Arif Zakaria is an Indian actor and producer who works primarily in the Hindi film industry. He made his acting debut in Kalpana Lajmi?s Darmiyaan: In Between (1997). His role was initially offered to Shahrukh Khan. But as Shahrukh Khan backed out at the last moment, Arif stepped in to play the part of a transvestite originally meant for the Bollywood star. Since then he has acted in movies like Earth (1998), Sangharsh (1999), Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003), Dance Like a Man (2004), Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero (2005), My Name Is Khan (2010) and Lootera (2013). He?s also a part of director Suman Ganguli?s Blue Mountains (2017). The movie also stars Ranvir Shorey, Gracy Singh, Rajpal Yadav, Arif Zakaria, Simran Sharma, Yatharth Ratnum and Mahesh Thakur.