20th Annual Life OK Screen Awards/ Winners

Better know as ‘Kallu Mama’ from the cult film Satya, not many know that Saurabh Shukla also co-wrote the film with director Ram Gopal Varma. He also won a Screen Award for the screenplay of the film along with Anurag Kashyap. A noted personality in films, theatre and television, Shukla, who made his acting debut with Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen, has done many films, including the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionnaire, but he has never won awards for histrionics. But all that seems to have changed with Subhash Kapoor’s courtroom dramedy Jolly LLB. His nuanced performance as Justice Sunderlal Tripathi has left viewers divided about who was better (and funnier) — Saurabh as the all-knowing judge or Arshad Warsi as Jolly, the small-time lawyer. But clearly, Shukla, a self-confessed fan of dark comedy, was at home in Jolly LLB. So, what will he win his next award for — writing or acting? Only time will tell.

“It’s so uncanny that though this is the fourth award for me,  it’s my first as an actor, the rest have been for writing. Interestingly, all the awards I’ve got so far are Screen awards. What’s interesting is that, in 1996, I received my first nomination as an actor by Screen for Iss Raat Ki Subah Nahi in the Best Supporting Actor category, and today this is my first award in the Best Actor in a Supporting Role category. So, I’m just too happy. It’s like an Oscar to me!” — Saurabh Shukla