Saim Ali, a Lahore-based model, host and actor has been on the field for a few years and it looks like there is nothing stopping this man to get to the top. In the past, he did not just dance with ‘the’ Meera Ji; but he had been prepping for his big screen appearance as well.
With a bachelor’s degree in fashion designing and textiles from the London School of Fashion in Knowledge Village, Dubai, this man wears many hats. Despite having a fashion degree, he always knew that fashion is not the industry where he belongs. From the very beginning, he knew that he wanted to get into the acting and hosting side of the industry, which he eventually did. He made his theatrical debut in the play ‘Dilwale’ as the lead role, Rahul, which was put on stage in Malaysia and now, he is all set to star as a lead role in a Malaysian telefilm ‘Kashmiri Babu’, which is set to release this Eid.
In an exclusive interview with Pakistan Today, the multi-talented artist tells us about his journey in the industry and a sneak peek into his role as Bashir.
‘I have always been a television person, mainly wanted to act since forever. I did try my luck at a fashion house, but that didn’t work out and realised that this is not my forte,’ Saim tells Pakistan Today.
‘Fashion industry is a world of its own, whereas television is very mass oriented,’ he said.
‘I am a performer, an entertainer and stage are like oxygen to me. I love being on stage,’ Saim added.
With a dream of becoming a big name in the industry, Saim started his morning show career with Shaista Lodhi on Geo in 2013. He got his big break when he was offered to host a morning show with the film-star, Noor Bokhari. Suddenly, things didn’t seem so blue for the artist.
While talking about his modelling career Saim said, ‘I did have photo shoots which were published, but I wanted more than just shoots.’
‘I wanted to model for a brand and be associated with the same which didn’t happen while I was into TV hosting,’ he said.
But as things progressed brands like HSY, Chinyere, Flora Lawn featured Saim as the face of their respective campaigns.
In addition to that, Saim has appeared in various TV shows including Kitni Ghirhain Baki Hain on HUM TV and Heer on Geo TV.
The artist seemed particularly excited about his upcoming telefilms with Malaysian artists, which will be aired on Zee TV India, Zee TV Dubai and all across Malaysian channels. He was approached by an Indian Production House ‘ZZ Productions’ based in Malaysia for Dilwale and then the telefilms.
As the artist recalls his theatre debut, he is still taken aback as to when he was first approached for his role as Rahul.
The production house approached him after they saw his dance videos from his morning show on A Plus with Laila, which went viral.
‘The dance was a little steamy, which is usually taken in the negative light by the audience and it follows a trend of going viral on social media later on,’ said Saim.
These videos turned out to open doors for me internationally as that was when ZZ Productions called and this negative publicity turned into a positive opportunity for me.
While talking about the people there he said, ‘The Malaysians are very fascinated by Bollywood actors and their movies. When I visited Kaula Lumpur, I could see SRK’s posters everywhere.’
‘Thus, playing SRK in the play has given me so much respect as an actor in a completely different country,’ Saim said.
As we moved on to talking about his upcoming telefilm he tells us about his role as Bashir and the challenges he faced.
‘Bashir is a poor boy living in a village, he comes to Malaysia and tries to woo the Malaysian girl he fell in love with and the story revolves around that,’ Said said.
‘I visited Malaysia for the first time for Dilwale, but it always felt like home,’ said Saim about the people there. Despite the language barriers faced, it was the out-of-the-way hospitality and professionalism that counted.
Talking about his previous work experience he had appeared in movies as well, namely ‘Ishq Positive’ and ‘Hijrat’ which was released in 2016. Whereas, his movie ‘Tum Hi Ho’ with Danish Taimoor and Mathira is yet to be released. He even appeared on morning shows in Malaysia, which was aired in other countries as well.
As he talked about being a workaholic, he likes to keep his work life balanced and makes sure that it is not affected in any way. If he is not in the country, the already shot worked will be aired as he is in Malaysia shooting for another movie.
Furthermore, talking about earlier rumours with Neelam Munir and Mathira, the artist said, ‘ If you are working with a person, you definitely happen to spend a lot of time together. It’s only rarely, however, that the stars you are working with, become friends.’
‘This is what happened in my case with both the stars, we became really good friends, nothing more than that,’ he added.
‘Just because we posted the pictures, the media just need something to publish and spice things up more than we want,’ Saim said.
The young artist is going to give up hosting for a while and going to focus on acting only because according to him, this will bring more opportunities for him as an actor.
‘The challenging bit about acting is playing a lot of different roles, which will not only give you a lot of experience, but it is also something that I enjoy very much,’ Saim said.
The artist is all set to play another theatre role next month in Australia as a Pakistani boy and is very excited to represent his country in Australia. Not only that, he is likely to star in a Malaysian movie as well.
