In a long and much awaited conversation with Aamna Isani of Something Haute, Fawad Khan spills the beans about the work he has been doing for the last six years which is slowly and steadily releasing this year. He broke the hiatus and finally appeared on screen in Baarwan Khiladi and later had a much loved cameo in Ms. Marvel.
Interestingly, his comeback projects are with the two actors with whom he shares the best on-screen chemistry. Following The Legend of Maula Jatt which stars Mahira Khan, he has his home production, a film titled Neelofer starring Mahira in the titular role. He has also shot for an Asim Abbasi web series for Zee5 which features Sanam Saeed. But that’s not all and he has much more to offer. Like his avid fans, Fawad is also more “anxious than excited” now that three of his films are ready for back-to-back releases. Read on…
Ms. Marvel and Dastaan
“Ms. Marvel didn’ take me back to Dastaan; though both of them were about Partition. Dastaan was a different experience and there was more storytelling from when and how the divisions started to where it led and more. This (Ms. Marvel) again was completely different experience for me; to work with a crew of over 100 people. It was more of a special guest appearance. I shot for 9 days maximum so, there is no comparison between shooting in Pakistan, India, and now in the West.”
Albela Rahi
“Albela Rahi (a film based on the life story of Pakistani pop star, Alamgir) is a very brilliant script. Unfortunately, when the script reached its final draft, Faisal and Sultan had moved on and were doing other things but who knows… it might happen. I don’t know if I should be the ideal person to play but the film should be made.”
Barzakh & Zindagi Gulzar Hai
“It is a very different project; it is nothing like Zindagi Gulzar Hai. It is sort of a supernatural family drama shot in the Northern areas. I has an absolute blast working on it, great team, great crew and great actors to work with. I was intimidated because the ante was so up.”
Will he be returning to television?
“Mushkil hai [probability is very low]. I think television is for the now and I think it is for the younger crowd. It would look weird if I, as an old man, would come and work there. I need to move up the ladder as far as age is concerned and then come back and may be work. I don’t know; it’s a bit of a backbreaker… I’m a very lazy person. The productivity in TV is very high but the hours are insane.”
Humsafar and his chemistry with Mahira
“Mahira and I are friends but we still argue a lot off screen so perhaps, then when we behave opposite on screen it just translates into good chemistry. The three of us (Fawad, Mahira and Sarmad) used to make bets on scenes that we will get a house clap on this and it kind of worked.”
Going offline to spend time with family and children
“I have dumbed down myself. I think it is a good detox to be inactive. I used to spend a lot of useless time going through this new thing called YouTube Shorts like hours and hours. I felt that I was creating a stupid clutter in my mind, I was not productive at all and my lifestyle wasn’t healthy anymore. I may be “the least well-read person” on the planet. So, I started reading again.”
Money Back Guarantee
“Comedy has always interested me and comedy is all about timings. Mikaal Zulfiqar has got one of the most brilliant comic timings… he is amazing, I would be in fits watching his Ufone ads. Ali Zafar, Ahmed Butt, even Hamza (Ali Abbasi) has got great comic timings, so many actors are good at it and they want to attempt comedy because it’s such a feel-good experience. You come back home relaxed, you’re not emotionally drained. I would rather prefer comedy over drama. It’s just that I’m a very dark and morbid person but it doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate a sense of humor.”
Neelofer
“As an actor to crossover and become a producer, I learned a lot. It was challenging to shoot a film especially in Lahore because the industry isn’t as active here as it is in Karachi. We had a DoP who came from LA to shoot the film for us. The film has a different flavor and I don’t want to talk too much about it. Shortly, we will be releasing a first look and it’s a very simple story. My team and I thought that we should try something not so complicated and spread out and even with that I ended up ripping my hair out. Covid was one big speed bump that slowed everything down. So, it is a fun job but a very difficult one.”
“Neelofer is the story about a writer who falls in love with a blind girl. It’s a love story based in Lahore and we have tried our best to keep the charm of Lahore in it but show people a different side other than the landmarks that have been shown in every project. There is romance in it, there is tragedy in it and has a happy ending.”
Watch the full interview to find out more:
