Dear Bollywood. Please Don't Reduce An Actor Of Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub's Calibre Into A Stereotype

As a film buff, I probably end up watching 3-4 films per week and that is not even counting the endless hours spent watching anything that used to come to TV. But once in a while, there comes a film that you know is going to stay with you forever. For me, one such film was Rajkummar Gupta’s No One Killed Jessica. From every character to every frame, that movie literally turned my world upside down.

Apart from the powerful narrative and stellar performance by Vidya Balan and Rani Mukerji, another actor that made an impact was the new face who was playing the character of Manu Sharma, the main accused in the story. It was impossible to believe that this guy was facing the camera for the first time.

While he was seen in many small roles in films, he finally got his due with his character Murari in Anand L Rai’s Raanjhnaa and we finally came to know that the man was called Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub. He was perhaps playing the most clichéd character in Hindi films, the best friend of the hero. But his acting chops made sure that we saw this character in a whole new light. In fact, his chemistry with Dhanush was one of the biggest highlights of the movie.

However, what could have been boon became a bane in disguise. After his great performance in Raanjhnaa, people simply could not think of any other character arc from him. After Raanjhnaa, he has played the same variations of Murari, a ‘chant’ guy who is quick with words and swears ultimate loyalty to the central character. In fact, the only variety that came his way was in Raees where he played the same character, but instead of UP, Sadiq was from Gujarat. Seriously, that is the extent of variation that he has been offered in the last couple of years. His latest release Zero also has him playing the exact same character and it is honestly getting a little to frustrating to watch again and again.

Even in the limited space that Bollywood has provided him with, Zeeshan Ayyub has shown us his caliber as an actor. As an actor, he painted a poignant picture of an elder son of a Muslim family being rattled by the y chaos around him and accepting all of it, if with a little bit of reluctance. Even in Dolly Ki Doli, he added layers to an otherwise insipid character.

Bollywood has already been notorious for stereotyping actors in a particular kind of role and that has been the end of many a talented career in Bollywood.

Seeing Zeeshan perform like the way he does even in n small, stereotypical role, one can just imagine what he can do with a sizeable and good role. Until we can find that, let us not disrespect an genuinely fine actor and lose him to just stereotyping.