Zeishan Quadri

Zeishan Quadri is an Indian writer, actor, director and producer^[2] who wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay for the Bollywood crime genre film Gangs of Wasseypur, directed by Anurag Kashyap. Quadri has also acted in Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2. He has directed and produced the film Meeruthiya Gangsters.^[3]

Zeishan Quadri
Born	1982 or 1983 (age 41–42)[1] Wasseypur, Bihar (now Jharkhand), India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation(s)	Writer, Actor, Producer, Director
Years active	2012–present

Early life

Zeishan Quadri was born in Wasseypur, Dhanbad, Bihar (now in Jharkhand) in 1983.^[4] He is the only son and the youngest child of Syed Imran Quadri, a civil engineer. Quadri grew up in a strict and protective environment. He has two elder sisters.^[5] Quadri was educated in Dhanbad. Quadri left Dhanbad to study for Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Meerut. Quadri worked in a call center and for HCL computers in Delhi for 18 months before coming to Mumbai in 2008.^[6]

Film career

In 2009, Quadri moved to Mumbai to pursue a career in acting.^[7][8] Quadri studied world cinema including film makers such as Majid Majidi, Fateh Akın and Akira Kurosawa.^[9] Quadri has worked in the genre of Bollywood crime films. His film Revolver Rani was directed by Sai Kabir and starred Kangana Ranaut and Vir Das.^[10][11][12] His first film as a director and producer was Meeruthiya Gangsters.^[3] The editing of the film was done by veteran filmmaker Anurag Kashyap who presented the film along with Prateek Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.^[13] Quadri visited many cities for the promotion of the film including Aligarh at Aligarh Muslim University.^[14]

Projects

In 2014, Quadri acted in a movie directed by Vipin Sharma and produced by Bohra bros,^[15][16][17] as well as a negative lead in the upcoming movie Banana directed by Sajid Ali, produced by John Abraham Entertainment.^[18] He is also working on a script with Madhur Bhandarkar for his upcoming movie Madamji starring Priyanka Chopra.^[19][20] He has written a script Oh Womaniya for Pritish Nandy Communications to be helmed by Anu Menon,^[21] and a script for Fardeen Khan Productions tentatively titled Firauti.^[22]

According to Mumbai Mirror, Anurag Kashyap and Quadri are collaborating on the third installment of the Gangs of Wasseypur franchise, with Kashyap insisting that Quadri writes and directs the film.^[23] Quadri initially planned to produce Sarbjit, and brought in Omung Kumar, who directed the film released in 2016.^[24][25] Quadri and Ekta Kapoor are collaborating on a new non-fiction TV series.^[26]

Awards

Honours

• Jury member at the 8th Filmsaaz.^[27]

Gangs of Wasseypur 2

"Gangs of Wasseypur" is based on real life events in the coal rich city of Dhanbad. It is a story about the "coal mafia" that spans several generations from 1941 to 2010 in two parts. On 30 May 2009, Quadri's story was sold to Anurag Kashyap. Quadri negotiated to write the script and play the character "Definite" in the second part.^{[28][29][30][31]}

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Director	Producer	Screenwriter	Actor	Notes
2012	Gangs of Wasseypur[32]			Yes		IIFA 2013 for Best Dialogue WON
	Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2			Yes	Yes	[32]
2013	Prague		Yes
2014	Revolver Rani				Yes
2015	Meeruthiya Gangster	Yes	Yes	Yes		[32]
2018	Hotel Milan				Yes
2019	Setters				Yes
	Bhoot Purva	Yes				Web series released on ZEE5[33]
2020	Halahal		Yes	Yes
	Chhalaang			Yes
2023	Bloody Daddy				Yes	[32]
2024	Woh Bhi Din The				Yes

Web series

Year	Title	Role	Note
2020	Bicchoo Ka Khel	Inspector Nikunj Tiwari	Streaming on AltBalaji and ZEE5 on November 18[34]
2021	Your Honor 2	Jagda[35]	Sonyliv

Awards and nominations

Year	Film	Award	Category	Result
2013	Gangs Of Wasseypur	SAIFF	Best Supporting Actor	Won
2013	Gangs Of Wasseypur	Star Screen Award	Best Dialogue Writer	Nominated
2013	Gangs Of Wasseypur	Filmfare	Best Dialogue Writer	Won
2013	Gangs Of Wasseypur	TOIFA	Best Dialogue Writer	Won
2013	Gangs Of Wasseypur	IIFA	Best Dialogue Writer	Won