Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub On How Real Kashmir Football Club Cast Him With Friend Manav Kaul After 17 Years: Maaza Ayega | EXCL

The latest drama series, Real Kashmir Football Club, retells the heartwarming story of the region's first football team, which was created from the grassroots level and rose to become a force on the national

scene. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub and Manav Kaul play the men behind the team, who support and make sure that it does Kashmir proud. The Criminal Justice actor spoke about how he and Manav finally got an opportunity to work on this project.

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub on working with friend Manav Kaul for first time

Speaking with Zoom, the actor shared that while he was not aware of the football club in Kashmir before signing on for the role, he said yes to the role in 15 minutes. Another bonus to the role was working with legendary adman Mahesh Mathai and his good friend Manav Kaul. He recalled, "I was like, Okay, I'm going to be a part of this story. I can't miss this one."

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

Zeeshan continued, "I have known Manav for the last 17 years. But we were working for the first time. It was always like, Arre yaar, hum kaam kyu nahin karte saath mein [Why aren't we working together?]. Arre, we should work together. So in the beginning, he was only doing theater. Then he went on a different path. He was writing, and he was doing all those things. And I was getting busy in films and everything. So we used to meet sometimes because we have too many common friends. So we knew each other very well. So to build a chemistry was not that difficult. As soon as we met, we were there. We knew each other ke chalo, finally, we are working together. Okay, maaza ayega; that was the attitude that carried us.ALSO READ:Real Kashmir Football Club Trailer: Manav Kaul, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub's Inspirational Sports Saga To Release On THIS Date

Young cast members of Real Kashmir Football Club

The Raanjhanaa actor was also excited to work with the young cast of newcomers who made up the fictional Real Kashmir Football Club on screen. While there weren't any football games offscreen, the training was rigorous. Zeeshan revealed, "They were trained for very long because I think only a few of them are only actors. And they have to learn football from the very basics. But most of them, they have cast it accordingly. Most of them were professional footballers. So it was a mix of [both], for some special shots, they will use those professional footballers. So those boys were showing us a few tricks also. And we were like, Oh my god, look at their muscles!"

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He added, "It was really fascinating for us also. Because we were watching the matches as audiences and training things, because we were standing just there. So once the camera is on our face, then we are reacting. And again, it's always a pleasure to work with such young people. They were 18, 20, and 21. It's great to see their energy. And it actually rejuvenates you also. You are like Yes, this is the energy that we also need to carry." Real Kashmir Football Club will premiere on SonyLIV on December 9. The sports series is directed by Mahesh Mathai and Rajesh Mapuskar.