Mumbai: In an exclusive interview with Actor Saqib Ayub where he talked about the movie ‘Superboys of Malegaon’ and discussed his experiences and insights. The conversations cover various topics, including landing roles, preparing for performances, and collaborating with directors. The actor shares their thoughts on the importance of safety nets, the impact of surprise on performances, and their experiences working with notable directors like Raj and DK.
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#SaqibAyub #SuperboysofMalegaon #ExclusiveInterview #Bollywood #Trending #BollywoodNews #BollywoodGossips #BollywoodUpdates #BollywoodNews #Bollywood #Bollywoodcelebrity #BollywoodHindiNews #ians
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00:00I mean, I got a casting call, simple as that. I've been around in the industry for like
00:08around 10-12 years now. 12-13 years almost. Since Farzi got out, things became much more
00:16easier and nicer, you know, like I would get calls for better characters and all of that.
00:21So similarly, because of that, Malegaon ka bhi call, I got a casting call and I had to
00:25test for it. I tested for Akram's part first and then I tested for Farooq's part after
00:30that. And then I tested for Irfan's also and they finally locked me for Irfan. I have worked
00:36with Zoya and Farhan sir before on Bombay Miri Jaan. So I've worked with XL before.
00:41This is my second project with them. With Reema, it's my first project and she's a
00:47great director. She knows her deal. She knows what she wants. Her edit is in her mind and
00:54everything. Toh unke saath bhi, it was a learning experience, I would say. And when
01:00it comes to Adarsh and Vineet and Shashank, they're all fantastic and they're all amazing
01:05in what they do. So it was a good collaborative effort for me as well. It was a great learning
01:09experience for me as well from these guys. Whether it's Reema, whether it's Adarsh,
01:14Vineet bhai or Farhan bhai. Apart from that, approaching the character, I would say we
01:20had a series of workshops with Mr. Atul Mongia, who is one of the best acting coaches in the
01:26industry right now. So we had a 5-6 day workshop where all of us were there, which helped us
01:31bond together as a group, which helped us empathise and relate to the characters more.
01:37We also got to meet the real characters. We got to meet Mr. Nasir. Mr. Alim was our dialect
01:43coach. So we got to meet them as well and we got a bunch of information from them. Apart
01:48from that, the documentary in itself, Superman of Malegaon, directed by Faiza Ahmed Khan.
01:55All of these things combined together and obviously Reema's vision, what she wanted
02:00and Varun Grover's writing, the script. So all of these things combined together helped
02:07us all of us create the character and bring it on the screen. So there was no one particular
02:12process as such. We had to go through a few different, different things to get into the
02:17skin of the character. The dialect coaching, whether it's interactions with Nasir, whether
02:22it's interactions with Varun sir, interactions with Reema and whatever Atul Mongia taught
02:29us. So all of these things coming together, binding together, helped us get into the skin
02:34of the character.
02:40So Atul sir focuses a lot on breathing of course. There's a lot of breathing and there's
02:44a lot of meditation required. So the day would begin with like a half an hour session
02:51of meditation where all of us would just gather and meditate for a while. And then he started
02:58to open us up as what we are, as me, as Saqib, as Adarsh, as Adarsh, Shashank as Shashank,
03:04Palla as Palla, Vanuja as Anuj. So he opened us up, he urged us to speak about, he urged
03:11us to be vulnerable basically. He urged us to be vulnerable about our own lives, real
03:16lives, not the lives of the characters that we are going to live. He urged us to be vulnerable
03:20about our own lives and share it with everybody. So I would not tell you like what all everybody
03:27said because that's very personal to everybody. But like you know there were things which
03:32Adarsh was like holding on to, I was holding on to those things, Vineetbhai was holding
03:37on to and we opened ourselves in front of each other and we were just plain vulnerable
03:44with each other and Reema was also present there at that time. So I think that was one
03:47of the things which made us trust each other and respect each other more and become closer
03:56together as people. Because all of us had never met before. We knew of each other, like
04:02me and Adarsh had just worked once on an ad a few years ago. Shashank I've never worked
04:07with Vineetbhai. Same goes with Pallav and Anuj and Manjari and everybody. But all of
04:13these exercises that we had with the females as well, with Manjari and Muskaan as well,
04:19that made us vulnerable with each other and you know which bonded us together. Along with
04:23that we had to do the scene work from the film. The script was ready, we had read the
04:28script. So Atul sir made us do the scene work. We had these improvisation exercises. We had
04:34breath work exercises. And you know we would just, apart from that we would just have lunch
04:40together and you know after our classes, after the workshop, the day would get over. We would
04:45all gather in the evening at Adarsh's house or maybe Pallav's house and you know just
04:49like have a coffee and chit chat and just talk about life and everything. So we kind
04:54of bonded off camera as well. Even while shooting we would have lunch together, we would have
04:59dinner together in the hotel. On set as well we would probably sit on one same table. All
05:05of us would sit on one same table and eat together. Or probably you know like in one
05:09of the vanity vans, maybe Shashank's vanity or maybe Adarsh's vanity or whoever's vanity
05:13you know. We would all just spend time together. So all of that you can see is translated on
05:19the screen. You know all of this homework, all of this background work, it's visible
05:26on the screen if you've seen the film.
05:30Absolutely, I think that does bring a sense of security because when you know that your
05:38project is being backed by Prime Video or Netflix or whatever, you know that they are
05:42going to put in a bunch of effort and money and whatever you want to call it for the promotions.
05:50You know that this project is going to be out. First of all that it will be released.
05:55You're not wondering that it might get stuck somewhere or it might not get released.
05:59Because when you know there's a Prime Video backing it, it will come out at some point
06:02of the time, some point of the year. So there is a sense of security and all. Apart from
06:07that they have their own game plan when it comes to marketing and promotions and everything
06:12which is out of our control as an actor. So we don't really know how much of spotlight
06:18and how much of importance will be given to each and every character in the film or the
06:21show. Which is why we do our own PR and our own marketing activities. But yeah, coming
06:27back to your question, I would agree that there is a sense of security and safety when
06:31there's a big studio backing something like a Prime Video backing your project.
06:40Honestly, Farhan didn't really interfere much I would say because it's more than
06:45XL, this is Tiger Baby's film. And Tiger Baby is Zoya and Reema's company. So more
06:52than XL, it's Tiger Baby's film. So Farhan didn't really have a lot of inputs. He was
06:56supervised, he would come say hi, hello, he would meet us, he would just overlook things
07:01how everything is going and all. Zoya also I think didn't really interfere much. She
07:09completely trusts Reema with everything and she also has complete trust with Mr. Varun
07:14Grover as well. So similarly, I think their inputs were more of making us comfortable
07:21and making us confident and giving us that push and giving us that extra motivation to
07:28just go out and kill it. And the fact that she just entrusted us with such a big project
07:34was all in all everything. As producers, that's a really amazing thing that they really don't
07:40interfere in the script because sadly in the industry, producers are pretty infamous
07:45for their interference and interfering in the creative aspect of the script. Maybe she
07:52might have done her part, she might have done her bit behind the camera when we were not
08:00there in the corporate meetings and everything when these guys would come together. But in
08:05front of us, she never really blatantly interfered or came, I wouldn't say interfered, just
08:13had things to say apart from the things that I told you. Making us feel comfortable, motivated
08:18and just to go out and kill it. Most of the upper hand was taken by Reema and she was
08:28like the show runner and everything of the film apart from Varun sir who had his script
08:36impeccable. So we didn't really need to put in as much of an effort.
08:46I mean we have to adapt. There's a bunch of, I mean for Malegaon luckily there wasn't
08:51really much of a surprise element every day because the weather was favourable, actors
08:56and everybody, the whole crew was very cooperative and everybody was usually punctual and everything
09:02was ready. There was not much of mismanagement, there was not much of disorganisation. So
09:07on Malegaon I would say everything was pretty much on paper, on point. But I have been through
09:13projects, I have done a show on Amazon Mini called La Vadhura which released last year
09:18and we were shooting in Kerala and the weather would just not be on our side. Sometimes it
09:23would get cloudy and the next moment it would be sunny. So the DOP would have to adapt at
09:27that time. We also would have to adapt because if it is now very cloudy or if it's raining
09:31so now we have to probably do some other scene. So we as actors I think adaptation is I think
09:37a very important skill which an actor can and should have. So the surprise element would
09:42always be there. I mean as an actor I would say we shouldn't and as an actor and as a
09:48filmmaker also, we cannot be taken aback. We cannot let it affect us. Worst case scenario
09:55if there is something which is completely out of our control, we call it a day. We call
09:59it a day, we cancel the shoot and we just go back and we figure out a new plan, we figure
10:04out a new plan, we think of new ideas to do things. But this is something which is part
10:10and parcel of the industry, of the filmmaking business. So I think adaptation is what helps
10:14the scope with these kind of things.
10:19Yeah, I mean I am doing Rakht Ram Maand. I don't know, I mean it's on hold right now
10:26for some reasons. But I hope it resumes soon. But yeah, Rakht Ram Maand is happening right
10:31now. I have done Farzi with them. Hopefully the second season of Farzi should begin by
10:35the end of this year or probably next year as soon as possible basically. No, no, no,
10:41I think the script is still being written. It's still in the writing phase. So from the
10:45knowledge that I have, I could be wrong as well. But yeah, this is what it is as of now.