Adil was born in Assam, a North-eastern state of India and is currently based in New Delhi. Since his childhood, he acted in many plays and later appeared in television, film, radio plays and stand up comedy performances. He was awarded a scholarship to study acting at the National School of Drama, New Delhi and then went on to England for further training at the Drama Studio London, London. He pursued his acting training under the guidance of his teachers Khalid Tyabji and Shaupon Boshu. In 1997 and in 2007 he played the lead actor in a production called 'The Moeder India' produced by the International Danstheater, Holland.
He became well known in India as a stage actor after his internationally acclaimed performance as Othello in Roysten Abel's production of 'Othello- A play in Black and White' which was awarded a Fringe First in 1999. Later he played lead roles in television series and independent film productions such as 'Jasoos Vijay', 'In Othello', 'Iti Srikanto', 'For Real' etc.
He entered into the Hindi film industry with his roles in 'Ishqiya' and then in 'Agent Vinod'. His role in the Indo-Italian production of 'Gangor' was praised highly by the Hollywood Reporter in 2010. His first Hollywood production was 'Life of Pi' directed by Ang Lee, where he plays Pi's father.
Apart from being an actor, he has regularly engaged as a work-leader with young actors to share his experiences at the National School of Drama, New Delhi and at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. He started acting in a theatre production, 'Karmnishtha', a dialogue between Krishna and Arjun on the battlefield, with his guide and friend, Dilip Shankar in 2011.
He speaks English, Hindi, Bengali and Assamese fluently.
