Known for his acting skills, sartorial sense and unfailing good manners, Fawad Khan has created ripples across the country. Ruman Qamar chats with the new Khan when he comes visiting Bangalore
Fawad Afzal Khan needs no introduction; in 2014, his character ‘Zaroon’ from the TV serial Zindagi Gulzar Hai became a household name, and the Pakistani actor became the new heartthrob of the nation… When WUB catches up with the actor, he is being wildly cheered by the attendant crowd. Wearing denims paired with a white T-shirt and a jacket, he is effortlessly handsome. He listens to all questions (even the silly ones) with grace and endeavours to answer them seriously. No aura of high-headedness in this celebrity.
It’s hard to be immune to the charms of this Khan but I pull myself together and we get chatting. So did he want to be an actor from childhood? “Acting for me was an escape from my studies, the classroom lectures failed to interest me… I developed a liking for it (in the process).” The actor’s showbiz debut was in a Pakistani comedy serial – at the age of 19 – Jutt and Bond. It was 2000, and the serial flopped. It was the Pakistani movie Khuda Ke Liye in 2007 that he won popularity, and the Lux Style Award for Best Film Actor.
What were his thoughts when ZGH was aired on Indian television? He recalls, “I was a bit apprehensive considering the sensitive Indo-Pak relations. Also, the Indian television stars are extremely popular, I wasn’t sure if I could enter this space. The response and acceptance I received from the Indian audiences came as a big surprise.” Following ZGH were other TV shows – Humsafar, Ashq, Numm, Waqt Ne Kiya Kya Haseen Sitam, Aaja Sajna Miliye Juliye, and Kuch Pyar Ka Pagal Pan – all very well received.
FROM TV TO THE BIG SCREEN
After proving his versatility as an actor on television, he forayed into the Indian film industry with Khoobsurat in 2014. The movie scored average at the box office but Fawad Khan had arrived. Now, he is back with Kapoor and Sons, and I ask him why he took two years to sign another film. He says, “I went through some scripts and felt Kapoor and Sons was ‘necessary’ for me. With Khoobsurat (which was released in 2014) I came and tested waters in the Hindi film industry. But with Kapoor and Sons I became more comfortable not so much inside my skin but outside my skin too. That is necessary for any actor who enters this industry. I now feel more enabled to do things, more nuanced, more emotive – these are my abilities and I have used them in this movie which puts me in a comfortable position.”
INTIMACY & TRUST
Fawad is known for drawing the line at intimate scenes. Is it because he is married? “It has to do more with the sensibilities of my core audiences; these are the people who made me who I am today. I have many more stories to tell them and by putting them off would defeat the purpose that I want to achieve. I understand that a certain amount of intimacy is required on screen, but for now, I can do without it.”
This charming hero is known to be very close to his wife of ten years, Sadaf Khan. He has spoken about being hopelessly in love with her and the importance he places on loyalty and commitment. And no, she understands his profession, and doesn’t frown at intimate scenes. “We have complete trust with each other, she understands what I do on screen is not real,” he says.
LOVE STORY
Their love story is nothing short of a fairytale; it was love at first sight for Fawad at the age of 16. He met Sadaf – who was a student in the girl’s branch of his school and had a crush on her but never expressed his feelings. Then one day, he had an accident; it was when he was recovering in the hospital that Sadaf inquired about his health through friends and this gave him hope.
Soon they met; he expressed his feelings to her and they got married in 2005 after a seven year courtship. “Not everyone is lucky to marry their childhood sweetheart,” says Fawad smiling.
SOCIAL MEDIA & CRITICISM
All was not hunky dory though. He was banned from entering Maharashtra. He takes his time and answers thoughtfully: “We have to draw the attention away from the whole ‘India-Pakistan’ thing; there is a certain amount of sensationalism that has been created which is not required in a craft like this. If tomorrow, something goes wrong in any part of the world, it could pose a problem to Indians and Pakistanis…I am a guest in someone else’s house and I respect my host.”
The actor says that in all his visits to India, he has never experienced any discomfort. “Even if I did – that would be an isolated incident, I can’t blame a country or any nationality; I would just blame it on the one person. Whatever the political parties have to say, it’s their way of expressing things, and they are doing it in a very mild way and I appreciate that.” Fawad feels that more than political mafia, it’s the ‘social mafia’ that’s more dangerous and hurtful. Says the actor: “I have my fair share of such comments/threats (hatred) in Pakistan as well. That should not stop me or impede from doing my work in any way. Because I am not very active on social media, that helps.”
WORKING IN PAKISTAN
“Honestly, I have hardly been part of the Pakistani film industry. I am just as fresh in Pakistan as I am here. There was a certain demise of the Pakistani film industry in the 1980s but it suddenly rebooted very recently. Unfortunately, I wasn’t part of that till now. Whatever the teething issues we have in the industry we will be able to overcome those; it is leapfrogging ahead.”
CITY TALK
Straying from cross-border talks, I ask him about Bangalore, and he had lovely things to say. “Although I am allergic to pollen the way the city has maintained its greenery is amazing. And the flowers! It is something to marvel how clean it is. The city has a nice LA kind of a vibe to it but in a relaxed kind of way.” The star can’t think of any Pakistani city that comes close to Bangalore,
“I think it’s a one-of-a-kind city!”