Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub On Fans Inquiring About Criminal Justice's Ending, Auto Driver Asked, 'Yeh Batao Maara Kisne' | Exclusive

Earlier

this year, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub played a married doctor named Raj Nagpal accused of murder in the latest season of Criminal Justice . Starring Pankaj Tripathi, Surveen Chawla, and Asha Negi, Criminal Justice: A Family Matter took many twists and turns. The actor revealed he was pleasantly surprised by the response to the show, especially since fans accosted him at the strangest places to ask him about the JioHotstar series.

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub on fans' reaction to Criminal Justice

In an interview with Zoom, Zeeshan stated, "Honestly speaking, I did not expect the kind of response I got for Criminal Justice because it's already a very successful franchise and people love these characters. They have these six, seven characters that are on repeat. And now this time, Mita [Vashisht] ji is also back. Shweta [Basu Prasad] is also there. Pankaj Bhai obviously is there. The whole family and all the cops and everything. So the whole world is set up. And we are just coming there as they need a new story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98pKCUl4ljM

He continued, "It doesn't matter that much what happened in the previous season, except their graph. So for us, it was like, okay, it's a new show for me. It was never that I'm getting into a franchise. It was like, okay, it's a fresh story. No one has seen Raj Nagpal ever so I can just build him. However, I want to build him. That was the clarity. We got over with it and we were like, okay, great to work with Pankaj Bhai, I was meeting him after so long. So catching up was happening actually on set more than anything else."The actor went on to state, "After it released, suddenly, my social media was full. People were going gaga over my performance on the road. And I think that just shows how Criminal Justice works. An auto driver just dropped me somewhere. I was like, okay, how much? And he's like, sir, paisa chodo, yeh batao maara kisne. (laughs) Everyone was asking me, my relatives, they were calling me. Arre, hume toh batado. And that is like, oh, something is happening."ALSO READ: Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub On How Real Kashmir Football Club Cast Him With Friend Manav Kaul After 17 Years: Maaza Ayega | EXCLHe gave credit to director Rohan Sippy, creators Rahul Ved Prakash and Harman Wadala, and the editors who worked on the show. He added, "I thought that in court, they will not put that much of Raj Nagpal on screen. I think it will be more about the discussion and all those things. So whatever I'm doing, I'm doing it for myself. So that I have a journey. I won't be there. But the editor did put me out there. And it reached people and people were catching the small subtleties. So I was really happy. So I actually told them, Rohan Sir and Sameer [Nair] also and I was like, I'm really sorry. I never expected it to be such a big thing for me. I knew that the show will be a hit. But it was almost like what happened during Raanjhanaa or Tanu Weds Manu Returns or Article 15 or Scoop. So it was at par with that."

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub's upcoming projects

Get ready to see a lot of the Real Kashmir Football Club actor in 2026. Zeeshan shared that he will be in five projects next year. He stated, "So Anubhav Sinha's next film should release next year. So we have already shot that. I think the post is happening; even dubbing and everything is done. Then, I did one film with BFI [British Film Institute] early this year, so that film should also come out next year, hopefully. Then there is one show with Prakash Jha that Nana Patekar is there with Sanjay Kapoor, Neeraj Kabi, Kubbra Sait, Meghna Malik. It's an ensemble. Then I did one show with Nithya Mehra and Karan Kapadia, which was again an Applause show, a great cast. And then right now, I'm working with Laxman Utekar on his next."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w-o9woJNwA

The actor added that there were two more projects for which he was not allowed to divulge any details yet. Real Kashmir Football Club is now streaming on SonyLIV.