Zeishan Quadri was born inWasseypur,Dhanbad,Bihar (now inJharkhand) in 1983.[3] He is the only son and the youngest child of Syed Imran Quadri, acivil engineer. Quadri grew up in a strict and protective environment. He has two elder sisters.[4] Quadri was educated inDhanbad. Quadri left Dhanbad to study forBachelor of Arts (BA) from Meerut. Quadri worked in acall center and forHCL computers inDelhi for 18 months before coming to Mumbai in 2008.[5]
In 2009, Quadri moved toMumbai to pursue a career inacting.[6][7] Quadri studiedworld cinema including film makers such asMajid Majidi,Fateh Akın andAkira Kurosawa.[8] In 2009, he met directorAnurag Kashyap and pitched him the story of Wasseypur. Quadri negotiated to write the script and play the character "Definite" in the second part.[9][10][11][12] On May 30, 2009, Quadri's story was sold to Kashyap. Based on real life events in thecoal rich city ofDhanbad, it was a story about the "coal mafia" that spans several generations from 1941 to 2010.Gangs of Wasseypur, initially shot as a five hour long film, was released as a duology, with thefirst part releasing on June 22, 2012, and thesecond part releasing on August 8, 2012, in the Indian market, after being screened in its entirety at screened at the 2012CannesDirectors' Fortnight.[13][14][15][16] With an ensemble cast ofManoj Bajpayee,Nawazuddin Siddiqui,Pankaj Tripathi,Richa Chadda,Jaideep Ahlawat,Huma Qureshi,Piyush Mishra andTigmanshu Dhulia starring in major roles, both films received widespread critical acclaim and were commercially successful at the box office. It has gained a largecult following over the years due to itsdark humor, experimental soundtrack, and its raw and realistic filmmaking style not done by anyBollywood film before.[17]
He acted in the filmRevolver Rani, which was directed bySai Kabir and starredKangana Ranaut andVir Das.[18][19][20] In 2014, Quadri acted in the movieAkki, Vikki Te Nikki directed by Vipin Sharma and produced by Bohra Brothers.[21][22] He was reported to have been working on a script withMadhur Bhandarkar for his then-upcoming movieMadamji starringPriyanka Chopra, but since then, no further developments on the projects have been reported.[23][24]
In 2015, he was reported to be working on a scriptOh Womaniya forPritish Nandy Communications to be helmed by directorAnu Menon,[25] and on theFardeen Khan starrerFirauti,[26] both of which were eventually shelved. His first film as a director and producer wasMeeruthiya Gangsters.[2] The editing of the film was executed by veteran filmmaker Anurag Kashyap who presented the film along with Prateek Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.[27] Quadri visited many cities for the promotion of the film includingAligarh at Aligarh Muslim University.[28] He also acted as the jury member at the university's eighth edition ofFilmsaaz.[29]
According toMumbai Mirror, Anurag Kashyap and Quadri were reported to collaborate on the third installment of theGangs of Wasseypur franchise, with Kashyap insisting that Quadri writes and directs the film.[30] This claim was eventually debunked by Kashyap in 2024.[31]
Quadri initially planned to produceSarbjit, and roped inOmung Kumar as the director.[32] The film released in 2016 to mixed reviews.[33]
In 2020, Quadri starred in the non-fiction TV seriesBicchoo Ka Khel, which was produced byEkta Kapoor.[34][35] He also produced and co-wrote the screenplay for the filmsHalahal andChhalaang in the same year.
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