Saqib Saleem Qureshi (pronounced ; born 8 April 1988) is an Indian actor and model who works in the Hindi film industry. He worked as a model before beginning his film career. After moving to Mumbai, Qureshi appeared in several advertisements. While doing television commercials, he grew interest in films and started auditioning for film roles, eventually signing a two-film deal with the Y-Films, a subsidiary of the Yash Raj Films (YRF), as an actor.
Qureshi made his acting debut with a leading role in the 2011 romantic comedy Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge, a box-office success. He was appreciated for his performance in the film and earned a Filmfare Award nomination in the Best Male Debut category. The following year, he completed his two-film contract with the Y-Films by appearing in Mere Dad Ki Maruti, a romantic comedy that proved to be a critical and commercial success. Subsequently, he played a closeted homosexual person in a segment directed by Karan Johar in the experimental anthology Bombay Talkies (2013) and his highest-grossing release came with the action thriller Race 3 (2018).
In addition to acting in films, Qureshi is an active charitable worker, has a number of endorsement deals, and a member of the "Mumbai Heroes" at the Celebrity Cricket League, a non-professional men's cricket league in India. The actor's interest in stand-up comedy has increased lately because of his upcoming role in “Comedy Couple”, a rom-com co-starring Shweta Basu Prasad that is based in Gurgaon against the backdrop of the burgeoning stand-up comedy scene in the city.
Early life and modeling career
Saqib Saleem was born in Delhi, India. His father, Saleem Qureshi, is a restaurateur, and runs a chain of 10 restaurants called Saleem's, all around Delhi. His mother, Ameena Qureshi, is a house wife. He has one sister Huma Qureshi and two brothers, Naeem Qureshi and Haseen Qureshi. During college, Saqib briefly assisted in the running of the restaurants, but did not like it. By that time Saqib had already started modelling, and he moved to Mumbai despite his father's preference that he stay in Delhi and earn a Master of Business Administration degree.
Saqib started his career with Cricket playing for Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir. A cricketer all his life Saqib never thought of becoming an actor. After reaching Mumbai, Saleem started out by doing a few modelling assignments, eventually moving into television advertisements for brands like Pepsi, Lays (with actor Ranbir Kapoor), Tata Docomo, Bar One, KFC, Airtel, Sprite and others. While shooting for the ads, Saqib's interest grew in acting and he started auditioning for film roles in Bollywood films. His close friend, fashion designer Varun Bahl, helped him get a chance to audition for Yash Raj Films. "It was gruelling," he recalls. After eight months of auditioning, he bagged the leading role in the Y-Films romantic comedy Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge.
