Famous trainer turned actor Mustafa Ahmed received a lot of love for his role in ‘Dhurandhar 2’. He played RizwanHamza’s trusted assistant in the movie. But his journey to the limelight has been easy. Years ago, he earned just Rs 10,000 a month as a trainer at Delhi’s Janakpuri gym. Almost 15 years later, he would go to train Hrithik Roshan.Mustafa’s path was far from ordinary. He wasn’t someone people expected to “make it big.” Like Taare Zameen’s Par protagonist, he struggled with dyslexia and eventually dropped out of formal education.Speaking on the Jag Of All Trades podcast, Mustafa Ahmed recalled: “I wasn’t a bright kid. I was dyslexic and of Afghani descent. But I was always physical, I was good at sports, I danced naturally. Anything that involved using my body, I was good at.’At 21, he was already earning Rs 1 lakh a month as the youngest team leader. call center In 2001 – a dream job for many. But a seemingly small moment changed his life forever. While training at a gym in Janakpuri, he saw a 40-year-old woman being ignored by a trainer. He stepped in to help, not knowing how crucial that moment would be.On the Alpha Coach podcast, “A couple of months later, he gave me an envelope and asked me to read it at home. It scared me. But in that letter, he wrote that working out had brought the spark back into his marriage. He told me that this was my life’s calling, and it would be criminal not to follow it.”That message stayed with him. Soon after, Mustafa made a bold decision to quit his high-paying job. “My manager called me crazy,” he said. Even his mother, after leaving a stable career, stopped talking to him, especially seeing that he was already withdrawn from academics.Starting from scratch, he took a job at a gym in West Delhi for Rs 10,000 a month, waking up at 4 am every day to open the shutters. Around the same time, a visit to Fitness First in Connaught Place became a turning point. Despite having no formal qualifications, his honesty and passion won him the job.“They offered me Rs 18,000 plus Rs 600 per session, kept Rs 300 and gave me another Rs 300. I couldn’t believe that people would pay me that for an hour. That’s when I felt the sky is the limit,” he said.After that he was firm and consistent. Within three months, Mustafa became Fitness First’s first trainer in Asia. He used to do 14 sessions a day, six days a week, put in almost 400 hours a month and earn over 1.4 lakh. By 2009, he had firmly established himself.As his career progressed, so did his vision. Seeing that international trainers dominate the Indian fitness space, Mustafa questioned why Indian trainers were not given the same recognition. “I thought I was on par with them. So why not me?” he saidBefore Dhurandhar was released, Mustafa wrote an emotional note Aditya Dhar In 2025: “‘Main hoon na. Tu kar.’ Whenever I doubted myself he would say this. ‘Tu theek hai na’ when I was not well. ‘Tu khush hai na’ when I got emotional.” Reflecting on the actor’s debut, he added, “Aditya Dhar, you have taken me on a journey I never imagined. You saw in me what I didn’t know existed. But most importantly, you have given me your friendship and love, and for that, you have my loyalty for life.”
