Saqib Saleem: My greatest phobia is to be alone

“Mumbai loves people who want to work and if people see honesty in your eyes, they will be more than helpful to give you work. This is what I felt. For me as a non-actor and an outsider, my first four films were with Yash Raj, Karan and Amol Gupte. So I owe a lot to this city,” says The Bombay Talkies actor Saqib Saleem.

Sitting at Indigo Deli over a cup of coffee, Saqib agreed to speak with us about his life and his upcoming movies. We’d say he’s a gentleman, a passionate lover and a true Dilliwala at heart. In his denims and a loose t-shirt, he walked in casually and apologized for being ten minutes late as his script-reading took a bit longer than he expected. “Sorry for acting like a star that I’m not,” he said. His sense of humour knows no bounds, not only on-screen but more so off-screen.

So here is all you should know about Saqib Saleem Qureshi: some things you’d know and some you’d definitely not know:

When did you come to Mumbai and why?

I was 21 when I came to the city to be with this girl I was madly in love with. She was a year senior to me in college. She had shifted out to Mumbai to act while I was still in Delhi. The true Delhi boy in me got extremely insecure seeing all her pictures on social media with different guys and the next thing I know, I was in Mumbai aimlessly, just to be with her. Yes I’m a filmy like that, when it comes to love.

How did you sustain yourself?

I am a khuddar when it comes to these things. I had only asked for permission from my dad to shift to Mumbai. My parents were supportive of me to shift here because Huma was here already and they felt both the siblings could be together so her being here helped. So when my dad asked if I wanted anything else from him, moneywise, I said No. I flew down with Rs. 30000 in my pocket that I had saved from my modeling days. My dad gave me one year to make something out of my Mumbai stay.

Were you always an actor?

No, I never even thought of becoming an actor. I used to laugh at theatre artists. I was a cricketer and the goal was to play for my country. Sachin Tendulkar was my ideal. So much so that I digged out a hotline number that only the Press had at that time when he visited Delhi and I called him up. The moment he picked up my call, I broke into tears telling him, “I will play with you one day sir.”. That crying helped me meet him at his hotel and I had my first fan boy moment that day. So I was far from acting till a few years ago.

So how did acting come along?

I was called for auditions when I shifted to Mumbai but that wasn’t my motive, love was. My girlfriend was very caring. But I think she had fallen out of love so one night we had an argument and she said she wanted to break up. I packed my bags and left from her house in the middle of the night with Rs. 10000 in my pocket. My ego didn’t allow me to call my father for help and Huma stayed in a girls’ PG so I couldn’t have stayed with her.

This was my wake-up call and I started giving auditions. My first audition was for Tata Docomo and I got selected and I thought to myself, “Acting itni easy hai. Now I’ll do this only.” As soon as I made 50K from ads, I moved out of the hostel and started giving more auditions but things weren’t working out that great. Then one day my designer friend Varun Behl asked me to meet Shanoo Sharma and I wasn’t sure who she was. I was very unsure of getting into movies and this attitude of mine didn't really work in front of Shanoo. By the time I realized I wanted to act in movies, I had lost a great opportunity and Shanoo refused to take my calls until one day when Ayan gave her my reference. I had acted in a Pepsi ad for him against Ranbir.

From there started my journey of giving auditions at Yash Raj and after months of auditioning, re-auditioning, giving up and again standing up, one day I had a filmy moment with my dad, when I told him looking at the YRF studio, that “Pehli Picture karunga toh inke saath karunga, nahi toh nahi karunga.” The very next second Shanoo calls and says very casually, “YRF has signed you for three films.” And that was a life-changing moment for me; I had tears in my eyes.

Did Huma play a role in motivating you to act?

Huma and I weren’t close. It’s just Mumbai that brought us together and now we stay together, eat together etc. I think Mumbai does that to you, you always want to find family here. You’re always an outsider I feel. I have an outsider complex.

Is there anything you’re scared of in life?

My phobia is I can’t stay alone. I have this problem in life. I’ve never been single since the past twelve years, I’ve always had committed relationships.

So what’s your status now?

I’ve been dating for over three years now. I don’t want to take her name but I can say she’ll be the best director there’ll ever be and she has promised me a film.

So tell us a little about your upcoming films?

We’re doing the official remake of Oculus. That’s got Me and Huma in it – we’re playing siblings. It’s a co-production between The Relativity Media and Vikram Khakhar and Prawaal Raman is directing it. It’s a very intelligent film, bordering on the lines of horror/ a psychological thriller. Horror is not my scene because I don’t think we’ve cracked that genre yet in Indian cinema but if we can do this film properly, I think it can change the game. We’re still thinking of a suitable name for the film.

On the other hand, I’m doing a sequel to Mere Dad Ki Maruti. I want to do happy films and I’m super excited for this one.

Any role that forced you out of your comfort zone?

Yes. When I did Bombay Talkies, it was way out of my comfort zone. I’m not homo-phobic but you know I come from a Muslim orthodox family where acting is also a big deal. Solely because of this reason, I was a bit nervous about the kiss in the film.

From a non-actor to a mainstream actor, what gives you the motivation to be what you are today?

I just want to be remembered as somebody who did things for the right reasons. I don’t want to do a film for money. My whole idea is that I don’t belong from here and for me to become what I want to be, I’m sure it should all be about doing what I believe in. I’m a 100% sure – I may not have done films that have made 100 crores but I know I’ve done films that I can look back and be proud of. I haven’t ever gotten a bad review for my film and that’s an achievement for me.

Not everybody can be Shahrukh Khan and I accept it. I can at least become what I want to become.