'Nishaanchi' Star Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub Speaks On Building A Career In Bollywood

2026-01-29 02:25:29

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Rarely do you meet an actor who tells you the year and the date in which he watched his favourite movies on a VHS cassette, the year he bought his first refrigerator, the date and year he was flying to the US for training to teach acting, the exact date he gave himself a deadline to stay in Mumbai and more. Sliding somewhere between these dates, however, was Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub's destiny, sculpting and chiseling him towards his rightful career.

His recent films Nishaanchi, Real Kashmir Football Club and Tere Ishk Mein have wowed audiences worldwide and he continues to transit between Dubai and Mumbai for work. His wife and daughter live here.

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Starting with a negative role playing the ill-famed Manu Sharma in No One Killed Jessica, the actor from India's National School Of Drama comes from a family of actors-his father and mother are theatre actors, his grandmother Saroj Bhargava was the first female artiste of All India Radio, while his maternal aunt Seema Bhargava (Pahwa) and Manoj Pahwa are reputed actors.

His acting antics started in childhood by imitating people and in his sixth grade; he and his elder sister would create small skits and hold fancy dress competitions for the mohalla (locality). At 12, awed by Shah Rukh Khan, he wanted to be like him. The family never thought that he would take up acting as a full-time profession. A good sportsman and able student in school, he decided to pursue computers in college, but enrolled in a theatre workshop and was hooked.“Classes took a back seat and I felt at home in theatre and acting,” says the much acclaimed actor who then went to the National School of Drama where he met his wife Rasika.

The couple then moved from Delhi to Mumbai with a luring teaching assignment from the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute (that was planning to set base in Hyderabad), for a promising monthly salary of Rs 65,000 (Dh2,600 approximately in today's exchange rate).“I was to undergo four months training in the US and return to Hyderabad where the school was to be opened. Rasika and I moved to Mumbai since she could do Marathi theatre there and Hyderabad was closer to Mumbai than Delhi,” he says.

The big breaks and a lull

The teaching assignment proved to be a mirage that kept evading him by postponing the date of its opening. And as is said, life happens when you are making other plans, while waiting for the assignment, he auditioned for a role in No One Killed Jessica and got his big break.“I was very new to Mumbai and didn't even know it was a big break. This was followed by films like Mere Brother ki Dulhan and Jannat 2-all by big banners UTV, Yash Raj and Mahesh Bhatt,” laughs Zeeshan.

The lull happened after Jannat 2 and work grew scarce.“I had given myself a date of September 8 that year following which we would return to Delhi. TV was a good option since it was booming those days and producers were looking for good actors,” he adds. But fate was working between his dates. On August 17, his junior from college Himanshu Sharma asked him to audition for Raanjhana.

"On September 1, I was shooting for the film, nine days before my set deadline," he adds. He struck a fond friendship with Dhanush, who was making his Hindi film debut. During its screening at Yashraj Studios, Zeeshan didn't watch the film but loitered outside.“Rasika, Sonam and Swara came out of the theatre in tears and my wife held me and wept is when I knew the film had landed well."

He thought she was just being emotional but the next day when the phone reactions happened, things changed.“Suddenly the industry noticed me. No one was inaccessible. For instance, Aditya Chopra talking to newcomers on why actors shouldn't say no to supporting roles like mine.”

Good roles happened soon enough and Zeeshan worked with Hansal Mehta and eventually Anurag Kashyap. "During the shoot of Scoop, Hansal (who knew my work as an acting coach) put me in charge of the actors blocking. That made a huge difference to their bonding with me and the reverence towards me," he adds.

As for his association with Anurag Kashyap, Zeeshan has another tale.

“During the wrap party of my first film No One Killed Jessica, it was pouring in Mumbai. The roof at home was leaking but we managed to reach the venue late and heard that Anurag was looking for me. He met me warmly and promised to write a role for me. He did, after 15 years during Nishaanchi,” laughs Zeeshan.

“I kept following up with him over the years and finally we acted in Haddi together. During the promotions, some journalists were surprised that I hadn't been working with Kashyap since our sensibilities were similar-to which I had said that he was writing a role for me since 2010," he says.

"Kashyap called me shortly and offered me the cop's role in Nishaanchi. It is a supremely negative character who meets a terrible end."

Zeeshan finds it adventurous to work with Kashyap since the director gives ample room for the actor to improvise and co-write the scenes. "He will narrate the scene to you and then you work with him on it. An actor can only surrender to an able director like Anurag and trust him like a child," adds Zeeshan.

What happens if an actor is saddled with a bad director? "You do the best with dignity without adding much to your role because it might backfire. In a bad film, you can still do your best role," adds Zeeshan.

His move to Dubai was a natural progression. With multiple visits in the past he decided to move here with his wife and daughter to set up a base and work in India and across the world.“ We are still new to Dubai but we have a great group of friends who make it home,” he adds.