• He was born to a Nagar Brahmin Family in Mumbai.
• After graduating in Commerce from Bombay University in March 1974, he started doing Gujarati Theaters.

• He debuted as a supporting actor in the 1984 film Holi. However, it was the 1986 blockbuster Naam that gave him due fame.
• During the 1980s and 1990s, he appeared in more than 100 films, in most of them as the main villain.

• He became a household name after playing the role of a boisterous and kind-hearted Marathi landlord in the 2000 cult-classic Hera Pheri.
• He has also produced some TV soaps like- Sahara One’s Main Aisi Kyunn Hoon, Zee TV’s Teen Bahuraaniyaan, and Colors’ Laagi Tujhse Lagan.

• He became a Member of Lok Sabha from Ahmedabad in 2014 with the ticket of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
• In 2014, he was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India. 

On 10 September 2020, President Ram Nath Kovind appointed him as the chairperson of the National School of Drama Society (NSD) for a four-year term.