‘I GOT FULL MARKS FOR ATTENDANCE’

Known for his roles as Sadiq in Raees and Murari in Raanjhanaa, actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub owes a lot to Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College (KMC) for fuelling his passion for acting. Recalling how his theatre journey started he says, “Though both my parents were actors, I never thought of taking up acting. But one day I saw on the notice board an announcement about a 15-day theatre workshop in KMC. Un dino mein workshop sunke laga shayad nut bolt kasna sikhate honge. But when I asked my father, he said ‘If possible join karlo, apne aur life ke bare me bahut kuchch seekhne ko milega’.”

Since then, he hasn’t looked back. “I have done theatre from KMC. Aur sath me extra-curricular ke taur pe B Sc bhi ki hai. (laughs) And because in those days we used to get attendance for being part of plays, at times I used to get more than 100 per cent attendance due to participation in so many plays,” says the actor who’s in the city, to be the theatre mentor for the Old World Collegiate Theatre Festival. “It was during my batch that The Players (drama society of KMC) hired the auditorium at India Habitat Centre to stage our annual production. Later other colleges followed,” adds Ayyub. In a matter-of-fact manner, he explains that he wanted to apply for MSc in Mathematics but decided to reapply for National School of Drama (NSD). “I had applied once but couldn’t clear it. To be honest, I did feel disappointed, after my graduation, I came to Mumbai thinking how many actors pass out of NSD and make it big? But when I reached Mumbai and saw Aks (2001), I thought what a fool I was to have come here. I didn’t even know how to approach anyone for that kind of a performance. I then decided to come back to Delhi and made up my mind that probably I’m only cut out for a 9 to 5 job and can’t do something extraordinary.” However these negative thoughts didn’t prevail, and the actor cracked NSD on his second try.

We used to get attendance for being part of plays. At times I used to get more than 100 per cent attendance due to participation in so many plays MOHAMMED ZEESHAN AYYUB, ACTOR

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