EXCLUSIVE: Saqib Saleem comments on the struggles outsiders face in Bollywood, says, “You have to choose from what’s being offered”

Aditya Sarpotdar’s spooky comedy Kakuda recently had its direct-to-OTT release. Starring Sonakshi Sinha, Riteish Deshmukh, and Saqib Saleem in the lead roles, the film’s story is about a ghost in the cursed village of Ratodi. The film is special for Saqib as he is having a release years after 83 came out. In an exclusive chat with Bollywood Bubble, Saqib reveals how excited he is for film, struggles of being an outsider, and his production venture.

Saqib Saleem on having a release after a long time

Saqib Saleem’s last release was 83 alongside Ranveer Singh. When asked about his feelings as he has release after a while, he answers, “Not really nervous, to be honest, because it’s a very enjoyable film. In this line of work, you can’t really plan everything as to what releases when and what doesn’t happen. This was supposed to release slightly earlier, but got pushed. So you can’t plan those things. All you can do is whatever you’re doing, you do that well. And whenever that comes out, you just wait and see how people react to it.”

Talking about his journey he remarks, “That’s how I’ve always been for the last 12-13 years. I’ve never been an actor who has about five films up for release. It’s always been like, oh, he’s doing one film, that’s the next film or that’s the series he’s doing. And I think I enjoy that pace, to be honest. I became an actor when I was 22 years old, but I understood acting when I turned 27 years old. Those five years, you can’t help but get excited. Oh, man, I was sitting right next to Mr. Bachchan in the theatre. So it took me a while to be like, okay, I’m here, guys.”

Saqib on struggles of being an outsider

Sharing what the struggles of being an outsider is like, Saqib avers, “Sometimes you have to choose from what’s being offered to you. I’m not wanting to start a debate here about anything, but when you have to figure it out yourself, you have to be very careful as to what you can do and what you can’t do. Because nobody there will tell you if you’re doing right or wrong. So I’m very glad now I have friends, I have Huma and everybody who really helped me out with these things. So it takes a while to really realign, re-adjust, recalibrate to these things. And I decided that I’ll take my time. I don’t have any stress. I’m here and this is what I want to do.”

Reflecting on his journey as producer, he shares, “But thankfully, in the last two years, I’ve been very fortunate that I had the time and I could put together this production company that I’ve been wanting to. Now we just finished our third film. So that’s been a very exciting journey for me. I’ve been seeing. I feel like since I’ve become a producer, I have a lot more respect for. It’s not like I was rude before, but I feel like you start valuing a lot of things when you realise how it’s actually done.”

Watch the full chat here:

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