Saleem Mairaj

Mairaj began his acting career in Karachi's theatre scene in the 1990s. His entry into theatre followed a performance at an Independence Day event in Lyari, Karachi, where director Shahid Shafaat of Katha Theatre and actress Sania Saeed saw him perform. Shafaat later invited him to work in theatre.^[1] Mairaj later worked with Mansoor Saeed, Sheema Kermani's Tehrik-e-Niswan and Khalid Ahmed.^[2] His theatre work included performances across Sindh and at the National School of Drama in New Delhi.^[2]

His television career began in 1999, when director Mehreen Jabbar cast him in Afsoon Khwaab, an episode of the anthology series Aik Mohabbat Sau Afsanay.^[1][2] He later appeared in television productions including Mann Mayal and Alif.^[1]

In 2017, Mairaj had a lead role in Saawan, which was selected by the Pakistani Academy Selection Committee as Pakistan's submission for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 90th Academy Awards.^[4] The film starred Mairaj alongside Syed Karam Hussain, Arif Bahalim, Najiba Faiz and Imran Aslam.^[4]

In 2019, Mairaj appeared in several films, including Laal Kabootar, Talash, Kataksha and Heer Maan Ja.^[5] In Laal Kabootar, he played Asad Mama, a target killer in Karachi.^[11] He later appeared in Ghabrana Nahi Hai.^[6]

In 2023, Mairaj played Daud in the film John.^[7]

Film

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Hell's Ground	Balay	[12]
2008	Ramchand Pakistani	Vishesh	[13]
2013	Main Hoon Shahid Afridi		[14]
	Josh	Master Khalid	[15]
2014	Na Maloom Afraad	Abdul Qadeer	[16]
2016	Actor in Law	Mehboob Bhai	[17]
	Saawan	Child abductor	Pakistan's submission for the 90th Academy Awards[4][18]
2017	Rangreza	Waseem's friend	[19]
	Na Maloom Afraad 2	Iqbal	[20]
	Raasta		[21]
2018	Pari	Abdullah	[19]
2019	Talash	Sardar Yousuf	[5]
	Heer Maan Ja		[5]
	Kataksha		[5]
	Laal Kabootar	Asad Mama	[22]
2022	Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad	Corrupt sub-inspector	Cameo appearance[23]
	Chaudhry	Tufail	[24]
	Ghabrana Nahi Hai		Supporting role[6]
	Dum Mastam	Arif Tootiwala	[25]
2023	Chikkar	Arman Saleem Sawan	[26]
	John	Daud	[7]
	Daldal		[19]
	Dhai Chaal		[27]
2024	Na Baligh Afraad	Shoukat	[8][28][29]

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Television

More information Year, Title ...

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Aik Mohabbat Sau Afsanay		Segment: "Afsoon Khwaab"
2011	Kash Mein Beta Hoti	Daud Ali Shah
2015	Gul-e-Rana	Zaffri
	Lucknow Wale Lateefullah	Police sergeant
2016	Mann Mayal	Jamil
2018	Khana Khud Garam Karlo
	Laal
2019	Alif	Sultan Shah
2021	Adiala	Saleem Bhai
	Khaab Toot Jaatay Hain
2023	22 Qadam	Coach Qasim
2023	Khushbo Mein Basay Khat
2024	Neeli Kothi
Sources:[1][3][19]

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