Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub
Ayyub in 2017
Born	Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub Khan 1984 (age 40–41) Delhi, India
Nationality	India
Alma mater	Kirori Mal College National School of Drama
Occupations	Actor television presenter
Years active	2011–present
Spouse	Rasika Agashe ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	1

Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub Khan is an Indian actor who appears inHindi films.^[1] He is frequently cast in supporting roles, and has appeared in more than 25 films in a career which has spanned eight years.^[2] He has also worked in a Hindi serial "Kyunki... Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai" which was telecasted onDoordarshan in 2008. He has collaborated with directorAanand L. Rai on four films.

Ayyub began his film career with a negative role inRaj Kumar Gupta's financially successful semi-biographical thrillerNo One Killed Jessica (2011), which earned him a nomination for theFilmfare Award for Best Male Debut. Subsequently, he featured briefly in the box-office hitsMere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011),Jannat 2 (2012),Raanjhanaa (2013),Shahid (2013),Raja Natwarlal (2014),Tubelight (2017),Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019), andArticle 15 (2019). Ayyub had his biggest commercial successes with brief roles in the romantic comedyTanu Weds Manu: Returns (2015), the crime thrillerRaees (2017), and the science drama filmMission Mangal (2019), all of which rank among thehighest-grossing Indian films of all time.

Ayyub was born in 1984 and was brought up inDelhi. He graduated fromKirori Mal College and completed his theatre training fromNational School of Drama (NSD), Delhi in 2006. He married Rasika Agashe in 2007 and they have a daughter.^[3]

Ayyub made his acting debut withRaj Kumar Gupta's biographical thrillerNo One Killed Jessica (2011), which also starredVidya Balan andRani Mukerji. Based on themurder case of Jessica Lal, the film saw Ayyub portray the real-life character ofManu Sharma, Jessica's true murderer. The film, as well as his performance, generated positive reviews from critics. With earnings of over₹1 billion (US$12 million),No One Killed Jessica emerged as a critical and commercial success, and garnered him nominations for theFilmfare Award for Best Male Debut and theZee Cine Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role.^[4] In his second release of the year, Ayyub appeared inAli Abbas Zafar's directorial debut—the romantic comedyMere Brother Ki Dulhan, about a man who finds a bride for his elder brother but falls in love with her instead. Co-starring alongsideKatrina Kaif,Imran Khan, andAli Zafar, he played the role of Khan's friend.Mere Brother Ki Dulhan proved his second consecutive box-office hit and earned over₹760 million (US$9.0 million) worldwide.^[5] In 2011, he also appeared in a cameo role for the successful romantic comedyTanu Weds Manu, which marked the first of his four films withAanand L. Rai.

In 2012, Ayyub took another supporting role—this time inKunal Deshmukh's thrillerJannat 2, co-starringEmraan Hashmi,Esha Gupta, andRandeep Hooda. Initially titledInformer, its title was changed toJannat 2, making it a sequel toJannat (2008). The film garnered a mixed critical reception, but eventually emerged as a financial success with global earnings of over₹680 million (US$8.0 million), becoming Ayyub's fourth consecutive box office hit.

Ayyub next appeared in Aanand L. Rai's romantic dramaRaanjhanaa (2013), alongsideDhanush,Sonam Kapoor, andAbhay Deol, in which he played the character of Dhanush's friend. The feature received mostly positive reviews and proved to be a major commercial success with a worldwide revenue of more than₹1.13 billion (US$13 million).^[6][7] In his next film—Hansal Mehta'sNational Film Award-winning biographical dramaShahid, starringRajkummar Rao as slain lawyer and human rights activistShahid Azmi—Ayyub played Arif Azmi who is Azmi's brother. The film generated overwhelmingly mixed reviews though became commercially successful at the box office.

In 2014, Ayyub reteamed with Kunal Deshmukh in the action comedyRaja Natwarlal, which starred Emraan Hashmi as the titular protagonist. The film received positive reactions but turned out to be a major box-office failure, grossing₹295 million (US$3.5 million) on a budget of₹417 million (US$4.9 million), and generated unfavourable profits for Ayyub's performance.

In 2015, Ayyub appeared in four films, the first of which was Abhishek Dogra's directorial debut—the comedyDolly Ki Doli, co-starring Sonam Kapoor,Pulkit Samrat, Rajkummar Rao, andVarun Sharma. The film, about a woman who marries men from different religions and runs with their wealth on the wedding night, received moderate reviews and was average at the box office. Ayyub's next two releases were the action comedyAll is Well and the spy thrillerPhantom, both of which were also box office failures. His final release of the year was a second collaboration with Aanand L. Rai inTanu Weds Manu: Returns, a romantic comedy that served as a sequel toTanu Weds Manu (2011). Ayyub featured as Chintu Kumar Singh, a lawyer and an admirer of the titular protagonist (played byKangana Ranaut). Unlike the actor's previous four films, it emerged as a huge commercial success grossing over₹1 billion (US$12 million) in India and over₹2 billion (US$24 million) worldwide, making it among Ayyub's highest-grossing releases.

After a two-year absence from full-time acting, Ayyub appeared inRahul Dholakia's crime dramaRaees (2017), in which he starred alongsideShah Rukh Khan,Nawazuddin Siddiqui, andMahira Khan, and played the friend of the titular anti-hero, played by Khan. Said to be based on the life of criminalAbdul Latif,Raees generated mixed to positive reviews from critics. But with grossings of over₹3 billion (US$35 million) worldwide, it proved to be Ayyub's highest-grossing release and one of thehighest-grossing Indian films of all time. He next appeared inKabir Khan's war dramaTubelight, portraying the role ofSalman Khan's friend. Commercially,Tubelight turned out to be a success and collected a total of₹2.11 billion (US$25 million). In his final release of the year, Ayyub played his first leading and the title role in Dakxin Chhara's directorial debut—the action dramaSameer—another box office disappointment.

In 2018, Ayyub acted inVijay Krishna Acharya's period adventure action dramaThugs of Hindostan and Aanand L. Rai's comedy-dramaZero, both of which were among the list of themost expensive Hindi films having a budget of₹2 billion (US$24 million), and with a budget of₹2.40 billion (US$28 million), the former ranks as the most expensive Hindi film. Both the films generated mixed reviews and failed at both the Indian and overseas box office, thus making 2018 an unsuccessful year in Ayyub's career.

Ayyub's first release of 2019 was the biographical war dramaManikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi, based on the life of freedom fighterRani Lakshmi Bai, portrayed by Kangana Ranaut in the film. His role was originally portrayed bySonu Sood, who left the film because of some disagreements with the film's makers as the directorKrish got replaced, and was subsequently replaced by Ayyub. The film was released generally to positive response, but was a modest commercial success at the box office earning more than₹1.32 billion (US$16 million).

Later that year, Ayyub co-starred withAyushmann Khurrana inAnubhav Sinha's crime thrillerArticle 15. Highlightingcaste discrimination in India, it was inspired by multiple events, including the2014 Badaun gang rape allegations and the2016 Una flogging incident. Commercially, the film earned over₹850 million (US$10 million) and proved an economic success. He next starred alongsideDiljit Dosanjh andKriti Sanon onRohit Jugraj Chauhan's spoof comedyArjun Patiala, a major commercial disaster. This changed later that year when Ayyub played Rishi Aggarwal, an army officer whose devoted wife (essayed byTaapsee Pannu) becomes a nurse for him, in Jagan Shakti's directorial debutMission Mangal—a science fiction film about the scientists who contributed to theMars Orbiter Mission held in 2013. With domestic earnings of over₹1.98 billion (US$23 million), it emerged as a huge success and one of his most commercially successful features.

In 2020, he was one of the two male lead inHansal Mehta's directed filmChhalaang.

In 2021, Ayyub is appearing in the web seriesTandav, directed byAli Abbas Zafar streaming onAmazon Prime Video.^[8] He is scheduled to appear inAtrangi Re alongside Akshay Kumar, Dhanush andSara Ali Khan, which is releasing in August.^[9]

• Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub atIMDb 
• Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub atBollywood Hungama

• Living people
• 21st-century Indian male actors
• Indian male film actors
• Kirori Mal College alumni
• Male actors from Delhi
• Male actors in Hindi cinema
• National School of Drama alumni
• 1984 births
• People from Delhi

• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use Indian English from February 2016
• All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English
• Use dmy dates from February 2016
• Articles with hCards
• Bollywood Hungama person template using Wikidata property P7923