From ABCD: Any Body Can Dance (2013), and ABCD 2 (2015) to Welcome to New York (2018) and Lakshmi (2018), actor-choreographer Salman Yusuff Khan has built a career that goes far beyond dance. The winner of Dance India Dance season 1 has worn many hats over the years, and now adds another — a podcast host. During his recent visit to Hyderabad to launch his podcast Beyond The Spotlight, Salman sat down with CE to talk about his bond with the city, his journey, the experiences that have shaped him, and why this new chapter feels personal.
For Salman, Hyderabad isn’t just another city he travels to for work. Speaking about his connection with the city, he says, “I love Hyderabad. I’ve always said that it’s not about the place but the people. I’ve met some interesting and lovely people here, which keeps bringing me back.”
This visit marked the launch of Beyond The Spotlight, a project Salman has been thinking about for nearly two years. Explaining why the podcast is so close to his heart, he explains, “Beyond The Spotlight is my baby, and the entire industry has welcomed me with so much love that I feel overwhelmed. Since I am starting in Hyderabad, there is no one bigger than KTR sir to grace the podcast. I am excited to know the real person behind his legacy. I feel lucky to have that opportunity. If this is the beginning, I am very excited to see what comes next.”
Meanwhile, talking about launching his podcast in Hyderabad, he shares, “Hyderabad was the first place where everything opened up for me and started falling into place. Everything became easy and accessible. I never imagined the city would welcome me with so much love. It all happened very organically.”
Although podcasts are everywhere today, Salman feels he still had something unique to offer. He highlights, “For the past few years, I have been listening to podcasts. Although I always felt there was so much noise in the market, my friends and colleagues kept encouraging me because they believed my thought process and questions would be different. After people loved the podcasts I appeared on, I realised I was still relevant. Their love humbled me, and God has been kind.”
Having worked with some of the biggest names in the dance industry, like Remo D’Souza and Prabhu Deva, Salman further shares the biggest lesson they passed on was. “Always be hungry to learn. Never think, ‘I’m the best, I know it all’. You will never be the best or know everything. Keep learning till you die. You can learn from a 5-year-old or a 70-year-old; that’s how you’ll grow,” he reflects.
When it comes to choreography, he believes that every performance starts with listening. Describing how the ideas take shape, he says, “Music is a very integral part of creating choreography or directing a song. You’ve got to listen to the music over and over again to truly capture the essence of what it’s trying to portray. Once you understand the lyrics and the music, your body automatically starts moving, and you let it flow. That’s my very personal creative way of choreographing, while for a film song, you follow the director’s brief.”
He also feels there is one side of dance reality shows that audiences rarely get to see. Speaking about the same, he states, “The BTS of dance reality shows is very dark. I’ve been there for 16 years. I’ve performed, choreographed, judged, creatively directed, and now I’m producing. If you win, the production moves on, while you’re left with the trophy, not knowing where to go or what to do. The industry opens opportunities, but growing, staying consistent, and taking your name further is another game altogether.”
A recent injury, he says, only reinforced a lesson he had already learnt years ago. Sharing the lesson that keeps him grounded, he says, “Breaking a bone is just a minor hiccup for me because I've had very near-death experiences in my life. Very early on, I understood that everything in life is temporary, and this too shall pass. We are not going to take anything from here. Nothing is permanent, and that perspective makes me enjoy every moment of life.”
Setbacks have been just as valuable as success, if not more. Explaining why failure matters, Salman shares, “I have always believed that in life, we either win or we learn. We never really lose. Losing is important because setbacks make you wiser. Education is not everything; wisdom is. Education tells you a tomato is a fruit, but wisdom tells you not to put it in a fruit salad. We will all fall, but learning from those mistakes and moving forward is what wisdom is all about. That is why setbacks are an important part of life.”
Even with a packed schedule, Salman is already looking ahead to several new ventures beyond the podcast. “Apart from Beyond The Spotlight, many things are happening. I am getting into verticals because I want to produce, direct, and act in vertical dramas. I also have my own eyewear brand, Vuezen Eyewear, and a growing digital marketing agency. Besides that, I am reading a film as an actor. A lot of things are happening, and I’m quite excited,” he concludes.