Shukla began pursuing theatre in 1986 with roles in plays like
A View From The Bridge (
Arthur Miller),
Look Back in Anger (
John Osborne),
Ghashiram Kotwal (
Vijay Tendulkar) and
Hayvadan. In 1991, he joined the NSD Repertoire Company – the professional wing of the
National School of Drama – as an actor. Shukla also played the role of
Vijay Anand's
sidekick Gopi in the 1994
Doordarshan crime drama Tehkikaat. The series was directed by
Karan Razdan, but Shekhar Kapur directed the first episode. He also wrote and acted in
Zee TV's
9 Malabar Hill. He also appeared in a recurring albeit a short role of an Aamir's Jasoos (chieftain's spy) in the 1990s Doordarshan TV serial
Mulla Nasiruddin, which had
Raghubir Yadav in the lead role. The series was based on the folklore of Mulla Nasiruddin. Shukla is also a part of a comic theater play
2 to Tango, 3 to Jive. Breakthrough (1998–present) Shukla's biggest break came when he co-wrote the script for
Ram Gopal Varma's 1998 cult classic
Satya and played the role of gangster Kallu Mama in the film. He won the
Star Screen Award for Best Screenplay alongside
Anurag Kashyap. "Why do I make realistic films, like Satya? Because that's the kind of films I like to do. Capturing reality is very difficult and challenging," he said in a 2000 interview to
Rediff.com, making it clear that he prefers realism in his scripts. In the same interview he also talked about his preferred genre of film making –
comedy: In 2003, he wrote the screenplay for
Calcutta Mail. He received his first award for this film, the
Zee Cine Award for Best Screenplay. In 2008, he acted in his first international film, the
Golden Globe and
Academy Award-winning
Slumdog Millionaire, as the character Constable Srinivas. In 2013, he appeared as policeman Sudhanshu Dutta in
Barfi!, a film through which director
Anurag Basu and co-actor
Ranbir Kapoor, he said, "revived [him] as an actor". ==Filmography==