Sheeba Akashdeep, Salman Khan’s 1992 Suryavanshi co-star, calls him ‘sweetest’: ‘Koi unhe arrogant bolta hai toh…

“It just fizzled out. I didn’t make a conscious decision to step away, nor did I actively seek out work,” Sheeba told SCREEN.

Sheeba admitted that re-establishing herself in the industry required stepping out of her comfort zone. “I had to put myself out there. You need to be a bit more aggressive in your marketing, which I never was, even at the peak of my career. Nobody is going to wake up one morning and say, ‘Chalo Sheeba ko cast karte hain‘ (Let’s cast Sheeba in the film).”

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Reminiscing about her experience working on Rakesh Kumar’s 1992 horror-action drama Suryavanshi with Salman Khan, Sheeba recalled, “Salman and I were relatively new back then, while Amrita Singh was already established. Salman was incredibly sweet. Koi unhe arrogant bolta hai toh hairaani hoti hai (It surprises me when people call him arrogant.) I would say, he was one of the sweetest co-stars I have ever had. I worked with so many 90s stars like Akshay, Saif, Suneil—back then, we were all navigating our careers together.”

Discussing her comeback, Sheeba said, “I had to be upfront about my intentions. I’d tell people I was looking to return to acting—not as a heroine, of course, but for any good part.” She also said, “I don’t live in a fool’s paradise. I’d love to play lead roles, but I’m realistic about the competition today. It’s not something I expect, nor am I waiting for it.”

On the transformation of the film industry, Sheeba said, “Today, characters are celebrated; the hero-heroine era is over. Another big change is how production scales have grown. There are rows of vanity vans now—one for the lead actor’s gym, one for their staff, and another for the actor themselves. It has become much larger than life now. I come from a generation where we would change costumes right in the middle of the street.”