Daily Times

Tell us about your foray into acting and talk show hosting? How did it all begin for you?

Both acting and hosting are part of a long journey for me. I always wanted to become an actor and I remained involved in these things since my early days as I was there in every school or college play during student life. I started my film and PTV career in the same year and I did not had to struggle hard for this because it fell in my lap in the beginning. I feel that I wasn’t good enough in the start due to being inexperienced and then I learnt through experience of doing work with different directors and channels. Acting is all about exploring yourself and people usually use six different methods of acting. I practiced a lot and learnt through different experiences and it made me what I’m today. I never went for the quantity and always preferred quality throughout my career. I also did small projects in the beginning that didn’t prove to be that fruitful but I don’t regret doing them as even that was a learning phase for me. Hosting is all about command on your topic. Your show becomes very popular if you’ve done your proper homework and you’re educated about the issue or topic being discussed. I’m doing a show and most of the guests are my friends from the field and they’re quite comfortable while sitting with me and that adds to the show’s success. These things happen to me naturally and I also do homework for my shows and it used to be my practice also for my Ramadan shows.

Has there ever been an offer to perform in Bollywood? If the situation improves, would you want to try your craft there?

Yes, in the past I had few Bollywood offers but sometimes the script wasn’t of my interest and sometimes the situation wasn’t feasible to go there and therefore I couldn’t do it. As I told you that I only prefer the quality work for my own satisfaction and you are also representing your country in Bollywood. So, different things have to be seen before doing work there but I don’t have any regret at all for not working in the Bollywood. I think we all should work hard for our own film and TV and stop talking anymore to work in Bollywood or work like them. We should be self-sufficient in our work. We should have our own international recognition of our films and TV like our drama is getting popularity there. One shouldn’t think of getting work there if ever the situation with India is improved because your own country should come first. One should show loyalty with own country and never compromise on the self-respect and national dignity.

You have experience in both film and television. Which medium do you enjoy the most and why?

I enjoy both doing TV and films. It all depends on the script and content. The product will be good if your script is strong. I’ve also enjoyed doing theatre. The main thing is how your character is portrayed whatever the medium is. I feel that TV is more popular than film in Pakistan because no other medium can make a kind of connection with the audience the way TV does.

If you were to direct a project, would you go for a drama serial, web series or a film? What genre would you go for and why?

I’ve produced some plays in the recent days. I would like to direct a TV serial first because you can improve your craft through TV. You can do the storytelling in detail because of so many episodes in the TV serial. I would enjoy directing TV serials as it would be more interesting for me.

Everyone should focus on education and should have a passion for self-improvement regardless of being into politics or not

How supportive are you of the latest trend of web series in the world? Do you think these hamper box office collections as people would now stay home in the comfort of their homes and watch film and dramas?

The web series are very important and it should definitely be made. Things are changing now and people are more familiar with Netflix instead of cables and dish TVs. If someone cannot watch the Pakistani drama due to certain reason then he can easily watch through this medium because our film and TV doesn’t have reach there and our reach can be greater in this way. It’s not just about the box office as it is about reaching the targeted audience around the globe. The media makes the image of your country and one shows his culture through it.

You began your career about more than 15 years back. How have you seen cinema and TV industry improving or even going down?

When I decided to join the field, it was about 2000 and it was almost the end of Lollywood as there wasn’t any film industry for long after it. Our TV industry was very good before 2000 but the years from 2001 to 2006 were not good for the TV because most of our plays were made on the pattern of Indian soaps in these years. It was very disturbing for the industry in these years and I really felt at that time that we should all work better. Our drama started picking up in 2006 and things changed so rapidly after it. I am really happy that huge change was seen in our drama and film during the last decade and we started making good dramas, projects and films. Our drama industry got overwhelming response and our serials are rated better than the dramas of Turkey and India. We got good actors, directors and story-tellers and now world watches our play.

Out of a number of films that you’ve worked in, which has been the most special to you or the one you enjoyed working on the most?

I like my film Chupan Chupai the most that I did a year and a half ago because of the script. It was not like a typical Lollywood or Bollywood film as it had its own flavour. It was a natural kind of film that had a good comedy, script and acting. Earlier, I had been refusing the films just due to weak scripts but I selected it just because of its script. It was really good to play and watch equally.

What are you currently working on?

I am hosting a show these days. I am doing a comedy program and a serious play that will be on air soon. Moreover, I am also producing the plays these days.

Would you encourage your children to join the industry?

Yes, I’ll definitely encourage my kids to join this field because things have been changed now. It will be really goof if they join the field after educating themselves. The industry improves when the educated people join it. People from good families should definitely produce stuff and join the field. I’ll encourage them if they will be interesting in joining it.

You’ve done theatre in the United Kingdom as well. Tell us about that?

Doing theatre in London was like a dream. I have watched different theatre performances in London and you cannot have such performances somewhere other than the London. I was very surprised when I received a call of audition for the play in London. It was my first play in English and we had rehearsal for 20 days. The hall had a capacity of 1,600 people and it was houseful every day and we got huge appreciation and coverage there. It was great experience for me where I had to perform for two hours with long dialogues. I also sang few lines and it was really difficult for me but I really enjoyed it. Most of the actors of the play were also from the London. So, it was great experience indeed.

If you were made PM for a day, what three things would you like to do for the country first?

Even 10 years are not sufficient to do anything keeping in view the situation of our country then how can I do in one day. If anyone ever gets the power or authority to do something for the country, then he will do for the education. We are lacking in the education and it is not the name of getting the educational degrees but here we don’t have ethics. Many educated people also behave like the educated ones and therefore one should work to improve the education in Pakistan.

Which was the last Pakistani film/drama that you watched and really liked?

The last Pakistani movie I watched and liked was the ‘Superstar’. I liked the angles of Ehtisham and his direction was also very nice. I also liked the acting of Mahira Khan in ‘Superstar’. The last Pakistani drama that I liked was ‘Baghi’ of Saba Qamar because she is one of my favourite actresses. The play was wonderful and very well made.

What is your vision for Pakistan and what does it mean to be Pakistani for you?

I have a lot of things to say on the vision of Pakistan. I remember reading somewhere about the leader of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew who had a great vision for his country. He made Singapore a leader in the financial world and made it the cleanest state in the world that people wanted to visit direly. He made Singapore a great country in 25 years. Dr Mahatir Muhammad also had a great vision for his country Malaysia as he transformed the whole country. Our own leader Quaid-e-Azam also had a great vision for Pakistan as he had more focus on the economic sustainability, development and progress. Everyone should have focus on the education. Everyone should have a passion of self-improvement whether he is a politician or not.

Your work has won you a lot of awards, laurels and appreciation. What, according to you, has been your biggest achievement so far?

It is my job to do these things as I didn’t do it for returns. I did Karachi clean project and I also wanted to contribute in the charity project of Governor Punjab Chaudhry Sarwar. And I am the ambassador of Children Literary Festival and also the ambassador of Human Development Foundation for which I am going to US to collect funds. I have also worked for the people living in slums. I enjoy doing these things with my work. I want to change the lives of people as I worked on the child abuse after the ‘Udaari’ serial and attended a conference on the subject in US. To change the lives of people will be achievement for me.

We, at Daily Times, consider you one of our national heroes. Who are some of yours?

Thank you Daily Times for considering me in that category. Being an actor and public figure, your responsibility increases. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Dr Allama Iqbal, Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan, Dr Samar Mubarak Mand, Dr Abdus Salam and people like Abdul Sattar Edhi are my national heroes. These are very iconic figures and huge names and they have contributed a lot. Moreover, people who sacrifice their lives for the country are also my national heroes including our security forces who sacrifice their lives for this country. I salute them all.

Achievements

MASTER OF ALL TRADES

Ahsan Khan is not just a critically-acclaimed actor, but his gift of the gab has earned him the reputation of being one of the most articulate talk-show hosts and anchors. He is also a producer as well as a humanitarian. In 2016, he produced the socially relevant series ‘Dukh Sukh’, being “tired of the same old ‘saas bahu’ dramas” and as of 2018, has produced more than 20 works for television.

VERSATILE ACTOR

Ahsan Khan has acted in a plethora of drama serials and films, ruling the box office. He has a vast experience in theatre too. His dramas ‘Saiqa’, ‘Pani Jesa Pyar’, ‘Na Kaho Tum Mere Nahi’, ‘Dastaan’, ‘Paarsa’, ‘Kabhi Kabhi’, ‘Meri Ladli’, ‘Marasim’, ‘Udaari’, ‘Saaya-e-Dewaar’, ‘Gohar-e-Nayab’ and ‘Aangan’ have been nationwide hits. His films ‘Nikah,’ ‘Ghar Kab Aogay?’ ‘Sultanat,’ and ‘Chupan Chupai’ have also been well received.

CULTURE ICON

Khan was appointed as a goodwill ambassador by the Children’s Literature Festival on July 30, 2019.

A DEDICATED PHILANTHROPIST

Khan was recently in Lebanon for the Human Development Foundation’s fund-raising event. He’s the ambassador for The Citizen’s Foundation. He has worked extensively for child abuse cases and domestic violence issues. The Deewar-e-Mehrbani (Wall of Kindness) and Bazaar-e-Mehrbani initiatives were launched by him. The former was a wall where people left their old clothes or stuff they didn’t use for the needy. The latter was like a shop where every individual got free goods, appliances, food, etc.