Saqib Saleem

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Saqib Saleem
A young Indian man wearing a black suit smiles away from the camera

Saleem in 2013
Born Saqib Saleem Qureshi
(1988-04-08) April 8, 1988
Delhi, India
Nationality Indian
Occupation Model, Actor
Years active 2008–Present
Religion Islam
Relatives Huma Qureshi (Sister)

Saqib Saleem (born April 8, 1988), also known as Saqib Saleem Qureshi, is an Indian model and actor who appears in Bollywood films. He is the younger brother of actress Huma Qureshi.

Saleem made his film debut in 2011 Y-Films romantic comedy film Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge, set against the background of social networking site Facebook. In 2013, he appeared in the comedy film Mere Dad Ki Maruti. The same year he did Bombay Talkies, playing the role of Avinash.

Life and career

Early life (1988–2009)

Saqib Saleem was born into a Muslim family in Delhi, India. His father Saleem Qureshi is a restauranteur, and runs a chain of 10 restaurants called Saleem's, all around Delhi and his mother Ameena Qureshi is a house wife.[1] He has one sister Huma Qureshi and two brothers, Naeem Qureshi and Haseen Qureshi.[2][3][4] During college, Saleem briefly assisted in the running of the restaurants, but did not like it.[5] By that time Saleem had already started modelling, and he moved to Mumbai despite his father's preference that he stay in Delhi and earn a Master of Business Administration degree.[5]

Saqib started his career with Cricket playing for Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir.[6] After reaching Mumbai, Saleem started out by doing a few modelling assignments, eventually moving into television advertisements for brands like Pepsi (with actor Ranbir Kapoor), Tata Docomo, Bar One, KFC, Sprite and others.[5] While shooting for the ads, Saleem's interest grew in acting and he wanted to try in Bollywood films.[5] His close friend, fashion designer Varun Bahl, helped him get a chance to audition for Yash Raj Films. "It was gruelling," he recalls. After eight months of auditioning, he bagged the role in Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge. Subsequently, he was seen in Mere Dad Ki Maruti (2013).[7]

Acting debut (2010–11)

"Today's youth spend a lot of time on Facebook. You are constantly connected to each other through so many things like BBM. I feel the ways our lives have been till now, our college experiences, the fun we had back then. We drew inspiration from all these things."

—Saleem talking about his main inspiration behind the character of Vishal in Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge'.[8]

In 2010, one of his friends informed him that Bollywood film production house Yash Raj Films (YRF) was auditioning for new faces. Saleem was interested and he gave his audition.[5] However, it was 8–9 months before he got confirmation from the production house that he had been selected.[5] The film for which he was selected for was Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge, a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of social networking site Facebook; it was directed by debutante Nupur Asthana.[5] Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge is a love story which develops on Facebook where the protagonists change identities to make their partners fall in love with them.[8] Starring newcomers Nishant Dahiya and Saba Azad, along with Saleem and Tara D’Souza, the film was released under Y-Films, a subsidiary of YRF.[9] The role that Saleem had to play was that of a college prankster called Vishal Bhatt, who with his friend Hacky, go on playing pranks on their friends.[10] Saleem explained that he "liked the script and I did it. I feel the youth will relate and connect with it. I think the movie will put me in a different light and open lot of doors for me."[5] The youngsters had to undergo a month of workshops under Aditya Chopra, where they rehearsed each other's lines from the script.[8]

The cast of Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge. From left: Saqib Saleem, Tara D’Souza, Saba Azad and Nishant Dahiya.

Filming began in April 2011, with production continuing till August 2011. Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge released all over India on October 14, 2011, and became a critical success. Anupama Chopra from NDTV complimented the film for being a hackneyed love story, but excitingly brewed with fresh faces. She also commended Saleem's and Azad's acting, calling them faces to look out for in the coming years.[10] Filmfare's Karishma Loynmoon applauded the chemistry and comic timing between Saleem and Azad, and overall dedicating the success of the film to them.[11] Her view was shared by Nikhat Kazmi from The Times of India, who added that the film "brimmed over" with youth iconography.[12] Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge scored high over the other releases like Aazaan and My Friend Pinto. The film collected about INR50 lakh (US$80,000) on the first day of its release, adding it to first weekend collection of about INR2.25 crore (US$360,000) in the opening weekend. It was declared an average grosser by Box Office India.[13][14] By the end of 2011, Saleem was touted as the best newcomer of the year, with Robin Bansal from Hindustan Times commenting that "Saleem’s American Pie college boy style is expected to take him places, if he manages to get plum film projects in the future." Critic Joginder Tuteja commented that although Saleem did not have the personality of a quintessential Bollywood hero, he made his presence felt in Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge. "It will be a pity if he isn’t seen in the years to come", concluded Tuteja.[15]

Success and breakthrough (2013)

In 2013, Saleem appeared in Y-Films's Mere Dad Ki Maruti directed by Ashima Chibber. The film revolves around a Punjabi wedding, where a boy (played by Saleem) steals his father's car to impress a girl and portrays how his plans go astray.[16] The year 2013 saw the release of the experimental anthology film Bombay Talkies consisting of four short films. Saleem was part of the segment titled Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh, in which he played the role of Avinash, a young homosexual man, who is infatuated by his co-worker's husband.

Saleem has recently signed Amol Gupte's Hawaa Hawaai, in which he will play the role of a skating coach.[17]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2011 Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge Vishal Bhatt
2013 Mere Dad Ki Maruti Sameer Khullar
2013 Bombay Talkies Avinash
2014 Hawaa Hawaai Skating Coach Pre-production

References

  1. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/Saqib-Saleem-on-sister-Humas-link-up-with-Shahid-Kapoor/articleshow/22745785.cms?
  2. ↑ "From Saleem's". India Today. Retrieved 2013-02-10. 
  3. ↑ http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-07-15/news-interviews/40589802_1_brother-saqib-huma-qureshi-saqib-saleem
  4. ↑ Loynmoon, Karishma (2012-06-17). "Who's That Girl". Filmfare (Times Internet Limited). Retrieved 2012-08-14. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Sudi, Arun (2011-10-05). "My father wanted me to do MBA, says debutant Saqib". The Indian Express. Indian Express Group. Retrieved 2012-01-09. 
  6. ↑ "All good things start with cricket!". Times Blogs. Retrieved 2013-02-10. 
  7. ↑ http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130630/jsp/graphiti/17062252.jsp
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Nayar, Anjuri (2011-10-14). "Love, life and Fraaandship on Facebook". The Times of India. The Times Group. Retrieved 2012-01-09. 
  9. ↑ "Yash Raj Films' new banner to launch seven actors in 3 movies". Business of Cinema. 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2012-01-09. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Chopra, Anupama (2011-10-14). "Review: Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge". NDTV. Retrieved 2012-01-09. 
  11. ↑ Loynmoon, Karishma (2011-10-15). "3 Stars: Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge". Filmfare. The Times Group. Retrieved 2012-01-09. 
  12. ↑ Kazmi, Nikhat (2011-10-14). "Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge". The Times of India. The Times Group. Retrieved 2012-01-09. 
  13. ↑ "Ra.One Countdown Begins, Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge Picks Up At Box-Office". Koimoi.com Komal Nahta Publications. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2012-01-15. 
  14. ↑ "Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge Has Best Weekend". Box Office India. 2011-10-11. Archived from the original on 2012-01-15. Retrieved 2012-01-09. 
  15. ↑ Bansal, Robin (2011-12-28). "Newcomers in B-town for 2011". Hindustan Times. HT Media Ltd. Retrieved 2012-01-09. 
  16. ↑ "'Mere Dad Ki Maruti' goes on floors". The Times of India. 2012-05-16. Retrieved 2012-05-14. 
  17. ↑ Kha, Subhash K. "Saqib Saleem to play skating coach in Amole Gupte's next". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 2013-07-28. 

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