Inaamulhaq

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

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

Early life and education

Born in Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh, India), 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) 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), for which he was named in the "Top 10 Stand-Out Actors of 2014" by Mid-Day, and "The Most Prominent Debuts of 2014" by IBNlive.com in their Year-ender 2014. He is also listed in IMDB'S Top 200 Best Indian Actors and Actresses. 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". Shubha Shetty-Saha from Mid-Day praised him saying: "But it is Inaamulhaq, who steals your heart with the most natural, endearing performance".

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". Critic Komal Nahta from ETC Bollywood Business stated in his review: "Inaamulhaq is entertaining as the Iraqi major".

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". Anna MM Vetticad from FirstPost.com wrote: "Watch Inaamulhaq playing a Kashmiri pronounce "card" differently within a span of a few seconds". 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".

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. 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". 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".

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

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

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

Personal life Inaamulhaq is married to Shibli Anwer. The couple have a son Ivaan.

Filmography

Actor Firaaq (2008) as Munna Agneepath (2012) as villager Filmistaan (2012) as Aftaab Chidiya (2016) as Taj (cameo) Airlift (2016) as Major Khalaf Bin Zayd Jolly LLB 2 (2017) as Mohammed Iqbal Quadri Phullu (2017) (cameo) Lucknow Central (2017) as Dikkat Ansari Firangi (2017) as Heera Nakkash (2019) as Allah Rakha Siddiqui Pagalpanti (2019) as Niraj Modi Hasmukh (Web-Series) (2020) as Daroga Maharani (web series) (2021) as Bihar Finance Secretary, Parvez Aalam Mere Desh Ki Dharti (2022) as Pappan Khan Zara Hatke Zara Bachke (2023) as Bhagwan Das Pippa (2023) as Shibli Welcome to the Jungle (2026)

Writer

Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap (2011) (dialogue writer) Screwed Up (Web Series) (2018) (additional dialogue writer).

Awards Won Best Actor Award for Nakkash at IIFFB (India International Film Festival Of Boston 2019) Best Actor Award for Nakkash at DCSAFF (Washington DC South Asian Film Festival 2018) Jury Award for outstanding performance in Nakkash at Lifft India Filmotsav-World Cine Fest 2019 Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Filmistaan at 21st Annual Screen Awards Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Filmistaan at IBNLive Movie Awards (2015) Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Filmistaan at SICA Awards (2015) Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Filmistaan at AIBA Awards (2015)

Nominated Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Filmistaan at IIFA Awards 2015

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.

Television

Year Show Credit Broadcaster 2007 Karamchand – Season 2 Writer Sony Comedy Circus – Season 1 Writer/Associate Content Director Sony 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

Theatre (In alphabetical order) Inaamulhaq as Nils Krogstad in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House with NSD batch-mate Shiromani Kaushik.

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 IPTAEk 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