SPECIAL INTERVIEW FOR RAKSHA BANDHAN WITH SAQUIB SALEEM

“My talent should speak more than my physicality”

The brilliant actor par excellence and the brother of Hina Qureshi tells JYOTHI VENKATESH that he was a state level cricketer and did not even dream that one day he would end up as an actor though he has no regrets.

How did you begin your journey to become an actor in films?

I passed out of my college at the age of 20 and started working with him in his restaurant. I was by then also a State level cricketer.

I did not even dream that I would end up taking acting as a career option at that point of time in my life.

How did you end up being an actor?

It so happened that I was then dating a an actress in Mumbai who one day rang me up to tell me that she could not possibly continue with a long distance relationship as she was in Mumbai.

I was madly in love with her and hence decided to come down to Mumbai to be close to her but within three months of my coming to Mumbai she walked out on me.

And thanks to her, I also ended up as an actor as I had started giving auditions for acting by then.

It was with Mujhse Friendship Karoge that you had made your debut as an actor. Isn’t it?

Shanu Sharma who was the casting director with YRF called me up and asked me to audition for the film Mujhse Friendship Karoge which introduced a few new comers including me.

I followed it up with YRF’s next Mere Dad Ki Maruti since I was under a contract with the production house.

Was it beneficial to you to be under a contract with YRF?

Yes. To be associated with a production house like YRF was very beneficial to me as I was a new comer with no contacts in the film fraternity and YRF was an established production house in Bollywood and I had absolutely nothing to lose at all.

Since YRF is a prestigious production house, I saw only advantages in being associated with them.

How did you bag the offer to act in Dobara?

I knew Vikram Khakhar who is one of the producers of the film Dobara. He told me that he wanted to adapt the Hollywood film Oculus by making it as Indian as possible by making it as an Indian relationship drama

What is your role in Dobara?

I play the role of Kabir Merchant in the film which has been directed by Prawal Raaman.

An incident happens when Kabir is only 12 and he is blamed and sent to juvenile prison. However, his elder sister believes that it is the job o a haunted mirror and decides to prove her brother’s innocence.

Prawal Raman is familiar with the genre and it is the legitimate way of adapting a hit foreign film without stealing the subject.

How would you describe Dobara as a film?

I would say that Dobara is a genuine horror film India has been looking for. We have tried to be true to the genre.

It is a clean film which sets out to scare you too. I would say that it is India’s first ever horror film designed keeping the families in mind.

You and your real sister Huma played brother and sister in Dobara. How tough or easy was it for both of you who are real life brother and sister?

We are the first real life brother and sister to play brother and sister on the screen till date.

First of all, we had to disassociate from what we are in real life and discover each other as co-actors as we needed to give space to each other as actors and get into our own respective characters

You played a gay guy in Bombay Talkies. How did you bag the role and how as the experience?

It is no big deal if you agree to play a gay guy. We should see if the story if working before we say yes to an offer t act.

I have come from outside without any film connection. So has my sister Huma Qureshi whose first film Gangs of Wasseypur was released after my first foil was released.

It was Deepa Bhatia, who is the editor of Bombay Talkies who had suggested my name to the producers when the idea of casting an actor who is gay came up.

And because I was part of Bombay Talkies in one segment, Deepa suggested to her husband Amole Gupte to cast me in his film Hawaizaadein.

Dobara was your sixth film as an actor. How would you look back at your career?

I still do not like myself when I see myself on the screen. Performances take a toll out of me.

My biggest limitation is that I look very young for my age. My talent should speak more than my physicality