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Actor Sharib Hashmi says he has come a long way in the industry but hasn’t even reached the half-way mark to where he ultimately sees himself reaching. The personal goal isn’t arrogance, Sharib clarifies, but simply the belief in himself that kept him going even during the lowest days of his career when he was the receiving end of “brutal” media questions.
Sharib burst into the scene in 2012 with two consecutive release, Shah Rukh Khan starrer Jab Tak Hai Jaan and Filmistaan, where he played the lead. The latter bagged the National Film Award for best Hindi feature film.
But little did Sharib know that two films and a National Award win later, his career would hit an unexpected roadblock. In an interview with Indianexpress.com, the actor said his career before The Family Man didn’t take off as well as he had imagined.
“I feel I have come a long way from where I was and there is more to cover. I feel I deserve a lot more. When Filmistaan had come and things didn’t go the way I imagined… I got the film after years of struggle, then Jab Tak Hai Jaan happened. They were huge successes, but I did taste success with these films.
“After that suddenly, the films I was doing, some never took off, some got shut mid-way and time kept passing. When I used to go for events, people would not even look at me. I would just pass by, no one would ask for a picture. When I would sit for interviews if a film was releasing, no one would ask me any questions.”
The actor recalled how petty comparisons started to begin, between his career and that of his Filmistaan co-actor and good friend Inaamulhaq, who had in the same period appeared in big projects like Akshay Kumar’s Airlift, Jolly LLB and Farhan Akhtar headlined Lucknow Central.
“Sometimes media can be very brutal also. During The Family Man, when people started interviewing me, everyone asked me that I didn’t have any significant release after Filmistaan. I was asked, ‘Do you consider yourself a one film wonder?’ Someone else had actually asked me, ‘Do you miss an Airlift in your career?’ Because my co-actor in Filmistaan, Inaamulhaq, was doing really well after the film and did projects like Airlift, Jolly LLB, Lucknow Central.
“Both of us are still good friends and talk every other day, so I get happy with his success. But the journalist thought kahi main jal raha hu kya (if I am jealous). Of course, a lot of things would pinch me back then. What kept me going, what helped me survive then was the belief that I had in me. That it was just a matter of time that things will change. People will come back and notice my work once again. I am glad that is happening now. I do feel my journey would begin.”
The actor was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of his new song “Eternal Love”, which has been directed by Swapnil Raaj and backed by Subur Khan. The single marks his debut in a music video.
Sharib said post his career slump, it was Raj and DK’s The Famil Man which came in as an oxygen and gave him a “second birth”. The actor said, “When I gave the audition of Family Man, the first thought that came to my mind was that if this thing materialises then my career is going to change. I knew it had the potential and then that’s exactly what happened. It gave me a new lease of life, it gave me a second birth.”
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