Like Usman, Aqib used to play cricket in England and has been a part of the national Under 15 and Under 19 team. But the good looking Aqib has decided to exchange the cricketing pitch for the ramp and movie sets for the moment. Aqib started out on the ramp and in a short span has modeled for the some of India’s biggest designers at the Lakme Fashion Week 2006 and 2007 for Nari Kumar, Wendal Rodricks, Arjun Khanna, Manish Malhotra and Vikram Phadnis.
And after having wowed the modeling world, Afzaal has now been signed by Tips for their next film called Let’s Dance. Speaking about the film, Aqib says the character is a lot like him in real life. “I play a guy who likes to dress well, go out and has come to India. He wants to make it here… and all that struck a note with me,” says the young actor.
Still a novice in the world of acting, Afzaal says that since he began filming for his debut film his respect for the profession has grown manifolds. “You know when you look at it from outside you don’t realize all the hard work. A couple of days into filming I realized that it isn’t as easy as it looks. I am very serious about it. I have been taking lessons in diction and accent… I have been working very hard because I want to do a good job in the film.”
Speaking about elder brother Usman and sister-in-law to be Amrita Arora the lad says that the two are very much the reason why Aqib is a part of the industry. “It was Usman and Amrita who sat me down and convinced me to come to India and try my hand on the ramp. They were very encouraging and really pushed me to do it. So I do owe a lot to them,” says Aqib.
And although Aqib says he is very close to his brother he is still trying to get over Usman’s recent tattoo. “Usman has been telling me for very long that he wanted to get a tattoo done. But then this time he got it done… so now both Amrita and Usman have each other’s names tattooed on them. But if you ask me I don’t know if I would do it… and I’m saying that only because it hurts so much! I don’t think I can deal with so much pain… or maybe it’s because I haven’t met someone I love as much as Usman and Amrita love one another…”
