Sal Yusuf

Gazing down upon the palatially Indian inspired Brighton Pavilion, from a Polytechnic window; instilled awe. Little did he know then that this inspiration was to become a vision of his own personal Cinema Paradiso. Born in London in 1969, to the parents of Cypriot immigrants. Sal Yusuf (nee Selim Yusuf) had always alluded to the creative arts while growing up in his formative years. His inclination saw him in many a school play and part of the Croydon Youth theater in the mid eighties. Sal continued to play notable roles in amateur theater to uphold and practice the craft, until the time he turned professional. However it was Art that was to be the basis of his education. From high school he attended the Croydon school of Art to study on a foundation course in Art and Design. Subsequently this led to a BA (hons) in Visual & Performing Arts in Brighton in 1989. Sal was back to combining his passions of an actor, and as an artist. The course presented the opportunity for him to: create,devise, act out and direct a series of performances staged at the the Sallis Benny Theater; Brighton. Within these performances emerged an interest in puppetry. Upon graduating, Sal eventually landed a dream job at Spitting Image. In season 14 (1992) he began as workshop assistant in the production of puppets. In the following season, after a series of auditions, he was elevated to the role of puppeteer. After Spitting Image he took the decision to train as Teacher on a Post Graduate course based in West Yorkshire. As a substitute teacher, he had the option of taking on temporary work whilst still having the chance to pursue work in film and theater. Sal joined groups such as Kazzum Arts, performing as well as conducting workshops. However, working as a teacher was an invaluable experience, considering the fact that he taught a wide range of subjects to a wide range of students: from primary to secondary; but predominately special needs. In that time he also formed his own company, The Yellowcraft, conducting workshops and performing children's shows in the Mole Valley area in which he lived. It was only after marriage that a completely new chapter in his life opened up.

Having moved to India in 2007, he embarked on embracing the talents he hadn't realized in England. Rediffusion (an advertisement agency in which his brother-in-law worked), was his first port of call. Voicing several radio spots for his new portfolio; some of which he had scripted. Sal went on to become an established and reputed voice artist. Albeit taking a hiatus from education, the call to work as a puppeteer for Amar Chitra Katha, in a series called Jooba, couldn't be overlooked. However Sal stayed firm in his intent to explore more diverse work in order to widen his prospects. Being comical in nature, it was only logical to explore a Stand Up comedy career . After a substantial run in the Bangalore Stand Up circuit, he reached the pinnacle of his achievement by appearing at the Bombay Comedystore in 2012; as the first British comic residing in India. Following the path of a fellow comedian, he then took the next step to audition and became a member of The Improv, an improvisational group based in Bangalore. Which improved exponentially in the four years he was a member (2013-17). However in the meantime, he continued to write and act in self-made commercials for competitions, with his other brother-in-law, who directed and produced. This led to a number of professional commercials and the lure back to theater. Playing leading characters on stage gave him the confidence to really hone his craft. In 2014 he formed the company Black Box India to accommodate the work his team did for Graphic India, a graphic novel book company. Black Box India was tasked to add voice to their characters for animations for graphic novels, such as Devi, 18 Days and many others. Sal not only voice many of the characters , but he also gave voice direction to the other voice actors employed. The company continued to include workshops, stage shows, music videos and short films in its portfolio; all of which were directed by Sal Yusuf.

At the same time as everything was working in tandem, Sal entered into films through his commercial success and connections in the industry. Even though Sal was initially given a minor role acting in his first feature film Killi Poyi (2013). It was his voice acting that struck a chord in the hit film Ustad Hotel (2012) prior to that. His next outing was to see him play a British tea estate owner in Iyobinte Pustakum (2014), the visibility he'd been striving for. Acting alongside some of the top most actors in the Malayalam film industry, heightened his exposure on the big screen. He had very little to say in that film, but in another Malayalam film, Comrade In America (2017), Sal found himself wrestling with one of the world's most difficult languages as Karl Marx. It was by now obvious that Sal was establishing himself as a character actor. The performance in Take Off (2017) as a humble Iraqi doctor, was followed by a villainous terrorist in Tiger Zindai Hai (2017). This Bollywood film was a worldwide blockbuster , with a star studded cast. However Sal didn't shy away from working in independent cinema in films such as Candyflip (2017), or as an extra in Deephan (2015). Neither did he turn down cameo roles in films like Trance (2020). Although in the film French Birianyni (2020), Sal appeared in his first main supporting role. A roll that had led him back to his comedy roots.