People whom I trusted left me hanging: says Zeeshan Ayyub on not finding work post Tandav controversy

Actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub was last seen in the Karishma Tanna starrer Scoop. His performance as Imran Siddiqui was certainly such that one will always remember. A few years he fell prey to controversy with his Amazon Prime Web Series Tandav starring Said Ali Khan. In a recent interview, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub opened up about his difficulties in finding work post the Tandav controversy and its impact on his career.

Zeeshan Ayyub shares his struggles after Tandav controversy

Speaking to Lallantop, Zeeshan shared his situation and hard times during the controversy. He said, “We all know what happened after Tandav… The cases, the media trial, the social media trial; all the difficulties, the tension, the humiliation… It wasn’t a good time, especially the first 10 or 12 days, which were very troubling. But then, slowly, it died down and went in a different direction when agendas became clear.”

He further added, “But I understood one thing about this industry, people whom I trusted, people whose names I don’t want to take, left me hanging. Projects I was almost signed for were taken away, and they all made excuses and said that it was for my own good.”

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After learning from the experience, Zeeshan revealed that he reflected on the industry and realized that many people were opportunistic while only a few had integrity. Despite the challenging period of not finding work for six months, he saw it as a hidden blessing. As a result, he made a firm decision to solely pursue projects that he truly wanted to work on and felt passionate about.

Zeeshan shares how he resumed getting acting projects

Talking about how he got over his no-work phase, Zeeshan opened up and said that during this period, he took the initiative to reach out to people and inquire about potential work opportunities. One of the individuals he contacted was Samir Nair, who eventually cast him in the show Bloody Brothers. Additionally, he reached out to Hansal Mehta, who later offered him a role in Scoop. Not stopping there, Zeeshan also got in touch with Zoya Akhtar.

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Directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, Tandav boasted an impressive cast with actor Saif Ali Khan and Dimple Kapadia.

Zeeshan Ayyub debut in Bollywood with the movie No One Killed Jessica in 2011. Since, then he has given some amazing performances in films like Raanjhanaa, Zero, Manikarnika, Mission Mangal and more. He was last seen alongside Karishma Tanna in Netflix’s scoop.

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Karishma Tanna on invasion of privacy by media: Give a little space and have some dignity