Saurabh Shukla

The "Kallu Mama" of Bollywood has been there, done that. Right from theatre to acting, writing to direction, he has done it all. Saurabh Shukla was born in Gorakhpur and then Taken to Delhi at the age of 2 years when his family shifted. He pursued graduation from Khalsa College in Delhi. He began his career in theatres in 1984.

This theatre actor's first step into acting on screen came in the form of a crime series on Doordarshan: Tehkikat (1994). Can we ever forget "Gopi", the detective's side kick, our very own Indian adaptation of Watson and Sherlock Holmes? That was just the beginning. His first appearance in films was in Shekhar Kapur's controversial film 'Bandit Queen' (1994). In 1996 he played a criminal in the film 'Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin'. Both these films did really well, and Saurabh's talent was appreciated. One thing to note is that both these films are the kind that is normally referred to as "realistic cinema"; this is the genre that Saurabh favors over others, and his other films prove that. His most-talked about role came in the form of "Kallu Mama" in the 1998 hit 'Satya'. Even people who did not watch the film knew of him considering that an entire song revolves around him! Remember the song "Mama kallu mama". "Kallu Mama" became a household name.

Continuing his penchant for realistic cinema, he acted in the Mahesh Bhatt film 'Zakhm' (1998). The hard hitting film added another star to his galaxy of brilliant films. He not only did serious roles, but beside tried his hand at mainstream cinema involving romance, comedy and drama. For example, films like 'Taal' (1999), 'Baadshah' (1999), 'Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar' (2000), 'Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar' (2001), 'Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai' (2002), 'Raghu Romeo' (2003), 'Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi' (2003), 'Home Delivery' (2005), 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' (2006), 'Salaam-E-Ishq' (2007), 'Mithya' (2008), 'Dasvidaniya' (2008), 'Luck By Chance'(2009), 'Barfi!' (2012) and many many more. Shukla Co-wrote the screenplay of 'Satya' with Anurag Kashyap for which they got the Star Screen Award for best screenplay. He has admitted to favor Black Comedy genre when it comes to Film Making. Shukla also wrote scripts for 'Salaam-E-Ishq' and 'Calcutta Mail'. He wrote dialogues for 'Raghu Romeo' and lyrics for 'Mixed Doubles'.

His first film as a Director was 'Mudda - The Issue' (2003). It sank without a trace. He also directed 'Chehraa' (2005), 'Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi?' (2009) and 'I Am 24' (2009), 'Pappu Can't Dance Saala' (2011) etc. He acted in international movies 'The Golden Globe' and 'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008).

Saurabh will next be seen in 'Jolly L.L.B' along with Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani and in 'Dream Man'.