INSTAGRAM is a dark hole!

SAQIB SALEEM PROCLAIMS SOCIAL MEDIA, MORALS AND HUMOUR CAN ALL BE CORRUPTED WITH EXCESS. SRIJITA SEN LISTENS WITH INTENT

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I meet Saqib Saleem a day after the release of Kaptaan.

He tells me early into our conversation that he has decided to stay away from social media for the day, "Instagram is a dark hole," he proclaims.

A little later, he casually admits that he hates doing interviews. Not because he dislikes talking, but because he is tired of the same recycled questions about onset pranks, behind-the-scene anecdotes and actor bonding stories. "I enjoy genuine conversations," he says. And that is where he becomes most interesting. He is sharp, self-aware and constantly cracking jokes, often in the middle of serious conversations. Humour, for him, is a way of life. Saqib entered Bollywood with two back-to-back Yash Raj Films Mere Dad Ki Maruti and Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge and the promise of a classic leading man trajectory. The years that followed, however, were a mix of hits, misses, reinventions and rediscoveries.

As we converse, he talks about the hits and the misses and he deals with them. He also talks about comparisons with sister Huma Qureshi, industry friendships and the strange chaos of celebrity culture. Excerpts:

YOU'VE OFTEN SPOKEN ABOUT NOT ENJOYING INTERVIEWS. WHAT BOTHERS YOU ABOUT THEM?

I don't enjoy interviews that are just, 'How was the set?', 'Who was the prankster?', 'Tell us a funny anecdote.' I'm like, no, let's actually talk. I love genuine conversations. The audience isn't interested in hearing who played pranks on the sets. But if I sit with someone and we have an engaging conversation and a reader connects with that, maybe they'll watch the show because of it. That, to me, is better marketing. Sometimes we underestimate the audience and keep discussing things they genuinely don't care about.

YET YOU'RE ALSO KNOWN FOR CONSTANTLY JOKING AROUND. HAS HUMOUR EVER WORKED AGAINST YOU?