Asif Basra (27 July 196712 November 2020) was an Indian actor who worked in Bollywood films and TV serials. He is best known to Western audiences for his role in American film Outsourced (2006). He also appeared in many other films, including One Night with the King (2006). Basra died of suicide by hanging in 2020. There was reportedly suspicion that he might have been murdered but the case was closed as no supporting evidence was found.
Early life and education Asif Basra was born on 27 July 1967 in Amravati, Maharashtra, India. In 1989, he moved to Mumbai and attended University of Mumbai, and acted in college productions. He regularly won prizes for the characters he played during this time. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Physics.
Acting career Basra performed in Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday and Rahul Dholakia's Parzania, which received much critical appreciation. He appeared in Michael O. Sajbeland's One Night with the King with veteran actors Omar Sharif and Peter O'Toole.Profile He played a tailor in the Hindi movie Lamhaa; he appeared in 2010's top-grossing Bollywood film Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai as Shoaib's (Emraan Hashmi) father. Basra was also known for his theatrical performances from playing five characters in Feroz Abbas Khan's production of Mahatma v/s Gandhi. Other performances include a child with spina bifida in Main Bhi Superman and Horatio in Hamlet.
In 2020, Basra appeared in two web series: Paatal Lok on Amazon Prime and Hostages on Hotstar. He worked in Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, and Malayalam films. He was last seen in the second season of the Amazon Prime Video web series The Family Man which released on 4 June in 2021.
Death Basra's body was found hanging in a private guest house in McLeod Ganj, in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh on 12 November 2020 at age 53. The investigation into his death was inconclusive and the case was closed as suicide.
Filmography
Film Year Film/television Role Notes Ref1998Woh History Teacher Omkarnath Dikshit Hindi film debut2003Rules: Pyaar Ka Superhit FormulaAakashQuicksand Airman 2004 Black Friday Shanawaz QureshiLove in Nepal Ram Nath Mohan 2005 Parzania Premiered at 36th India International Film Festival, Goa 2006 Outsourced Puro N. Virajnarianan One Night with the King Cameo Mixed Doubles Doctor 2007 Jab We Met Railway Station Vendor 1 2008 Tandoori Love T.V. Kumar 2009 Chal Chala Chal Harilal 2010 Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai Hussain KhanLamhaa Driver Knock Out Police InspectorKushti Post Master 2013 Kai Po Che Ali's father The Attacks of 26/11 Taxi Driver Krrish 3 Dr. Alok Sen 2014 Ek Villain Aadesh Varma Manjunath DevendraAnjaan Rajiv Tamil film2016 Wrong Side Raju Amitabh Shah Gujarati film Freaky Ali Kishan Lal2017 Saanjh Sanju's Father Himachali film SheitaanIslamic ExorcistExorcist2018 Kaalakaandi Raza Arif Hichki Shyamlal, peon Fanney Khan Vivek Sir, Producer2019 The Tashkent Files Media Company, Boss Satellite Shankar Cab Driver P Se Pyaar F Se Faraar Sompal Singh2020 Big Brother Muthan Malayalam film2021 Sooryavanshi Rafique Posthumous release
Web series Year Film/Television Role Network Notes Refs2018RangbaazSI Bhangwan MishraZee52020 Paatal Lok Jai MalikAmazon Prime Video Hostages Asghar NabiDisney+ Hotstar 2021The Family Man (Season 2)CounsellorAmazon Prime VideoPosthumously releasedReleased on 3 June 2021
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