Zakir Hussain (actor)

Zakir Hussain is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Hindi 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.

Zakir Hussain
Born	Zakir Hussain Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India
Education	National School of Drama
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1997–present
Spouse	Sarita Hussain ​ (m. 1994)​

Early life and background

Zakir Hussain was born and brought up in Jani Khurd, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.^[1] It was during his studies in Delhi 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.^[2]

Career

Hussain did theatre for a few years and then came to Mumbai to work in television and films. He started out with serials like Firdaus, Kitty Party and Gaatha, and this earned him recognition.^[2] 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.^[1] This role of a cold-blooded villain was much appreciated and Hussain received the "New Menace" award at the 2006 Stardust Film Awards.^[3]

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.^[1]

Hussain is also a talented musician – a percussionist as well as singer.^[1] 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

Key

†	Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2004	Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero	Shaukat Malik
	Ek Hasina Thi	Sanjeev Nanda
	Kala Juma	Nand Kumar Chougale
	Vaastu Shastra	Dinesh Dubey
2005	D	A. S. Baban
	Sarkar	Rashid
	James	Shankar Narayan
2006	Shiva	Inspector Sawant
	Darna Zaroori Hai	Police Officer	Story segment: A Bride's Revenge
	The Killer	Jabbar
	Darwaza Bandh Rakho	Abbas
	Deadline: Sirf 24 Ghante	Kabir
2007	Black Friday	Inspector Nand Kumar Chougale
	Risk	SP Naidu
	Fool n Final	J.D.
	Lee	Rangabashyam	Tamil film
	Darling	Sameer Naghani
	Johnny Gaddaar	Shardul
2008	Shabri	Inspector Irfan Qazi
	Krazzy 4	DCP Shrivastav
	Contract	Sultan
	Phoonk	Manja
	Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam	Show Director Dubey
	Khallballi
2009	Bad Luck Govind	Kripalani
	Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani	Sajid Don
	Radio	Shanaya's Dad
2010	Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai	Javed Quadri
	Payback	Raghu
	Phoonk 2	Manja
	Allah Ke Banday	Ramesh
2011	Not a Love Story	Inspector
	Double Dhamaal	Mohsin Bhai
	Satrangee Parachute	Chhotulal
	Shagird	Rajmani Yadav
2012	Paan Singh Tomar	Inspector Rathore
	Ammaa Ki Boli	Hari
	Thuppakki	Kamarudeen	Tamil film
	Chakradhaar
	Agent Vinod	Associate in Tangier
2013	Jayantabhai Ki Luv Story	Gangster don
	Enemmy	Mukhtar Menon, the Underworld don
	Phata Poster Nikhla Hero	Officer Ghorpade
	Sixteen	Ashwin's Father
	Maazii	Mahinder Chacha
	Ramaiya Vastavaiya	Rao
	Saare Jahaan Se Mehnga	Loan Inspector
2014	Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty	Alvin D'Souza
	Chaarfutiya Chhokare	Lakkhan
	Singham Returns	Prakash Rao
	Meinu Ek Ladki Chaahiye
2015	Alone	Professor Sanjana inside Twin Spirit
	Badlapur	Patil
	Four Pillars of Basement	DSP
	Mogali Puvvu / Secret
	Jadoogadu	Srisailam	Telugu Film
2016	Irudhi Suttru	Dev Khatri	Tamil Film
	Saala Khadoos	Dev Khatri
2017	Coffee with D	D
	Raees
	Guru	Dev Khatri	Telugu Film
	Naam Shabana	RAW agent Gupta
	Shivalinga	Pigeon Race Organiser	Tamil film
	Boyz	Fernandez Sir	Marathi film
	Judwaa 2	Charles
2018	Nawabzaade	Sheetal's father
	Genius	Minister
	Andhadhun	Dr. Krishna Swami
	Simmba	Mr. Khanna
	Game Paisa Ladki
2019	Prassthanam	Mazid
	Kissebaaz	Kripa Shankar Pandey
	Ferrous	Minister Madhyadheesh
	One Day: Justice Delivered	MP Pravin Rawat
	Chicken Curry Law	Sharad Joshi
	Pagalpanti	Tulli Seth
2020	Angrezi Medium	Judge Chedda
	Khaali Peeli	Inspector Tavde
2021	The Power	Anwar
	Flight	Raman Khanna
	Satyameva Jayate 2	Shankar Prasad Yadav
2022	Heropanti 2	Azaad Khan
2023	Mission Majnu	Sharma
	Tiku Weds Sheru	Ahmed Rizvi
2024	Indian 2	Darshan Bhai	Tamil film
	Devara	Central Minister	Telugu film
	Baby John	Baldev Patil
2025	Welcome To The Jungle †	TBA	[4]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Platform	Notes
1998	X Zone	Inspector	Sony TV	Episode 96
2001	Dishayen	Inspector	Doordarshan
2012	Upnishad Ganga	Multiple Roles	Doordarshan
2014	Yudh	Anand Upadhyay	Sony TV
2015	Darr Sabko Lagta Hai		& TV	Episode 11[5]
1997	Vedvyas Ke Pote	Narrator(Sutradhaar)	Doordarshan
2018	Beechwale - Bapu Dekh Raha Hai	Bobby Beechwala	Sony TV	Main cast

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Platform	Notes
2018-2021	Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare	Rajesh Pathak	Amazon Prime
2019	Bombers	Somu Da	ZEE5	[6][7][8]
2020	Sandwiched Forever	Giriraj Shastry	SonyLIV	[9]
2021	Kathmandu Connection	Mr. Mirza		[10]
	Aranyak	Kuber Manhas	Netflix
2022-2023	Duranga	Bala Banne	ZEE5
2023	Farzi	Finance Minister Pawan Gehlot	Amazon Prime	[11]
2022	Breathe: Into the Shadows 2	ACP Abhinandan Kaul		[12]
2023	Pop Kaun?	Mallik	Disney+ Hotstar
	Inspector Avinash	DGP Samar Pratap Singh	JioCinema	[13]
2024	Murshid	Farid	ZEE5	[14]