Zeeshan is more than just ‘hero ka friend’

Actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub (right) is not satisfied with the kind of roles he has been playing in Bollywood films. Being the second fiddle to the lead actor or categorised as the supporting actor doesn’t attract Zeeshan much, who believes, if given the right opportunity, he can do much more.

“In my recent films Raees (2017) and Tubelight (2017), I’ve only played the hero’s friend. There’s a stagnancy in the kind of roles I have been offered; yet I try to play each of them differently,” says Zeeshan, who is looking forward to more challenging roles. “Now I’ve a command over playing such roles, but I don’t feel filmmakers have been able to exploit my talent completely.”

Zeeshan’s acting prowess was noticed, when he played the antagonist in the film, No One Killed Jessica (2011), but it was the role of Murari [Dhanush’s best friend] in Raanjhanaa (2013) that gave him fame and recognition.

Gearing up to play a significant role in filmmaker Aanand L Rai’s next, where Shah Rukh Khan plays a dwarf, the 32-year old is happy that people now easily recognise him. Recalling one such experience, he says, “Once, I was having lunch with my mom in a restaurant in Delhi. I saw a girl staring at me for a long time. When I got up to leave, she came up to me and exclaimed that I look exactly like an actor called Zeeshan Ayyub, and that my voice also sounded like him. I laughed and went away without explaining!”