Looking Back, I Don’t Think My MBA Degree Was Useless: Actor Saqib Saleem Wani

His parents wanted him to become a bureaucrat. His teachers told him to go to Mumbai to pursue his dream. Saqib Saleem Wani, 29, decided to follow his heart and became a secret agent. At least, on screen.

He will be seen soon in a leading role in Apoorva Lakhia’s espionage drama Crackdown 2 on the streaming platform Voot Select. Wani acts as an agent of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s external intelligence agency. His character, Bilal, uncovers a threat to India’s security.

Wani, however, has tasted success after a long struggle—not only in the entertainment industry but also with the expectations of his family. His father, Mohammad Saleem, was the chief medical officer of the health department of Jammu and Kashmir. Saleem wanted his son to be a bureaucrat.

Wani, however, had experienced the pleasures of acting early on. In 1998, he acted in a drama, Ghar Ki Dahleez, on DD Kashmir, the regional TV station of India’s national broadcaster, Doordarshan. “I acted as a thief,” says Wani, “and I enjoyed it very much.” He was
already acting in plays and skits at his school, Linton Hall, in the Rajbagh area of Kashmir’s capital Srinagar. “Someone introduced me to Doordarshan and my acting journey took off.”

A double life

Becoming an actor was, however, not an easy enterprise. “People don’t think this is a viable career,” said Wani. “Everyone loves watching movies and TV serials. But they want their children to become doctors and IAS officers.”

His family, too, had similar expectations from him. So he took admission in a Bachelor of Commerce course at the University of Kashmir and then earned an MBA from the same institution in 2016. But he never gave up on his passion—acting. “I would read about acting, I would perform in plays. I would read about the top actors in the world,” adds Wani.

“All I wanted to do was act in films, in TV serials. But my family always had other plans for me. They wanted me to be an IAS officer. I was living a double life. Pretending to be serious about taking competitive exams but focusing on acting,” he added.

A sacrilege

While enrolled in the MBA course, Wani bagged a role for a TV serial on Colours TV. “I don’t think anyone had thought of combining a business degree with liberal arts,” he says. “It would be sacrilege.” Wani feels he could have studied social sciences for his postgraduation or gone to acting school. “But I got enrolled in the MBA course to keep my family happy,” he says. “One has to compromise at times.”

His family thought acting was a waste of time and energy. But his training in business and management proved helpful. “MBA is all about personal development. It is about how you deal with people, and how you manage business administration. Now, looking back, I don’t think my MBA degree was useless. I learned a lot about businesses. And in acting, you should also know about business, economics,” he says. But even as he was studying for his MBA, his teachers often told him to go to Mumbai. “They would tell me that I could be a good actor and was wasting my time in a management course,” he says. “This was encouraging, but I completed my degree.”

Early struggle

Like many young actors, he began in theatre. But doing theatre in Kashmir is not easy. “There is no acting school and hardly any culture of acting,” he says. “You have to learn techniques on your own.” He moved to New Delhi, which has a vibrant theatre culture. “I learned from all the great actors—Naseeruddin Shah, Irrfan Khan, Om Puri and Vijay Raaz.”

In the early days, Wani was often rejected at auditions. But eventually, he managed to bag the role of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh. He also assayed the role of Yousuf Shah Chak, a 16th-century king of Kashmir, who was defeated in battle by Mughal Emperor Akbar. “It was very exciting to act as Yousuf Shah Chak,” said Wani. “His life is full of pain, love, and longing.” The play was helmed by a director from Mumbai.

On small screen

Soon enough, Wani started getting roles on TV. He debuted on the small screen with a part on Crime Patrol—a highly popular true-crime series on Sony TV in 2012. He also played other roles, but his big break came with Bard of Blood—another espionage series on Netflix, where he shared the screen with Emraan Hashmi, Vineet Kumar Singh, Kirti Kulhari, and Sobhita Dhulipala.

The series was produced by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s production company Red Chillies. “That was my big break,” says Wani, who acted as Talib, a fictional Taliban leader in the Baluchistan region of Pakistan. Talib captures four RAW agents, setting off a chain of events that comprises the narrative of the series. And what about his family members who wanted him to become a bureaucrat? “They are happy when they see me on TV,” he adds. From a Taliban leader chasing RAW agents to playing a RAW agent in the show, Wani’s life as an actor has come full circle.

(This appeared in the print edition as "Call of the Tinseltown")

Naseer Ganai in Srinagar