Karan Johar personally mentors newcomer Saqib Saleem

Karan Johar has been known to mentor newbies, polish them to perfection and launch them to a long and fulfilling career. In the past, the Dharma Productions chief has launched several directors including Nikhil Advani, Tarun Mansukhani, Ayan Mukerji and Punit Malhotra amongst others. And that’s not all. With his fifth directorial venture, Karan Johar paved the way for newcomers Siddharth Malhotra, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Kayoze Irani. The four debutants had a spectacular debut in this campus romance and Siddharth, Alia and Varun have already signed their next films which will soon hit cinema screens in India and around the globe.

Well, that’s not where Karan Johar’s mentoring skills stop. The director-producer has recently taken up the task of polishing actor Saqib Saleem to perfection. The newcomer will make his debut in a soon-to-release film by Y Films titled Mere Dad Ki Maruti. Karan Johar has also roped in Saqib for a role in his upcoming directorial venture, a short-film that will be part of Bombay Talkies. Saqib will star in the film’s lead alongside seasoned actors Randeep Hooda and Rani Mukherji.

The young actor is pretty excited about this and a source close to him recently revealed, “Saqib has been planning to keep the special screen soon for Karan. He is very excited to show Karan is acting skills. He has been in talks with YRF to allot him a screen and time for the screening only for Karan.” While the film Mere Dad Ki Maruti will release on the 15th of March, 2013, Karan Johar’s Bombay Talkies short film will release on the 3rd of May. Parts of the film will also be directed by the filmmakers Zoya Akhtar, Anurag Kashyap and Dibaker Banerjee.