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Naseeruddin Shah

Indian actor and director

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ469945
Source-derived summary

Naseeruddin Shah (Hindustani pronunciation: [nəsiːɾʊd̪ːiːn ʃɑːɦ]; born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor who works primarily in Hindi films. One of the most prolific actors of Indian cinema, especially in the parallel cinema movement, he has also starred in various international productions. He is the recipient of several accolades, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards and the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1987 and the Padma Bhushan in 2003 for his contributions to Indian cinema.

In 1982, he married his second wife, actress Ratna Pathak, daughter of actress Dina Pathak, with whom he has two sons. His sister-in-law is actress Supriya Pathak, who is married to actor Pankaj Kapur.

Early life and education

Naseeruddin Shah was born on 20 July 1950 in Barabanki town, Uttar Pradesh, into a Nawab family. His great-great-grandfather was the Afghan warlord Jan-Fishan Khan, who would go on to become the Nawab of Sardhana. His relatives include author-diplomat Ikbal Ali Shah, poet Amina Shah, Omar Ali-Shah and Idries Shah, the latter of whom both Sufi writers. His relatives from Pakistan include actor-director Syed Kamal, Shah Mahboob Alam, former joint director and head of Pakistan's Intelligence Bureau in Sindh and Balochistan, and cricketer Owais Shah.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Naseeruddin Shah” as indian actor and director. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1950, 1987, 2003, 1982—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1950-07-20. The account is most persuasive where Naseeruddin, Shah and Indian can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as indian actor and director. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q469945. VIAF identifies the subject as 22353535. The Library of Congress control number is no96024716. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1950, 1987, 2003 and 1982.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Naseeruddin Shah”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Naseeruddin Shah primary sources, Naseeruddin Shah archive and Naseeruddin research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Naseeruddin Shah”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Naseeruddin Shah” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.