Falling on the right track to success: Yazir Saleem

Every film follower is well aware that super star Dileep started his career in films as an assistant director to Kamal. His main agenda even while working behind the camera was to one day become an actor. Eventually, as we all know, his dreams had come true. Years passed by. One day, a youngster named Yazir Saleem joined as an assistant director in Dileep-starrer Ivan Maryadaraman. Like the star, Yazir’s target was also not wielding megaphone in future. “I wanted to study cinema,” says Yazir, who later became an actor, and recently essayed a pivotal role in the thriller Ore Mukham.

Yazir enacted the role of Devan in the film which is set against the backdrop of a campus in 1980s. “It was through the producer of the film — Jayalal Menon, that I got acquainted with its director Sajith Jagadnandan. “One day, Sajith ettan said, there is a role in this film which suits me. When I heard that, I was very interested. Before finalising me for the role, he had discussed about casting me with other lead actors in the film. They also backed his decision,” says Yazir, who started his acting career with Mammootty-starrer Acha Din.

It was while he was planning to assist Siddique in Bhaskar The Rascal that he got the call to work in Acha Din. “It was during the pooja of Bhaskar… that producer George ettan indicated to me about a role in his production venture Acha Din,” he says.  “He asked me to meet the film’s director Marthandan sir, who said he would finalise the casting in a few days. In fact, I was called for a role which was supposed to be enacted by someone else. When Marthandan sir asked me about my casting, Mammookka also said yes to it. That was how I became an actor,” he says.

After the release of Acha Din, he got an offer from K’town. “I got an opportunity to essay a central character in the film Moondru Rasigragal, which has Roshan Basheer in the lead role. That film deals with the life of Vijay fans,” says Yazir. While working in the film, he got the call to do his second film in Malayalam, Kasaba. “For Kasaba, I was first called for an important role. But owing to date clashes with my Tamil film, I could not join it. Later, I acted in a small role in the same film,” says the actor, who has not signed up any new films so far.