Zeeshan Ayyub has consistently proved his mettle as an actor since the beginning of his career, featuring in impactful films such as No One Killed Jessica, Tanu Weds, Manu, Tandav, Raanjhanaa, Zero and many more. He recently starred as Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s love interest in the film Haddi. In a candid conversation with News18, he discussed the importance of the roles he takes on, the surge in popularity of OTT platforms and the dangerous trend of celebrating mediocre content.
Speaking of taking on smaller, but impactful roles in big films, Zeeshan said, “For me, length of the role does matter, but I also want to have fun. I don’t think want to take the curious too seriously all the time. Sometimes I just want to go and sets, work for a week and just have fun, all the while being in good company. I think, just having a few words as dialogues and making a human out of it is a far more strenuous job than having a well written character and then adding layers to it.”
Zeeshan, who plays a pivotal role in Haddi, also opened up on working with Anurag Kashyap and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. “I didn’t have too many scenes with Anurag, but I’ve known him for 13 years. When I first came to Mumbai, he was very encouraging of me. He loved my work in no one killed Jessica. Whenever he meets me, he tells me he wants to work with me. I tell him, ‘you make so many movies just give me a call and I’ll be there’. With Nawaz bhai, too, it was a lot of fun. We are both from NSD, so that was a common factor. We spoke about films, series and lots more.”
Zeeshan, who was a big part of Hansal Mehta’s Scoop on OTT, thinks the medium is getting ‘contaminated’ now. He said, “OTT doesn’t come with the pressures of the box office. There, at the end of the day, it’s all about creating good content. Having said that, I don’t think it is all white there. OTT has become corrupt now. Anything and everything is getting celebrated and we are falling into the same pattern. Too many actors are being celebrated for work that is not that great. My close friend Jaideep (Ahlawat) got such good opportunities and OTT and I am so happy for him. It was only after Pataalok, the people understood his calibre as an actor. Even Vijay Varma- their rise has been meteoric since OTT. Gulshan Devaiah, too, is doing amazing work. I look at them and think ‘they are finally getting what they deserve‘.” And then, there is a long list of actors jinke aane se kuch khaas farak nehi padha. It’s unfortunate.”
The actor is known to call a spade a spade and said that he intends to stay that way. “It’s not like I don’t think twice before speaking my mind. But when I see injustice, oppression – I always speak up. It gives people hope and assurance that someone is with them – someone who has a lot to lose.”
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