Many people believe that winning a national acting award and being part of an Oscar-nominated film can boost an actor’s career. But that didn’t happen to me Shafiq Syed. He was picked from the streets of Mumbai by a casting agent and has played a child actor in: Mira Nair‘Salaam Bombay!’. However, his film career ended much sooner than he expected. With no acting offers forthcoming, Shafiq had to start driving an auto-rickshaw to earn a living.
Shafiq Syed’s journey in Mumbai
According to a report in the Indian Express, Shafiq left his home in Bangalore during the 1980s and traveled to Mumbai without buying a ticket, hoping to see if the city really lived up to the image of Bollywood. Living on the streets near Churchgate station at the time, he was approached one day by a woman who offered him and other street children Rs 20 to join an acting workshop. Most of the other children fled, suspecting a scam, but Shafiq, starving, decided to come along. Out of the many children present, he was chosen for the lead role in Mira Nair’s ‘Salaam Bombay!’, a film that went on to achieve great success and remains one of only three Indian films to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Shafiq Syed’s dream vanished
After the film became a big hit, Shafiq thought of making acting his career. Honored by President of India: and winning the National Film Award were some of the happiest moments of his life. But soon, he stopped working in acting. Feeling left out, he left Mumbai and returned to his hometown, Bangalore. When he returned home, he stopped thinking about acting and became an auto-rickshaw driver. He has five family members who depend on him, and he earns only Rs 150 per day.
Shafiq Syed on why it never felt like acting
In a 2010 interview with Open Magazine, Shafiq shared, “While filming, I felt I didn’t need to ‘act’. People called Salaam Bombay! an ‘art film’. But the truth is, no. It’s like my own story. This is life in India on the streets. It was life not unlike death, and I lived it. Assisting me were fellow actors Raghuvir Yadav, Nana Patekar, Anita Kanwar. I learned that acting means a character that honestly ‘reacts’ to a situation. Another person’s actions are an indication of what I will do. I have to learn all these little things. Even being myself in front of the camera was an on-the-set education for me.He added, “When I returned to Bombay, the news of Salaam Bombay! was in many newspapers. It kept getting nominated for some prize or the other, and got some international awards. Nobody called me for those awards. The only time I went for something was when I was called for the National Award in Delhi. I trooped in and out of countless film studios in Bombay. I go to the newspaper clippings where I am mentioned. On more than one occasion, a junior assistant director saw the paper clippings, saw my photo and asked: “Aaj khana khaya kya?”
Shafiq Syed’s dream ended suddenly
While talking to us earlier, he said, “We shot for 52 days and they agreed to pay me Rs 15,000. I am happy. After shooting, I go to watch movies and enjoy street food in Mumbai. The movie was a big hit and when the President took pictures with me, it was all a dream. But the dream ended suddenly, the Mumbai crew lost. The producers’ doors for almost eight months, but luck did not smile.“
Shafiq Syed’s last film
After ‘Salaam Bombay!’, Shafiq Syed went on to appear in one more film, Goutam Ghoseof ‘Patang’, but he did not take any other acting projects after that.