Daily Times

Muhammad Fawad Khan is a young theatre and television actor of Pakistan who attracts us with his voice, which he chooses to produce in a soft manner in his currently running drama serial ‘Piyari Bitto’, but the base of which makes us realise that that if Fawad gets to speak on the top of his lungs, he would make our auditoriums and studios rumble with his thundering voice.

Adding to the masculinity of this actor possessing a magnificent theatrical voice is his black moustache, more prominent than the light beard covering his sexy jawlines, adding to the appeal we get from his romantic conversations with Sania Saeed in ‘Piyari Bitto’, and stimulating us to forgive Saniya Samshad for yearning for him in the same serial.

In a dramatic reading recently held at Alhamra during Faiz International Festival, Muhammad Fawad Khan proved himself equal to the veteran actor Saife Hassan, his partner in the reading, for the cadence in his voice at the end of sentences suggesting a recollection, and the rises and falls which were in complete synchronisation with the softness and intensity of dialogues established him as a real actor, who has the ability to seep into the character and feel what the character feels.

The fact that his acting is being discussed must not incline us to ignore the fact that Fawad has been bestowed with other talents as well, that of writing and directing, making him a complete artist of Pakistan. However, he exhibits these talents of his in theatre

For the same reason, Fawad chooses to act decently as Mehboob in ‘Piyari Bitto’, exhibiting a softness of temperament and having the strength to give space to people because he believes that the character has been created in that way.

“Mehboob is someone who does not have too big an ego. He is not someone who would feel the need to dominate females in his life and in fact would not like to do it. And he can’t help but love Shakira despite whatever happens. There is definitely more than this but if I start talking about it I’ll have to reveal the plot and the serial is still on air and I wouldn’t want to do that.”

Prior to this serial, Fawad appeared in two other television plays, ‘Shaista Shaista’ and ‘Teri Meri Jodi’ both written by the famous writer, Mohammed Ahmed. Where Mohammed Ahmed’s dramas have a soft look attached to them and are what one can call ‘Feel-good’ plays, Fawad’s role in ‘Shaista Shaista’ came as challenging to him, for it turned into a dark character in the latter half of the story. The actor tells that this change from a normal, fun character to a violent, psychotic husband was abrupt which he could not easily comprehend and which also became difficult to manifest through performance.

The fact that his acting is being discussed must not incline us to ignore the fact that Fawad Khan has been bestowed with other talents as well, that of writing and directing, making him a complete artist of Pakistan. However, he exhibits these talents of his in theatre. He also happens to be a lover of Physics, which initially comes as a surprise to us, but later on helps in concluding how intelligent this person is, and despite being an artist, does not altogether dismiss the role of science in daily life. When asked if he would like to produce something with literature and science combined as in the sci-fi genre, he replied, “Having an interest in science does not necessarily have to manifest in a sci-fi genre. Science has and is affecting our lives on a daily basis and a very realistic play could also be influenced by the questions that science is posing today. For example, the question of responsibility. How much of what we do is out of our own free will and how much of it is part of our genes or nature or a brain or whatever you want to call it. Should we treat pedophilia as a disease or as a crime?”

‘Mehboob is someone who does not have too big an ego. He is not someone who would feel the need to dominate females in his life and in fact would not like to do it. And he can’t help but love Shakira despite whatever happens’

This question was asked keeping under consideration Fawad’s talent of writing, but he assumes a modest role when it comes to this talent of his, and calls himself not a writer, but a wannabe writer.

Fawad’s unavoidable work is his film named ‘Jeevan Hathi’ written by Faseeh Bari Khan and directed by Meenu Farjad, in which he acted along greats like Hina Dilpazeer and Naseeruddin Shah. Fawad considers ‘Jeevan Hathi’ as a learning experience and tells how Meenu inculcated a lot of confidence in him and helped him learn about acting on screen.

Talking about directors, Khan also expresses great admiration for Mehreen Jabbar, an important name of our industry. He was asked why he admires Mehreen Jabbar and which project of hers he likes the most, and this was his answer, “She is an intelligent director and chooses to do stuff that is not stupid or clichéd. I have always admired her long plays more than anything else. For example, “Ab tum ja saktay ho, nivala, laal baig, marhoom colonel ki betian. My most favourite is Putli Ghar.’

From this interview, I gathered that Fawad is a humble person who possesses mannerisms which are no more found around us. Every little courtesy matters for this ardent supporter of art, whom you will find at every literary festival of the country. Fawad is someone who believes that state-funded institutions like the National Academy of Performing Arts which are active in churning out performances should be established in abundance to promote arts in our country.

The writer can be reached at m.ali_aquarius85@yahoo.com

Published in Daily Times, January 31^st 2018.