Iranian actor Sajjad Delafrooz says his love for Bollywood precedes his love for acting, which is why he is not bothered about being stereotyped as long as he gets good work.
Sajjad was first noticed in Akshay Kumar starrer "Baby" with his role of a doctor. His next two outings featured him as a baddie -- a terrorist in "Tiger Zinda Hai" and a criminal mastermind for Neeraj Pandey's latest webseries "Special Ops".
Co-directed by Shivam Nair, the series revolves around a manhunt for a fictitious terrorist mastermind responsible for carrying out multiple terror attacks.
"Stereotyping happens with a lot of actors. I'm not worried about that. My main focus now is to work, do a good job and do every role differently. You can see a different person on 'Tiger Zinda Hai' and 'Special Ops'. My main aim is to be and work in Bollywood. The stereotyping doesn't bother me," Sajjad told PTI.
The 36-year-old actor said he is amazed by the response to the Hotstar Special and gives credit to Pandey for the character.
"The response is unexpected. Neeraj Pandey was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to be a part of the show as I wanted to work with him again. It's a great feeling to now be appreciated for your performance. All the credit goes to Neeraj. I just had to listen to his brief and deliver the way he wanted. I trusted him completely as an actor," he said.
Born in Iran, Sajjad grew up in Sharjah, UAE in an Indian community where he was first introduced to Hindi films and music.
Though films and songs were considered a taboo in the conservative society, as a child, Sajjad never saw anything bad in them and could only see "hope, beauty and happiness."
"My love for Bollywood happened before my love for acting. I wanted to come to India because I loved Bollywood but didn't know I wanted to be an actor... The love grew in me with time. I had to lie and plan to go to cinema halls to watch films of Shah Rukh Khan and others."
Unable to bear the monotony of his PR manager job, Sajjad quit in 2011 and packed his bags to head to Bollywood.
"It took me seven years to find my place here. It's a big market, it's not easy and it's challenging. I'm still fighting for it but I'm happy after seven years of failing and picking myself up, I've finally found my way to Bollywood."
The actor, who has worked in films in several languages, including Farsi, Turkish and Arabic, said he is aware that some of the roles that he is offered can be limiting but he doesn't want to leave any stone unturned.
"I remember when I had started out, people said, how can you act, you're a model'. I've been working on my Hindi for the past two years, I know it's a matter of time before I get better roles. If I work hard, I can definitely achieve it," he added.
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