EXCLUSIVE: Zeyn Shaw reflects on his journey from getting rejected for being ‘too white’ to featuring on Salman Khan’s Instagram

To come up with an international adaptation with 11 fresh faces and become successful is a rare feat in Indian showbiz. But that’s what the Netflix show Class achieved. One of those faces was Zeyn Shaw who impressed not only the audiences but even Salman Khan. The young actor recently got in an exclusive conversation with Bollywood Bubble and reflected on his inspiring journey.

Zeyn Shaw on the absurd experience during Class release

Zeyn is quite close to his mother and that’s why he decided to watch the show for the first time with her. But a little miscommunication on the release time made that experience a bit funny. He shared, “We thought the show would come at midnight, but I didn’t know that Netflix projects release at 1:30 pm on the release day. So, we were waiting in front of the TV at midnight and the show wasn’t there yet. I got so stressed and started messaging all the Netflix people.”

After that glitch, when Zeyn and his mother finally got to watch the show, his feelings just had a 180 degree turn. “Next morning, it was 12:30 and I wasn’t nervous. Then the clock hit 1:28 pm and we were refreshing Netflix. Suddenly, I started shaking. Then the nervousness hit,” he informed, adding that it was weird for him to see himself play a character.

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A post shared by Zeyn (@zeynshaw)

But his mother’s reaction just made it all worth it. “After the first episode, I looked behind at my mother and she had the biggest smile. She doesn’t show much emotions but seeing her smile had me smiling. And after watching just the first episode, she said this is a mega hit.”

The change after Class

Zeyn revealed that the Friday Class released, almost half of the cast got sick, including him. “The show came on Friday and Saturday I was bedridden. I didn’t leave my house for 5 days and that really acted on my mental health. But I saw the love we all were receiving on Instagram. I had gone to a shop downstairs the Friday the show released, after a week I went there again and a dude walked by saying, ‘This is f****** war man’. And I was so astounded by it. I feel like Veer has become that guy that every girl wants their boyfriend to be,” he laughed.

Zeyn Shaw on his acting journey

The young actor revealed that his love for acting started in school. “The thing is that when you are that ‘gora, chitta’ young boy, people also try to put that thing in your head that you should be an actor,” he shared, adding however that the fascination actually took time to become passion.

He went to college for Business Management in America but didn’t enjoy that. “I wanted to do something creative, so my parents pushed me towards PR and advertising and I enjoyed it. But after working for a year in that field, I realised that this is also not something I want to do. I was like how do I tell my parents that I don’t want to do this too.”

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Seeing people in the US doing their major in acting surprised Zeyn. So, he called his mother to tell her that he wanted to quit college and act. So he got his degree, moved to New York for film school and started working over there. “And that’s how the acting journey started,” he informed.

His move to Mumbai and rejections

Zeyn’s did over 70 plays in New York then moved to Mumbai mid-2019. “There were a lot of rejections after that. I met some casting director who looked at me and said, ‘why did you move back here? It’s very difficult for you to work out in this country.’ After that, she gave me an audition to give me a reality check and I sucked at it,” he recalled.

In an earlier interview, Zeyn had said that he faced rejections for being ‘too white’. Explaining that, the actor said, “I think I said it a bit wrong. When I said ‘white’, I didn’t mean the complexion. What I meant was the demeanour I had because I had lived in the US. People saw me with that American accent and they said I should look for work there. I don’t belong in this industry.”

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Impact on mental health during Covid

Slowly, Zeyn started cracking auditions and was on a good path but then came the pandemic. He informed, “When Covid hit, I fell in a bad place. It felt like I was really close to booking something. So, there were times during Covid where I wanted to stop and it was out of stupid self-pity. 6 months into the first lockdown, I got 4 tests and I said to my mom that if I don’t lock any one of those, I will leave acting as I was feeling demotivated. And one of those tests was of Class.”

Zeyn Shaw on getting Class

Zeyn informed that he felt like he hit the jackpot with his character Veer Ahuja. Explaining why, he said, “I am the only actor on the show who has got to be in scenes with all 10 actors. And not just that, but with all the parents as well. I got to do everything, I was the rich boy and also shooting in the Jama Masjid streets. I felt it was a great character because everyone loves a redemption story.”

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His friendship and equation with Chayan Chopra

Zeyn Shaw is quite close to his co-star Chayan from the show and reveals that Dhruv’s coming out to Veer was the first scene they shot together. The actor shared, “Usually Aashim would give us 30 takes for a shot, but before that scene, he came to us and said we have 6 takes because of the position of the cloud above. The first 5 takes went either okay-ish or horrible. But before the last take, Aashim comes to me and tells me, ‘talk to Chayan like he is Saba’ and I was like what is he saying. But I did it and that’s the take he used.”

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The coming out scene was quite poignant and amazingly handled, and Zeyn recalls having a similar experience in real life too. He shared, “I have a real life Dhruv. One of my best friend came out to me in a very similar way. And my response to him was, ‘Would you swipe left or right on me on Tinder?’ A lot of my friends said that when they saw that scene in Class, they saw the real Zeyn for the first time.”

Zeyn Shaw on Salman Khan praising him

One of the striking thing about Zeyn’s stint in Class was that he was the only actor that got praise from Salman Khan. The superstar even put up a post on his Instagram for him. When mentioned that, Zeyn broke into a huge smile. He said, “ I think I had heard about it but I wasn’t a 100 percent sure he was really going to do it. But the second it happened, the way my phone rang, it didn’t do that even for Class.”

He added, “My phone wouldn’t stop buzzing and I thought that Class is really picking up. Then people told me that ‘Bhai did this, he said that’. When I saw it, it was surreal. He is a legend of the game, an icon. But me and my mom were laughing at the comments where people had written, ‘ye kaun hai?’ I look at his page sometimes and see my face there, and it’s so amazing.”

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A post shared by Salman Khan (@beingsalmankhan)

Life after Class

Zeyn has already shot for his second project after Class which is a film with Salman’s niece Alizeh Agnihotri. When mentioned that, he just smiled without saying anything. But he insists that life has indeed taken a complete 180 degree turn.

He even recalled an incident with a fan during an audition. “This 21-year-old guy came to me asking how to make it. I said exactly by doing what he was doing. When I told him that I had been rejected multiple times, he didn’t believe me. I had to sit him down and tell him all that I have seen. What made me happy is the amount of hope it gave him.”

The success of Class, Zeyn and all the other actors has surely given hope to many aspiring actors out there. The show is even renewed for a season 2. When asked what does Zeyn Shaw wants for Veer for Class Season 2, he joked, “I just hope he doesn’t become like another Suhani.”

Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Class actor Chayan Chopra decodes his journey from corporate world to the digital screen