He owes his success to Army background

ARMY AND acting have just one thing in common, the letter 'a'. However, this notion is slowly fading. Several newcomers with army background are making a foray into the field of acting.

ARMY AND acting have just one thing in common, the letter 'a'. However, this notion is slowly fading. Several newcomers with army background are making a foray into the field of acting.

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Ibrar Yakub is yet another promising actor whose name has been added to this list. The charismatic personality of this model-turned-actor often makes heads turn and it is quite difficult to escape his charm.

"The army background has always been an asset for me and it has never hampered my growth as an actor. In fact, the days of struggle to be recognised as an actor were smoothened somehow because the spirit of army always boosted my morale," says Ibrar.

At present, Ibrar is playing a negative character in the serial 'Stree teri kahani', which has been produced by Saira Bano and it is being telecast by the Doordarshan. "I made efforts to be selected in Indian Army but destiny is never determined beforehand," he adds.

Ibrar has spent his formative days in Allahabad albeit he belongs to Pratapgarh originally. His father is Col M Yakub based at 508 Army Base Workshop Fort, Allahabad. Samanantar, the theatre organisation, has helped him polish his skills as an actor. However, he is also well acquainted with the mannerisms of the ramp.

"In 2002, I competed for the bride and groom show organised by Army. The first exposure as a model was when I bagged the first position in Mr North India contest. And then it was definitely the attempt to seek the title of Grasim Mr India 2004 but I could not make it to the top slot," said Ibrar.

Fate had something else in store for this young model. "It was evident that I wanted to be an actor. I got my first chance in the tele serial 'Raat hone ko hai'.

Then I acted in the serial 'Har jawan ki kasam' and finally I got a break in 'Stree teri kahani'. I am playing the character 'Chander' in the serial whose presence has actually spiced up the story," tells Ibrar.

Ibrar's chance was slim when it came to bag this role as he was the last one to give the audition on the last day itself. "My personality and face clicked with the character and today I have completed almost 80 episodes," he added.

His next venture is movies. "Serious roles offer lots of scope. Ajay Devgan's role in 'Gangajal' is the one I would like to do," he added.

Akshay Kumar is his ideal in acting and as a model he adores Milind Soman.
Ibrar keeps working in ad films too. "Films will be my first preference otherwise private channels are always the next option," he said.