Major Mohommed Ali Shah (born 23 September 1979) is an Indian actor, motivational speaker and former military officer.[1] He is a member of the board of the International Film and Entertainment Festival of Australia who gave him an award.[2][need quotation to verify]
Shah was born to Lt. Gen. Zameer Uddin Shah (Retd.). He is the nephew of actor Naseeruddin Shah[3] and cousin of actors Imaad Shah and Vivaan Shah.
His great-great-great-grandfather was the Afghan warlord Jan-Fishan Khan, who would go on to become the Nawab of Sardhana. His relatives include Ikbal Ali Shah, Amina Shah, Omar Ali-Shah and Idries Shah.[4]
Mohommed Ali Shah attended the Officers Training Academy, Chennai. Earlier Shah worked at a call centre and then took a commission in the Indian Army as per family tradition.[5][6] As a young lieutenant, Shah was deployed on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.[6] He was promoted to captain and was transferred on assignment as the ADC to the General Officer Commanding in the North East.[citation needed] Thereafter, he was promoted to the rank of major while posted with the Assam Rifles. He worked for Doordarshan as a television commentator for the fourth CISM Military World Games held in Hyderabad in 2007.[7][need quotation to verify] His army service totalled five years.[5]
After leaving the army,[5] Shah studied marketing at the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.[6] He has worked for Genpact and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.[3]
Shah has acted in Sriram Raghavan's Agent Vinod,[5] Vishal Bhardwaj's Haider and Tigmanshu Dhulia's Yaara.[6] He acted in a film based on the life of Majaz Lucknawi and played a character on the Doordarshan National television series, Dil Aashna Hai. He has featured in an advertisement[citation needed] and won the "Best Actor" award for an English film at the 4th Delhi International Film Festival.[9][full citation needed]
In 2012, Shah helped campaign against a private airline's alleged gross misconduct to prove a point that customers are aware of their rights.[14]