Career struggles, Tanu Weds Manu 2, and hiatus (2014–15) The film generated overwhelmingly mixed reviews though became commercially successful at the box office. In his next film-Hansal Mehta's National Film Award-winning biographical drama Shahid, starring Rajkummar Rao as slain lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi-Ayyub played Arif Azmi who is Azmi's brother. 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$16 million). Rai's romantic drama Raanjhanaa (2013), alongside Dhanush, Sonam Kapoor, and Abhay Deol, in which he played the character of Dhanush's friend. The film garnered a mixed critical reception, but eventually emerged as a financial success with global earnings of over ₹680 million (US$9.5 million), becoming Ayyub's fourth consecutive box office hit.Īyyub next appeared in Aanand L. Initially titled Informer, its title was changed to Jannat 2, making it a sequel to Jannat (2008).

In 2012, Ayyub took another supporting role-this time in Kunal Deshmukh's thriller Jannat 2, co-starring Emraan Hashmi, Esha Gupta, and Randeep Hooda. In 2011, he also appeared in a cameo role for the successful romantic comedy Tanu Weds Manu, which marked the first of his four films with Aanand L.

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan proved his second consecutive box-office hit and earned over ₹760 million (US$11 million) worldwide. Co-starring alongside Katrina Kaif, Imran Khan, and Ali Zafar, he played the role of Khan's friend. In his second release of the year, Ayyub appeared in Ali Abbas Zafar's directorial debut-the romantic comedy Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, about a man who finds a bride for his elder brother but falls in love with her instead. With earnings of over ₹1 billion (US$14 million), No One Killed Jessica emerged as a critical and commercial success, and garnered him nominations for the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut and the Zee Cine Award for Best Performance in a Negative Role. The film, as well as his performance, generated positive reviews from critics. Based on the murder case of Jessica Lal, the film saw Ayyub portray the real-life character of Manu Sharma, Jessica's true murderer. Ayyub made his acting debut with Raj Kumar Gupta's biographical thriller No One Killed Jessica (2011), which also starred Vidya Balan and Rani Mukerji.

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