For someone who started his career with an irredeemable character in his Bollywood debut No One Killed Jessica, actor Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub has come a long way. In his 15-year career across formats, he has played bad guys, hero's best friends, and quirky side characters. These days, Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub seems to be in his good guy era. There was Article 15, Tandav, Scoop, and most recently, the much lauded Hunkkaar.
In an exclusive interview with NDTV, actor Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub talks about his initial reluctance to star in the International Emmy-nominated Real Kashmir Football Club, his constant efforts to avoid being typecast, and why the cost of being outspoken doesn't bother him.
Kashmir continues to be a hot-button topic in our country. Given how sensitive the region often tends to be because of the politics around it, how was it becoming part of a show that is based in Kashmir?
"I was a bit reluctant initially when I found out the series was set in Kashmir, thinking it would come down to it (politics) eventually. Who is doing what kind of politics, etc. When I met Mahesh sir, he said 'we don't want to talk about it'. When you are making a series or a film on Kashmir obviously the backdrop has to be political, it will be.
"You cannot avoid that. It will happen for any series or film that's set in a real place, more so for Kashmir and the Northeast. But it is a story about hope and people. And that is what makes it beautiful, and real Kashmiriyat... I have talked to so many Kashmiri Pandits who are my friends, they miss Kashmir and the Kashmiriyat. The people of Kashmir have never kept each other apart. They function like and that shows so much about Kashmir and India also."
You described your character from the show, Sohail, as a 'topibaaz' (trickster). Are you a 'topibaaz' in real life?
"I'm not a topibaaz. My friends often complain that if someone looks only at my interviews and social media, they would think how serious I am as a person. They would think that I'm a loner who would be surrounded with books. I am nothing like that. I am a mastikhor (naughty). Half of my friends have a problem with me because I keep them awake until late at night. That is what I am. I am badtameez (rude), and I have paid a heavy price for it. I say things to people's faces, and that's my problem."
You said you have paid a heavy cost for your outspokenness. Have you learnt anything from your experience?
"Jo badal jaye wo aadat hee kya. I am like this. I think I will kill my honesty. People are able to see the truth in my performances because I don't lie in real life. Because I'm truthful and real in life, that's why perhaps the system hasn't got corrupted yet.
"That is what I am, it has its disadvantages, but there are benefits too. People who like me like me a lot. I would like to be around those people who are really my friends. I don't want every person in the crowd to know me. Those people who know me like me with all their heart and that is more important for me."
It's a full arc of sorts for you. You started playing an out-and-out negative character in No One Killed Jessica, and recently you have made a name for yourself playing the good guy who gives hope to people like in Hunkkaar. Talk us through your journey.
"If I speak honestly, I am bored of playing these good guys, hopeful characters. As an actor, there's not a lot that you can explore. The issue, even in a show like Hunkkaar or Scoop, is that these characters are very much on line to become boring because they speak very, very good things. It takes another kind of effort to play these roles. One thinks, 'Oh, this is way too idealistic, it's not fun.' It takes an extra effort to make them extra relatable, not boring.
"I have been trying to break stereotypes. It started with negative roles, then came the hero's best friend's phase, I started getting just those characters, then I broke that mould with great difficulty. Then extra special characters like the one in Tanu Weds Manu Returns, got many films like that. Then I thought I don't want to play side characters. Suddenly, I was playing a cop in every series or film. I broke that and now these righteous roles have begun. On one level, it feels very good... I start being typecast whenever I do a certain character, so I think I'm a decent actor. But that also takes an extra effort that no I don't want to do the same thing again and again, give me something new to do. So, it's fun, I'm trying."
Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub will next be seen in Eetha, fronted by Shraddha Kapoor.
Also Read | Hunkkaar Review: Aneet Padda, Raghubir Yadav Power A Taut Drama On Sexual Abuse And Godmen
