Saurabh Shukla is among the few artistes in modern Hindi cinema who have not only pushed their acting capabilities beyond limits, but have also explored and enriched the medium of the big screen. Shukla, who started as a theatre actor, now has a film career spanning more than 20 years.

Born in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, on 5 March 1963, Saurabh Shukla graduated from Khalsa College, Delhi, and began his professional career in theatre. By 1986, he was playing prominent roles in plays such as A View From The Bridge (Arther Miller), Look Back In Anger (John Osborne), Ghashiram Kotwal (Vijay Tendulkar) and Hayavadan (Girish Karnad). In I991 he joined the NSD Repertory Company, the professional wing of the National School of Drama. He was soon spotted by Shekhar Kapur and cast in the acclaimed Bandit Queen (1994).

However, Shukla's first on-screen appearance was in the Doordarshan crime drama Tehkikaat (1994) where he played Gopi, the sidekick. This serial made him a household name. In 1997 he acted in the TV series 9 Malabar Hill.

Shukla got his breakthrough recognition when he wrote the script for cult film Satya with Ram Gopal Verma in 1998 and also played the character of Kallu Mama. He won the Star Screen award for the screenplay and Kallu Mama became a legend.

From 1996 onwards, Shukla has appeared in numerous films, including Sudhir Mishra's Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996), Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Kareeb (1998), Mahesh Bhatt's Zakhm (1998), Subhash Ghai's Taal (1999), Abbas Mustan's Baadshah (1999), Mahesh Bhatt's Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan (1999), Kamal Haasan's Hey! Ram (2000), Hansal Mehta's Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar!! (2000), Aditya Chopra's Mohabbatein (2000), Shankar's Nayak (2001), Priyadarshan's Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar (2001), Harry Baweja's Karz (2002), Sudhir Mishra's Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003) and Mani Ratnam's Yuva (2004). He won the National award and the Screen award for Best Supporting Actor for his spectacular performance in Subhash Kapoor's Jolly LLB (2013).

He has directed and/or written the screenplays for acclaimed films like Mudda – The Issue (2003), Calcutta Mail (2003) and Pappu Can't Dance Saala (2011). He was nominated for the Zee Cine awards for Best Screenplay for Calcutta Mail. From 2014 onwards, he has appeared in a number of successful films, including Ali Abbas Zafar's Gunday (2014), Sajid Nadiadwala's Kick (2014) and Rajkumar Hirani's PK (2014), continuing to surprise audiences with his acting prowess.

Saurabh Shukla is currently working on the sequel to Jolly LLB.