On collaborating with Manoj Bajpayee in The Family Man, Shahab said, “The experience of working with Manoj Sir has been a genuine treat.”

Shahab Ali, who portrays the primary antagonist opposite Manoj Bajpayee in Raj & DK’s online series The Family Man (Season 1 & 2), has been in the news for his outstanding performance. Over the weekend, The Family Man was the most-watched/streamed Indian show.

Shahab, who plays Sajid in the show, recently commented about his character “Sajid is an outcast. He despises being told what to do and prefers to do things his own way. He is a bomb expert as well as an ISIS terrorist. He is an obstinate, gloomy, and vindictive individual. He is astute and calculated, but can also be forceful when necessary. He becomes considerably more ferocious and wicked in season two. His vigour has increased over the previous season.”

Shahab, who studied acting for three years at the National School of Drama in New Delhi (NSD), says it was a dream come true to learn that he would be playing the main antagonist against Manoj Bajpayee.

“During my training days, I used to idolise him,” Shahab stated. “Working with him has been a wonderful blessing, and I have thoroughly loved every moment spent in his company. The event exceeded my expectations in every way. After the first season, we formed a strong friendship. It’s the icing on the cake that I get to share screen time with him in this show. We had some fantastic moments together in season two. The great part about working with Manoj sir is that he improvises and plays around in the moment while remaining true to the scenario’s and character’s boundaries. As a result, there is always a sense of surprise without the risk of deviating from the path. As a co-actor, this technique allowed me a lot of stuff to work with in terms of exploring Sajid, especially in our moments together.”

Shahab, who also gets screen time with Samantha Akkineni, says the bond between Sajid and Raji in the series piqued his interest. “Their graph is incredibly detailed and gorgeous. Samantha is a really professional and attentive actress, which is why we had some truly amazing moments when working with. With her, everything went really well and without a hitch. She reacts to improvisations and is really emotional. It was an honour to share my screen with her. This experience will undoubtedly benefit me in the future,” Shahab stated.

“Shahab is a natural and has had a tremendous formal training as well, which makes him a full package,” director team Raj and DK said of Shahab’s performance. He’s a director’s actor who knows exactly who he’s playing. His parts with Manoj Bajpai, Samantha, have turned out extremely good, so it’s always exciting to see him emote and respond to improvisations with other actors.”

Raj continued, “Shahab has such a wide range that I’m hoping he doesn’t get typecast because he’s capable of so much more. And he gets to play a wide range of fantastic roles because he has the ability to pull them off with ease!”

Shahab had previously appeared in Kedarnath, as well as playing the legendary role of Salim in Feroz Abbas Khan’s Broadway Style Musical Mughal-E-Azam (2017-present) and the lead role of Zangoora in India’s first Broadway Style Bollywood Musical Zangoora- The Gypsy Prince at Kingdom of Dreams.