A 26-year-old Kashmiri youth Saqib Wani’s dreams of becoming an actor have come to fruition after being cast in Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan’s Red Chillis Entertainment produced Netflix show Bard of Blood.
An actor by profession and a theatre performer, Saqib started his career in drama by featuring in TV shows on Indian television like Colors, and SonyTV.
Saqib’s got his first break on ColoursTV, which began his acting career and he went on playing roles on TV shows telecasted on Sony TV.
Saqib has made his debut Bollywood with Red Chilies Production show Bard of Blood and is currently working on new Bollywood projects.
Talking to Rising Kashmir, Saqib said its extremely hard to get a break in Bollywood, especially if one is from Kashmir.
“Although there are many hurdles to success and one has to give auditions but by virtue of support and love of my mother never let me quit,” Saqib said.
Saqib says he credits his success to his mother, who passed away last year when he was shooting for Bard of Blood.
Saqib was born in a Kashmir and did his schooling from Linton Hall School Rajbagh.
“Acting was my passion from childhood. In school I used to participate in skits, dramas and also worked as a child artist for Doordarshan in a drama called Ghar ki Dehleez,” Wani said.
Saqib says he acting was close to his heart and he always wanted to pursue it but was not sure of support from his family.
His father wanted him to have a career in administrative services so Saqib did an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Kashmir.
“Acting was in the back of my mind ever since I did my debut on Doordarshan Kashmir. But my father did not approve of it then,” he said.
After convincing his family, Saqib finally worked at a New Dehli theatre where he learnt the craft of acting, learning different features of acting like intensity and how to get into the character.
It was here that Saqib started his struggle and started on his journey to step into Bollywood. After a lot of struggle, Saqib got a break in an Indian television serial Udaan, and then in Crime Patrol aired on SonyTV.
“There was no looking back from here,” he says.
“It was a dream come true when I got a casting call from Shahrukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment for their Netflix series Bard of Blood and this was the moment for me to make a debut in Bollywood,” he said.
Saqib said that the opportunity he got was worth the struggle that he faced.
“It was all worth it when my father came up to me and said that his friends were proud to see him on screen and appreciated of my work,” he said, adding, “I could see a proud feeling in his father’s eyes,” Wani said.