly because of the unfair treatment that they are subjected to".^[23] Saibal Chatterjee from NDTV quotes "Inaamulhaq does full justice to his first-ever lead role in a Hindi film, getting into the skin of the conflicted central character with complete conviction".^[24]

For his performance in Nakkash Inaamulhaq bagged the Best Actor Award at the 8th Annual DCSAFF (Washington DC South Asian Film Festival 2018) .^[25] and Best Actor Award at India International Film Festival of Boston (IIFFB) 2019.^[26]

Inaamulhaq was seen in Nikkhil Advani's web series Hasmukh produced by Applause Entertainment.^[27] currently streaming on Netflix.^[28]

He also appeared in Maharani (web series) as Bengali bureaucrat Parvez Aalam.^[29] Where he got great reception from the audience and critics as well. The show is created by Subhash Kapoor and streaming on SonyLIV^[30]

Personal life

Inaamulhaq is married to Shibli Anwer. The couple have a son Ivaan.^[31]

Filmography

Actor

• Firaaq (2008) as Munna^[32]
• Filmistaan (2014) as Aftaab^[33]
• Chidiya (Cameo)^[34]
• Airlift (2016) as Major Khalaf Bin Zayd^[35]
• Jolly LLB 2 (2017) as Mohammed Iqbal Quadri^[36]
• Phullu (2017) (cameo)^[37]
• Lucknow Central (2017) as Dikkat Ansari^[38]
• Firangi (2017) as Heera^[39]
• Nakkash (2019) as Allah Rakha Siddiqui^[40]
• Pagalpanti (2019) as Niraj Modi
• Hasmukh (Web-Series) (2020) as Daroga^[41]
• Maharani (web series) (2021) as Bihar Finance Secretary, Parvez Aalam ^[42]
• Mere Desh Ki Dharti (2022) as Pappan Khan
• Zara Hatke Zara Bachke (2023) as Bhagwan Das
• Pippa(film) (2023) as Pakistani Shibli

Writer

• Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap (2011) (dialogue writer)^[43]
• Screwed Up (Web Series) (2018) (additional dialogue writer).^[44]

Awards

Won

• Best Actor Award for Nakkash at IIFFB (India International Film Festival Of Boston 2019)^[45]
• Best Actor Award for Nakkash at DCSAFF (Washington DC South Asian Film Festival 2018)^[46][47]
• Jury Award for outstanding performance in Nakkash at Lifft India Filmotsav-World Cine Fest 2019^[48]
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Filmistaan at 21st Annual Screen Awards^[49]
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Filmistaan at IBNLive Movie Awards (2015)^{[50][importance?]}
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Filmistaan at SICA Awards (2015)^[51]
• Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Filmistaan at AIBA Awards (2015)^{[52][importance?]}

Nominated

• Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Filmistaan at IIFA Awards 2015^[53]

Short films

Inaamulhaq directed two short films – "The Search" (2005) which got nominated for the Best Film Award in competition category at Berlin Asia-Pacific Film Festival-2006 (Germany), and "Parchhaiyaan" (2004), based on an anti-War poem by renowned poet Sahir Ludhianvi.^{[citation needed]}

Television

Year	Show	Credit	Broadcaster
2007	Karamchand - Season 2	Writer	Sony
	Comedy Circus - Season 1	Writer/Associate Content Director	Sony[54]
	Comedy Circus - Lage Raho	Writer/Associate Content Director	Sony
2008	Comedy Circus 2	Writer/Associate Content Director	Sony
	Comedy Honours	Writer	STAR Gold
	Comedy Circus - Kante Ki Takkar	Writer/Associate Content Director	Sony
	Filmfare Fever	Writer	Sony
	Sabse Favourite Koun?	Writer	STAR Gold
	Arre Deewano Mujhe Pehchano	Content Director	STAR Plus
2009	Comedy Circus – Chinchpokli to China	Associate Content Director	Sony
	Comedy Circus - 20–20	Associate Content Director	Sony
	Kaho Na Yaar Hai	Associate Creative Director	STAR Plus
	Comedy Circus - Dekh India Dekh	Associate Content Director	Sony
	Comedy Circus 3 – Ka Tadka	Associate Content Director	Sony
2010	Comedy Circus – MahaSangram	Associate Content Director	Sony
	Chhote Ustaad - 2	Writer	STAR Plus
2011	Dekh Video Dekh	Writer	Colors
	Comedy Ka Maha Muqabala	Act Producer	STAR Plus
2013	Nautanki-The Comedy Theatre	Associate Creative Director	Colors
2014	Yam Kisi Se Kam Nahi	Writer	EPIC
2015	Goldie Ahuja Matric Pass	Writer	DISNEY

^[55]

Theatre

(In alphabetical order)

Inaamulhaq as Nils Krogstad in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House with NSD batch-mate Shiromani Kaushik.

Inaamulhaq as Madhavye (Vidushak) in Kalidasa's Abhijñānaśākuntalam

Inaamulhaq as Ivan Kaliayev in Albert Camus's The Just Assassins

Play	Character	Written By	Produced by
A Doll's House	Nils Krogstad	Henrik Ibsen	NSD
Abhijñānaśākuntalam	Madhavye (Vidushak)	Kalidasa	NSD
Acchhe Aadmi	Batasu	Phanishwar Nath 'Renu'	NSD
Andha Yug	Kripacharya	Dharamvir Bharati	SARGAM-A
Arey Shareef Log	Dr. Ghatak	Jaywant Dalvi	IPTA
Bade Bhai Sahab	Narrator	Munshi Premchand	IPTA
Ek Ladki Paanch Deewane	Solo	Harishankar Parsai	IPTA
Ek Tha Gadha urf Aladad Khan	Chintak-1	Sharad Joshi	IPTA
Hanoosh	Tober/Officer-Two	Bhisham Sahni	BNA/NSD
Inspector Matadeen Chand Par	Matadeen	Harishankar Parsai	BNA/NSD
Julius Caesar	Various Characters	William Shakespeare	NSD
Kabuli Wala	Narrator	Rabindranath Tagore	NSD
King Lear	Edgar	William Shakespeare	NSD
Kiska Haath	ChetuRam	Satish De	ADACAAR
Ladai	Various Character	Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena	NATYA
Panchhi Aise Aate Hain	Anna Paradker	Vijay Tendulkar	NAVANKUR
Rasik Sampadak	Sampadak Chokhelal	Munshi Premchand	IPTA
Saint Joan	Dauphin, Charles VII	George Bernard Shaw	NSD
The Nose	Ivan Yakovlevich	Nikolai Gogol	IPTA
Shanichar Ka Chakkar	Various Character	Improvised	IPTA/ITC
Singhasan Khali Hai	Teen	Sushil Kumar Singh	IPTA
Tajmahal Ka Tender	Shahjahan	Ajay Shukla	IPTA
Thank You Mr. Glad	Various Characters	Anil Berve	SARGAM-A
The Frogs	Euripides	Aristophanes	NSD
The Illusion	Alcandre, A Magician	Tony Kushner	NSD
The Just Assassins	Ivan Kaliayev	Albert Camus	NSD
The Obsession	Various Characters	Improvised	IPTA
Kheench Rahe Hain	Various Character	Ravi Deep	IPTA
Tinka-Tinka	Various Characters	Improvised	NSD
Yahudi Ki Larki	Azra	Agha Hashar Kashmiri	NSD

^[56]

References

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External links

Media related to Inaamulhaq at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Inaamulhaq at IMDb