Imran Zahid (born 11 January 1982) is an Indian actor in both theatre and Bollywood. He has acted in Mahesh Bhatt's The Last Salute, based on Muntadhar al-Zaidi's book of the same title and the stageplay The Arth, based on Bhatt's movie Arth. His latest play was Daddy based on Bhatt's movie of the same name.

Imran Zahid
Imran Zahid
Born (1982-01-11) January 11, 1982 (age 42)
Bokaro Steel City, Bokaro district, Jharkhand
OccupationActor
Years active2010–present

Early life

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Imran Zahid was born as in Bokaro Steel City, Bokaro, Jharkhand[1]

He began acting while at DAV Public School, Sector IV in Bokaro Steel City. He then attended Hindu College, Delhi University, from where he got a B.Com degree.[2][3]

Acting

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While at university Zahid became involved with a theatre group run by Arvind Gaur.[3] He continued acting while being employed as a professor.[4]

Zahid has said that he had neither the desire nor the need to work in Mumbai.[4] It had been announced in 2010 that he would act in the lead role for Chandu, a film by Mahesh Bhatt about Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader and Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation member Chandrashekhar Prasad, who was shot dead on 31 March 1997 during a political rally.[2] He had met Bhatt at a conference in Dubai in 2007 and it was then that Bhatt asked him to take part in the film.[4] The proposed film attracted criticism from students at the university.[5] In 2013, the project was scrapped due to opposition to its production and concerns of potential legal hurdles as a result of the cases related to the assassination being sub judice at the time.[6] The project was revived in 2016 and is currently under production.[7]

He played the role of Muntadhar Al Zaidi in The Last Salute, Bhatt's production based on the shoe-hurling incident involving George W. Bush.[8] Bhatt has proposed to make a film of it with Zahid reprising the role.[9]

It was announced that Zahid would act in Bhatt's Bollywood film Jannat 2 but he subsequently pulled out of the role in favour of playing the part of a narcotics detective in another Bhatt film, Jism 2.[10]

Zahid played the role of the protagonist - a journalist investigating atrocities - in a Bhatt-produced play, Trial of Errors, that opened on 29 March 2013 in Delhi.[11][12]

Zahid played the lead role in a stage adaptation of Bhatt of his movie, Arth.[13] Zahid also played the lead role of the father in Mahesh Bhatt theatrical adaptation of his film Daddy.[14][15] Zahid will play the lead role in a remake of Bhatt autobiographical movie, Janam.[16]

He additionally played the lead role in stage adaptation of bhatt's self-portraying movie Hamari Adhuri Kahani in which Bhatt has sung a cover version of the title track for this play and actor Zahid cheered for his depiction as lead actor.[17][18][19][20][21]

In 2016, Zahid played the part of Protheus in an adaptation of Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona.[22][23][24][25]

Recognition

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The Hindustan Times has said that

Imran Zahid, Mahesh Bhatt's latest discovery, surprises you in more than one way. First, he's not a regular newcomer who's bitten by the 'ambition' bug; he wants to rather fly very very slow with the support of his mentor Mahesh Bhatt. Second he's still based in Delhi, despite having reportedly securing two big films Bollywood films; and third he has a composure of a veteran who's been there and seen it all.[26]

Personal life

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Zahid has said that his preference is to have an arranged marriage and that as of 2010 he was not dating.[27]

Filmography

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Films

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2012 Jannat 2 Inspector Vijay Thakur Debut film [28]
Jism 2 a Narcotics Detective and Kabir's assistant Hindi film [29]
2017 Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain Ravi Hindi film [30]
2019 Marksheet Ranjit Don Hindi film [31][32]
2023 Ab Dilli Dur Nahin Lead role as Abhay Shukla [33][34]

References

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  1. ^ "Ab Dilli Door Nahin : IAS की जीवनी पर बनी फिल्म में लीड रोल निभा रहे बिहार के जाहिद इमरान". ETV Bharat News (in Hindi). Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  2. ^ a b Nath, Arpita (14 December 2010). "Political stories in B'wood". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  3. ^ a b Vishwas, Rudra (16 June 2010). "Bokaro boy gets ticket to Bollywood". The Telegraph (Calcutta). Calcutta, India. Archived from the original on 16 April 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  4. ^ a b c "Real to real". The Pioneer. ASRP Mukesh. 29 June 2010. Archived from the original on 15 April 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  5. ^ Mandal, Tridip (10 May 2010). "Film on Chandrashekhar Prasad in trouble". CNN - IBN. Archived from the original on 16 April 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  6. ^ "Film on JNU leader scrapped: Director". Deccan Herald. 12 February 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  7. ^ "Biopic on slain JNU leader Chandrashekhar Prasad to be revived". Business Standard India. 20 February 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  8. ^ Kalsi, Jyoti (25 January 2011). "Mahesh Bhatt talks about 'The Last Salute'". Gulf News. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  9. ^ "Mahesh may show is play in Kolkata". The Times of India. 20 May 2011. Archived from the original on 20 August 2012.
  10. ^ Singh, Renu (12 March 2012). "I play a narcotics sleuth in Jism-2 Imran Zahid". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  11. ^ "Review: Now, communalism and counter-insurgency ops on stage". Zee News. 30 March 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  12. ^ "Imran Zahid gets applaud in Mahesh Bhatt's 'Trial of Error'". The India Awaaz. 30 March 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  13. ^ Madhur Tankha (29 July 2013). "Arth stages a comeback". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  14. ^ "Mahesh Bhatt, Pooja Bhatt Stage 'Daddy' Play". Outlook. PTI. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  15. ^ "When the Bhatts were moved to tears". Gulf News. IANS. 9 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  16. ^ "Imran Zahid bags lead role in Janam remake". The Times of India. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  17. ^ k Jha, subhash (24 June 2015). "Hamari Adhuri Kahani : Book, film and now, play!". DNA. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  18. ^ Mumbai, IANS (25 July 2015). "Mahesh Bhatt to sing for 'Hamari Adhuri Kahani' play". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  19. ^ Patra, Pratyush (11 August 2015). "Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Kumar Vishwas watch the theatrical adaptation of Hamari Adhuri Kahani". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  20. ^ Banerjee, Pooja (6 August 2015). "Intriguing love triangle". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  21. ^ Mitter, Suprita (19 December 2015). "Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt's life to premiere on stage in Mumbai". Millennium Post. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  22. ^ Mathur, Abhimanyu (6 August 2015). "Verona becomes Delhi in Shakespeare's desi adaptation". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  23. ^ Sharma, Shweta (21 April 2016). "Theatre gives actors a second chance". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  24. ^ ki Asha, Aman (28 August 2016). "A Pakistani brings an Indian play to Singapore". Aman ki asha. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  25. ^ Banerjee, Pooja (1 May 2016). "Delhi's tribute to Bard". Millennium Post. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  26. ^ Uniyal, Parmita (23 November 2010). "Imran Zahid: from classroom to cinema". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 27 November 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  27. ^ Agha, Eram (12 June 2010). "Homework in JNU". The Times of India. Delhi. p. 31. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
  28. ^ Releases, Press (5 April 2012). "More on Emraan Hashmi's Jannat 2". BollySpice.com - The latest movies, interviews in Bollywood. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  29. ^ "Excited, but nervous about 'Jism 2': Imran Zahid". Deccan Herald. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  30. ^ "Review: 'Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain': A calibrated primer of good marriage". thepeninsulaqatar.com. 19 May 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  31. ^ "Mahesh Bhatt unveils the first look of Imran Zahid's movie Marksheet | Bollywood News – India TV". www.indiatvnews.com. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  32. ^ न्यूज़, एबीपी (3 May 2019). "'मार्कशीट' का First Look रिलीज, इमरान जाहिद कर रहे हैं बॉलीवुड डेब्यू". www.abplive.com (in Hindi). Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  33. ^ "फिल्म रिव्यू : 'अब दिल्ली दूर नहीं' अभिनेता इमरान ज़ाहिद और श्रुति सोढ़ी की फिल्म युवाओ में आईएएस बनने का जोश भर रही है". India Nazar. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  34. ^ रेखा, पवन (18 May 2023). "दिलचस्प है Imran Zahid का सफर, सक्सेज पर बोले- शिद्दत से काम किया". www.abplive.com (in Hindi). Retrieved 5 August 2023.