Daily Times

Young, handsome and immensely talented, Hasan Rizvi has the friendliest attitude to match his attributes.

Choreography and public relations are two of his strongest skills which have earned him the reputation of being called a dance guru and a PR star.

It’s an utter delight seeing the always enthusiastic and ever energetic Hasan Rizvi lending his talents to the small and the big screen, in terms of the performances he fashions and the events he organises under his entrepreneurial setup.

“Upon moving back from Toronto, I realised there was very little exposure or opportunity for dance. I started off with a simple dance class at Shapes which ended up having a waiting list for months. Sultana Siddiqui offered me my first award show from where dance became a profession. Stepping into public relations was luck, opportunity and great fortune. At a Pepsi and Burger King launch, we as the event management company were asked to undertake the PR. Not knowing how the response would be, we decided to do it free of cost. The success paved away for our future in PR,” Hasan tells me.

“I’m an economist and no it wasn’t easy to join media industry when you come from a family of entrepreneurs and doctors. However, both Komal and I showed that newcomers can make their place in this industry”

To everyone’s knowledge, Hasan is veteran singer Komal Rizvi’s younger brother and together the sibling duo makes a stellar pair. The award-winning national star Komal Rizvi is, I wonder if it was tough for Hasan to make an independent name for himself, without just being called Komal’s brother.

“I will never be as big as Komal and am proud to have a name so massive attached to mine. Until date, fans, bloggers and even friends remember me as Komal brother – a title I hold dear to me and with pride,” Hasan clarifies.

Hasan comes from a family of entrepreneurs and doctors and says venturing into the media industry was a high.

“I’m an economist and no it wasn’t easy. However, both Komal and I showed that newcomers can make their place in this industry and now I think they are proud,” Hasan says.

It is pertinent to mention that Hasan, under the umbrella of his Body Beat Public Relations venture, organised and arranged Bold Men Awards earlier this year. The awards were a platform established to celebrate successful men from all walks of life.

“We felt there are a lot of fields that go unrecognised like journalism, hosting, sports, digital, etc. The concept has been very well received both by the nominees and the viewers. We are currently working on establishing more entertaining platforms, some for music, some for fashion and some for entertainment. Our most recent Clear campaign is in the midst of releasing its webisodes. Although when we proposed the initial plan, I wasn’t the host. However, with the response coming in, I’m so glad we did it. Do tune into #ZeroLiesWithHasanRizvi on YouTube’s channel of Clear,” Hasan says revealing his current projects.

Venturing from choreography to PR is a completely new experience to which Hasan says he dislikes working for private companies as it’s difficult to be objective and focus on the brand message when everything revolves around personal preferences.

“This is why working with multi-national companies always gives better results at the end of the campaign,” he adds.

Hasan’s mother-in-law Shanaz Ramzi is his biggest inspiration.

“She’s meticulous, passionate and a very hard working woman. She most definitely is the first person to introduce me to this field. Thereafter, the training programmes I took up in the United States and Singapore have taught me a lot,” he says.

Published in Daily Times, October 17^th 2018.