Inaamulhaq

Early life and career

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 specialization in acting.

In Mumbai he started his career as a writer for season 2 of Karamchand, directed by renowned Bollywood director 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 the Pakistani national Aaftab, in Nitin Kakkar’s National Award winner Filmistaan (2012), for which he was named in “Top 10 Stand-Out Actors of 2014” by Mid-Day, and “The Most Prominent Debuts of 2014” by IBNlive.com in their Yearender 2014. Inaamulhaq appeared in Askhay Kumar Starrer Airlift. He plays a very essential 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 he has been praised for his acting in it. 'Airlift was slated to release 22nd Jan 2016. Inaamulhaq will be seen in "Jolly LLB2", his second film with Akshay Kumar which is set to release on 10 February 2017.

Upcoming projects

Inaamulhaq will be seen in upcoming Bollywood film Firangi Produced by Kapil Sharma (comedian) and Chidiya (film) where he is playing a 'Cameo Role' as a friendly gesture for his old colleague and director of the film Mehran Amrohi.

Critical reception

Inaamulhaq received very positive reviews from critics for his performance in Filmistaan (2014) and Airlift (film) (2016) as well.

Critical reception for Filmistaan

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”. Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama wrote “Inaamulhaq too pitches in a fabulous performance, his performance and body language making you forget you’re watching an actor emote”. Sneha May Francis from emirates247.com quotes “Inaamulhaq lends exuberance to Aftaab, capturing his Bollywood dreams, unwavering loyalty and business acumen maturely”. Pratishtha Malhotra from Cine Blitz mentioned in her review “One thing worth mentioning here is how this actor has worked on his detailing, from the dialect that he has maintained throughout the film to the body language. He floors you completely”. Paloma Sharma from Rediff.com wrote “Inaamulhaq is as brilliant as Aftab, neither actor overshadows the other. They complement each other”. Rahul Desai from Mumbai Mirror wrote “Inaamulhaq is uninhibited, and even when his character is saddled with sentiment, he makes you believe that he is a delusional filmmaker scripting his own climax”.

Critical reception for Airlift

Praising Inaamulhaq’s performance in “Airlift” critic Taran Adarsh stated in his tweet, “Inaamulhaq [Iraqi Major] and Prakash Belawade are terrific”. Joginder Tuteja from moviereviewpreview.com wrote “The surprise of the film though is Inaamulhaq, who plays the Iraqi Major. He transforms himself completely from the Pakistani simpleton part that he played in Filmistaan”. 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”. Newspaper The Indian Express wrote- “Inaamulhaq as Saddam’s man-in-Kuwait, is suitably menacing”. Critic Rohit Sharma wrote on his blog “Inaamul has nailed his character to perfection”. Another film review website filmyinterval.com praised him stating “One surprise package is Inaamulhaq. After his stint in Filmistaan, this talented actor gets a role that might turn around his career. His act of unhindered wickedness and the sadistic approach he portrays towards the Kuwaitis is applaud worthy”. Website pinkvilla.com also mention his performance stating “The film’s supporting cast deserves a special mention, especially Inaamulhaq and Kumud Mishra, who were both great in their respective roles". The Economic Times wrote- “And Inaamulhuq oozes smooth menace as the major”. Website Fansofcinema.com wrote “Especially, Inaamulhaq playing the negative role as Major Khalaf Bin Zayd is best in the whole film”.

Meme Pictures

Not only from the critics but Inaamulhaq received a huge response from the audience as well. Many Meme Pictures parsing his characterization and speaking style gone viral on various social networking sites.

Awards

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.

Theatre

(In alphabetical order)