At the tender age of 8, Hanif Hum Ghum saw Manoj Kumar's 1968 film Neelkamal.

He loved the film so much that he instantly made the decision to become an actor. His dream being to act in films, and even one day get a break in the Hindi film industry.

However, therein lies the rub, Hanif born and raised in Afghanistan, had idea about the ins and outs of Bollywood.

However...after 35 years, his dream comes true this Friday with the release of Kabul Express.

Nevertheless, as with every dream, this is not an overnight thing. There is a lot behind Hanif's ultimate success.

His father was in the Afghan Army and Hanif had no support from any area for improving his skills as an actor and guidance regarding his career.

"The actor within me was born the day I saw Neelkamal. I knew I had to be an actor because I was so impressed by that film," recalls Hanif, who is currently in Mumbai to promote the Kabir Khan film in which he plays a translator and driver acting as guide to John Abraham and Arshad Warsi's characters, who are in search of Taliban leaders.

As a teenager, he had to convince his family that he truly wanted to become an actor -- a difficult proposition when everyone else was joining the army. When he was in college, he began acting in plays, eventually becoming a professional actor, a profession that is very much looked down upon in Afghanistan. However, as hard as that was, the worse was yet to come; the Taliban were taking charge of Afghanistan.

"They banned all form of acting and persecuted people who had to do anything with cinema. Luckily, I was spared in their initial days; they did not pick me up," says Hanif.

However, it wasn't long before his luck ran out after a Taliban spy came to know that Hanif was an actor and was keeping some film videotapes.

"One fine day, they came to my home and saw the tapes and I was arrested immediately. I was thrown into prison and I had no idea what the future had in store for me," Hanif recalls.

Nevertheless, his presence of mind got him out of the situation. After six months in jail, Hanif was able to strike a deal with the Taliban prison guards. "I told them I will sell my house and buy them Kalashnikovs and they agreed. That's how I was freed."

As soon as he got out of prison, however, he fled to Iran. "Luckily, I got some work in Iran as an actor and I could make ends meet. I started doing television and my serials started doing well," Hanif explains. Nonetheless, when American forces drove the Taliban from Afghanistan it was a big moment for Hanif.

Returning to his country with hopes that he could pursue his acting dream under the new regime of President Hamid Karzai, he found Afghans weren't paying attention to the film business.

Theatres in Afghanistan were completely shut down. Some had even been turned into mosques and there was no option of converting them back into theatres. Most Afghan actors took permanent refuge in Iran, Pakistan or other foreign country.

The big moment for the Afghanistan film industry finally came when one of its first films, Osama won the Golden Globe Award in 2003 for best foreign film.

From there, things started looking up, and five years down the line Afghanistan is trying hard to come out of the Taliban shadow.

Asked how many women still drape themselves in the burqa like they did during the Taliban era, Hanif says, "Today 50% of Afghan women wear burqa, and the other 50% cover their heads and keep their faces open. Things are changing, but at a slow speed."

However, it seems change is very slow. Even with seven television channels and 20-odd local films, Afghanistan's fledgling entertainment industry still holds very minor roles for women.

"Most of the actresses in Afghanistan are old and therefore we are short of actresses," says Hanif, "Many families, till this day, don't encourage their women folk to act in films, and therefore we Afghans have to settle down doing only action films without heroines. Women are also scared of acting, because they fear they will endanger their lives from extremist elements within Afghanistan if they act. In Afghanistan therefore a love story is a strict no, because there are no women to act in those kind of films," laughs Hanif.

Hanif is very proud to be a part of Kabul Express and feels that if India and its filmmakers encourage more films in Afghanistan, things will definitely change.

"It was my childhood dream to be a part of Hindi cinema. I am honoured to be a part of the Yash Raj group and this is the best assignment for me as an actor till date. Earlier Afghans always played a small or minuscule role in Hindi films, but I am playing one of the lead roles with actors John Abraham and Arshad Warsi who are great human beings and friends."

"I never had to do audition in Afghanistan, but here I had to go three times," Hanif laughs. "I was even called to Mumbai for a test."

Hanif is optimistic about the future of Afghanistan cinema, he feels things are really looking up.

"There are more than a dozen theatres in Afghanistan and many Hindi films run in the theatres. The security is high, but people do venture out to see the films."

He adds, though, "The only problem is that we have very small budget films. Our films don't cost more than Rs 15 lakhs. Our actors and technicians are paid peanuts. In spite of all these things we are not complaining, because actors are not jobless and everybody earns enough to fill his stomach."

Then he was asked who Afghanistan's biggest and most popular star is, he said, "Shah Rukh Khan."

So is there another Shah Rukh Khan in Afghanistan? "No," he clarifies. "It is India's Shah Rukh Khan. We have our own actors but no one can match Shah Rukh Khan's popularity."

On a closing note, when asked if he feels the Taliban can ever return to Afghanistan, Hanif looks thoughtful. "I don't think they can come back, but you never know politics is full of uncertainty and I am not a political analyst to predict such answers."