From barracks at 14 to Balmiki in Mirzapur: The many lives of Azher Qureshi

Mumbai: “I wasn’t searching for acting then. I was just trying to survive,” says actor Azher Qureshi, known as Balmiki from Mirzapur Season 3.

Qureshi’s journey began at age three, when his father, a personnel of the Madhya Pradesh Special Armed Forces, died on duty. Raised by his mother Shahjahan Qureshi, a government nurse in a colony near Bhopal, he grew up hearing stories of his father.

At 14, he received a compassionate appointment in the same department. “I was excited because I had always wanted to serve. But the excitement disappeared the moment my mother left me in the barracks,” he recalls.

Initially assigned to clean tables and run errands, he stayed on for nearly a decade, learning resilience and discipline.

He later walked away from the security of the government job to pursue a different life. What followed were years of reinvention — running an event management company, managing bands, building a biker community, working as a loan recovery agent, becoming a DJ, opening a tattoo studio in Indore and venturing into line production.

Around 2006, he moved to Mumbai to try acting but was told at Ramanand Sagar’s office, “You have the personality, but not the acting.” He returned to Bhopal and spent time at Bharat Bhavan observing theatre rehearsals.

He found his way back into films as a casting coordinator, working on films including Raazi, RRR, Sui Dhaaga and Raid.

His acting break came in 2022 with Netflix’s Kathal, for which he shaved his waist-length hair and long beard. After the shoot, a visit to a casting office led to an audition for Mirzapur. Fifteen days later, he was cast as Balmiki.

“We think things will happen according to our plans. But life doesn’t work like that. What you expect may never happen. What is meant for you will,” Qureshi says.