Imaad Shah

Some Lesser Known Facts About Imaad Shah

• Imaad Shah is an Indian actor and musician. Indian film actors Naseeruddin Shah And Ratna Pathak are his parents. Dina Pathak was his maternal grandmother. Naseeruddin Shah and Benjamin Gilani founded a theatre company, ‘Motley,’ in which Imaad works as a theatre artist. Various Indian production units like ‘By George and Manto Ismat Haazir Hain,’ ‘Katha Collage,’ and ‘Waiting for Godot,’ featured Imaad as their actor and musician.

• Imaad Shah is a songwriter, and he is leading the funk/disco band ‘The Pulp Society’ as a frontman and guitarist/vocalist.

  

• Imaad is a part of the electro-funk/nu-disco band that is paired with the Madboy/Mink band along with Saba Azad (an Indian actress, theatre director, and musician).

• In July 2002, in the All-India Frank Anthony Memorial Debate Championship, celebrity son Imaad Shah from Doon School, Dehradun, India, won the best speaker award. On this occasion, Naseeruddin Shah felt proud and helped his school win the best team award. The event was organized by St. Stephen’s School on the school premises in Sector 45 Chandigarh, India. Imaad and his team member Umang Dua spoke convincingly on the topic “21st-century lifestyles have robbed children of the joys of childhood.” They showed a quick grasp of the subject matter.  It was a neck-and-neck competition among participants from eight schools from all over India.

  

• Imaad made his first appearance on the big screen in 2006 in the movie Yun Hota To Kya Hota. This movie was produced by his father, Naseeruddin Shah.

• In 2007, Imaad acted in the movie Dil Dosti Etc that was produced by Prakash Jha. Imaad portrayed a young Delhi University student with a strong liking for Delhi.

• In 2007, Imaad fell out of a moving train and met with a serious accident. He was hospitalized with serious injuries. The incident took place when he was travelling to University in Mumbai on a local train.

• In 2009, Imaad came back with his film ‘Little Zizou,’ which was produced by Sooni Taraporeval. This film was an award-winning movie.  It was filmed at different locations of the world including Europe, North America, and parts of Asia.

  

• In an interview, in 2009, Imaad Shah was asked that what was his major disadvantage of being Naseeruddin Shah’s son. Imaad replied that the expectations are more when you are a celebrity child. He further added that it was not always great to choose the path and style that your father did. He explained,
  

  People expect you to travel along certain lines. Taking up acting seems to be the most obvious path when many other sons are launched by uncles and fathers’ companies. But I believe there are so many forms to be explored. It is not always great to continue doing the same thing. It is important to reinvent. A dalals son can be a dalal. But the way I see it, it is important to take things a step forward from what our previous generation has done.”

• According to Imaad, he liked the movies and plays that were done by his father as these were inspiring to him. He revealed the names of such movies and plays. He said,
  

  I’ve liked the way he has staged Waiting for Godot. As for films, Bombay Boys was very interesting. The way he spoke Mumbaiya Hindi was interesting. I also liked his role as a goon in Maqbool.”

• In 2009, Imaad Shah appeared on a live show “wassup with Imaad Shah, wassup exam helpline” in Mumbai. ^[3]YouTube

• In 2009, Imaad was seen on a live show on MTV India with the host of the show Banerjee. In the show, the host tried to annoy Imaad Shah.

• In March 2010, in an interview on resuming his career again after the local train accident, Imaad said that he wanted to resume his career with movies that had some meaningful purpose beyond entertainment. He narrated,
  

  But it also equipped me emotionally and spiritually to be a better actor. The only film that was affected directly was Little Zizou. I had just recovered from the accident and looked very thin. That too worked to my advantage since it made me look as young as I was required to. I guess it’s in my genes to do films that are not merely flirting with diversion. I think I’ve to do movies that have some purpose beyond entertainment. I’ve just completed a film on bipolar disorder. And my next release is Sunil Pillai’s Ekaant, which is again a film with a subtext.”

• In 2011, Imaad acted in 404: Error Not Found (an Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller film). After the release of this movie, in an interview in June 2011, Imaad was asked that had he thrilled the young generation with the songs for 404: Error not found that were teenie boppers rocking. Imaad replied that young India chose songs and movies according to their intelligence, and he further stated that he acted as well as worked as a music director in the movie. He said,
  

  Young India is intelligent and looking for youth anthems. It all began when the film unit listened to a couple of my numbers. I was first chosen to play the role and then asked to play music director. While the younger generation is relating closely to the songs which can be sung and shared by their group of friends, the tracks seem to resonate with any age group. While Psycho Baba and Its all in the mind found instant fan following, my favourite is Kya Dekh Raha Hai which has really interesting words.”

• In an interview in 2011, when Imaad was asked what kind of movies he liked to act in, he replied that he preferred to work in low profile Indian movies, and he added that he wanted to support the new movement towards independent cinema. He said,
  

  I like my privacy and maintain a low profile to such an extent that I have turned down offers from big banners as well.  I really support the new movement towards independent cinema.”

• In the same interview in 2011, Imaad was asked if he took any advice from his father while choosing the movies or any other career advice. He then answered that he discussed his career casually with his father, and Naseeruddin Shah reminded Imaad to be careful in the film industry. He stated,
  

  Not really. My dad just reminds me to be careful of everyone in the film industry and I take that advice seriously. We discuss careers casually because we are very friendly.”

• According to Immad, he did not face any pressure from the people in the industry that he was a star kid. In an interview, he said that he did not think about such things, and he loved to live like an ordinary person. He further stated that he never had any godfather in the Indian industry to launch him. He explained,
  

  Not really. The only pressure is to do the best I can do.  I prefer not to think about such things. I am an ordinary person. I might be the son of an actor but he’s also someone who came out of nowhere. At one stage, he was the biggest underdog in the film industry. He comes from a very small town and had run away from home against all odds, and made it on his own and I take that as a learning lesson. I don’t believe in luxuries, I did not have a godfather and nobody launched me. I have made it up the hard way.”

• In 2012, Imaad played dark and memorable characters in the movie ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist (a political thriller drama film),’ and in the same year, he also acted in a Bengali fantasy film ‘Tasher Desh.’

• In 2014, at the International Festival Trailer, the trailer of Imaad Shah’s movie’s ‘M Cream’ was presented.

• In 2015, in an interview, Imaad Shah opened up about his home and family members. He stated that all of his family members often enjoy vacations together, and they laugh and talk about life, philosophy, and literature over their meals. He explained,
  

  While I was growing up, we were all living together — mom (Ratna Pathak Shah), dad (Naseeruddin Shah), Vivaan (brother), Heeba (Naseeruddin’s daughter from his first marriage), and I. Now, Heeba and I live on our own and Vivaan has been told by my parents that he has one more year before he gets kicked out. It’s great fun hanging out with them; sometimes, over our meals, we engage in serious discussions on life, philosophy, and literature. At other times, we laugh and talk about other things. We are like a bunch of friends together. The five of us also have a great time vacationing together. The last time was two years ago when we went to Egypt and Bali. Now, Vivaan and I are trying to convince them all to plan the next one soon.”

• In March 2017, in an interview, Imaad Shah spoke about his lady love and their common interests, and he expressed his feelings that he would love to do a film with Saba Azad in future. He further stated that it was true that they were living together. He said,
  

  It’s true. Saba and I have moved in. That’s how we get to work together. We ran into each other while working on a play. With all the rehearsing stuff, we did end up spending a lot of time together. One day I heard her singing randomly with friends, it was a nice jam session. Her voice stood out from everything in the room. It was so striking. Saba has an amazingly soulful and versatile voice.”

• In 2019, India Unites for Non-Violence and Harmony, a non-political, citizen-led initiative, organized a campaign in Mumbai from 23rd to 30th January 2019 to commemorate the 71st anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi‘s martyrdom. Saba Azad And Imaad Shah sang the song ‘Tumhare Purane Shabd’ on stage.

• In 2019, Imaad Shah conversed with Radio Mirchi RJ Vipul for the show Repertwahr Star in the Car!, Imaad Shah said a lot about Lucknow city and his musical journey, and how his stage name became “Madboy!”

• In 2021, Imaad Shah was seen working on the Indian television web series ‘A Married Woman,’ which was directed by Sahir Raza (an Indian Cinematographer). In this web series, Ridhi Dogra and Monica Dogra were the other star casts.

  

• Imaad has featured on the cover of various renowned Indian magazines and tabloids.

  

• In an interview, Imaad said that his father was his idol. He stated that his dad was a self-made man, and his father gave Imaad many wonderful ideas. He said,
  

  My dad is a self-made man. And I truly admire him for that. He often gives wonderful ideas. He knows the craft. And he is my idol.”

• Imaad Shah is a cat lover. He is often seen posting pictures of his pet cat on his social media account.

  

• Imaad Shah adores playing DJ at musical gatherings and events in India. He often plays DJ as his favourite activity.