Born on July 20, 1949 in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, Naseeruddin Shah is a descendant of a 19th-century Afghan warlord Jan-Fishan Khan.

Naseeruddin Shah did his schooling at St. Anselm's Ajmer and St. Joseph's College in the beautiful hill station of Nainital. He is an Arts Graduate from Aligarh Muslim University and Naseeruddin Shah had also attended National School of Drama in Delhi.

At the age of 19, Naseeruddin Shah married a much elder lady named Manara Sikri. She was 36 years old at the time of marriage. Manara was a divorcee and had children from her previous marriage. Within the first year of their marriage, the couple became parents of a daughter, stage actress Heeba Shah. Their marriage ended a year after Heeba's birth.

Naseeruddin Shah moved to Mumbai and stayed at Bandra, just behind the Sacred Heart Church. Back in the 70s, he met Ratna Pathak during a rehearsal. Naseer noticed Ratna Pathak at Sugarcane Juice Stall outside National College in Bandra, Mumbai. He went to meet Mr. Dubey to get role in one of his plays titled 'Sambhog Se Sanyaas Tak'. Sparks Flew after they met, they fell in love and got married in 1982 after being in a live-in relationship for many years. The couple have two sons, Imaad and Vivaan, both are now aspiring actors. Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak live in Mumbai with all of Naseeruddin's children, Heeba, Imaad and Vivaan.

Naseeruddin Shah has acted in several Bollywood movies. He started in 1975 with a film titled Nishant. Naseeruddin won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his role in Aakrosh in 1981. He was also awarded with the Best Actor Filmfare Award in 1982 for his role in Chakra. He was nominated for Bazaar in 1983 in the same category but did not win the Best Actor award. In 1984, Naseeruddin Shah again won a Filmfare Best Actor award for Masoom. Naseeruddin Shah was the recipient of India's third highest civilian award 'Padma Bhushan' in 2003