I would love to work with Salman Bhai again: Saqib Saleem

Saqib Saleem made his debut with Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge to much aplomb but has since been upstaged by his much more popular sister, Huma Qureshi. While their career graphs and choice of films have been largely different, this June, both of them featured in multi-starrers headed by the biggest stars active right now — Rajinikanth and Salman Khan.

After bursting into the scene with a critical and commercial success, did your past few films disappoint you owing to their less successful runs?
It feels extremely bad when my films don’t do well. Even more so, when I feel that I put in more hard work in comparison with my earlier films. However, there is no way to know whether a film will be successful or not. I can only get up, dust myself off and figure out what to do next. And the most important part is to forget. I’ve had both hits and flops. I just have to forget both and move on to the next project.

Race 3 is your second multi-starrer after Dishoom.
Technically, yes. But Dishoom, for me, was more like a cameo I did for Rohit (Dhawan).

What was your motivation to do the Race sequel?
The opportunity to work with senior actors like Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, and Jacqueline Fernandez. There were a lot more actors in Race 3 than in Dishoom.

Would you say that the learning from Dishoom helped?
I do not know if the learning from Dishoom helped me, but what really helped was the atmosphere on the sets of Race 3. This is true especially of Salman, Anil and Bobby, who set the tone for the film, and that in turn helped all us younger actors blend in. It made me feel like I was a part of the family.

What interested you about your character Sooraj Singh?
Every actor would say that the reason why one chooses a character is because it was different from all their previous roles. I am no different. In Race 3, I got to play an angry young man who has a lot of angst, and Remo sir (the director) wanted me to play him as someone who is vulnerable. Those were the two emotions which I used to craft my character and I am very happy with the way the role has shaped up.

Regardless of the reception, has the Race 3 experience convinced you to do more multi-starrers?
The experience was great. I would love to work with Salman Bhai again. I also want to work with Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan because I really want to learn from the best. I am not going to box myself in with solo hero roles or multi-starrers. As long as there is a good script and I have a substantial role that helps me better myself, I am game.