From Dreams to Reality

Fawad Jalal the new heartthrob of the TV industry made his indelible mark in the TV industry after he showed extremely good acting skills in the play ‘Kaneez’.  He started his career in 2011 with the play ‘Dastaan’. After several serials and commercials, Fawad landed a role in long running serial Kaneez. He is recognized and noticed with this most successful serial up till date which leaves the audience mesmerised. Sunday Plus caught up with this talented actor for an exclusive interview about his work and his love for acting.  Following are excerpts of the interview:

The actor is from Lahore and belongs to a family of professionals. Fawad’s interest was always in acting though he studied law and did MBA too. By profession he is a lawyer and worked with his father for some years realizing that law was not his cup of tea.

“Since my childhood, I wanted to be an actor and I always felt that I can do that better than to be a lawyer. My family was very much supportive when I took this decision. ”

Fawad told that it was initially difficult for him when he joined the industry but with the passage of time, he made his own ways into it. “You can say it was totally an alien land for me in the start. I had no idea how to approach right people and there was no one to guide me. Then with the passage of time I got to know about the production houses and how things work here. I had to struggle a lot and made roads of success my own.”

Talking about his recent hit serial ‘Kaneez’, Fawad told us many interesting things about it. He went to meet the producer for another serial ‘Surkh Jora’ and from there he was preferred for Kaneez. “ Kaneez got a lot of ratings. I personally think it was a bigger hit than Humsafar because it clicked the masses. The good thing about this serial was that the caste was the concoction of senior artist and new actors.”

“In the start, it was a very tough project for me. Syed Faisal Bukhari, the director, heis basically a film director so he shot this serial like a film. If you noticed, broad frames are used in which you have to deliver the dialogue while moving. There was a lot of editing in it. The set was very huge. Dialogues were very strong. Direction, editing and script are the factors that made it super hit.”  He further added.

 Actor Meera is always the center of attention for everyone and same was happened in the shooting of Kaneez too. Fawad told some of the funniest things when she joined them as a new colleague.  “Though we do not have any scene together but sometimes on the set I got the chance to be there with her. I remember, on the first day when she got done with the makeup, she went to watch the match and all the caste and other members were waiting for her. Secondly, she could not remember the names of the people so when she had to call someone on the set, she called everyone with a different name.”

When we asked him about the most challenging role for him till date, he told about one of his scenes played in Kaneez. “It was our first act, first day but that scene was in second episode. It was in which Saima Jee, Fariya and Aurangzeb Laghari were together.  There were a lot of moments in it. I took a lot of retakes in that because when Saima Jee comes in front of me it becomes difficult for me to deliver the dialogue. After this scene, Saima Jee came to me said me not to see her as a super actor, consider her as a colleague right now. Then we had good chemistry later on and she guided me a lot when needed.”

While taking up any project, Fawad notified that he always looks up for a good production house, director and then caste. He said, “These days our viewers watch those dramas only which are made from a good production house. People always notice you when you work with a good caste too so I always try to work good directors and production houses and caste.”

Talking to him about acting and direction, the inspiring actor gave his viewpoint about directors which he wants to change. “This day there is a term ‘one take actor’ and that director is considered good who takes work and maximum shots in one day from the actor and actor give his best just in first shot. In my personal opinion, eight to ten scenes are enough in one day. I have seen that now here is a competition going in director’s work. I am in this view that this thing affects the quality of the drama. Now directors are just trying to make scene beautiful, they don’t pay attention on acting.”

For this young gentleman, acting is now his passion and he love his job. “For me it’s job satisfaction. Sometimes we have too much working hours like we work day and night but I never felt tired because I do what I love.” He mentioned.

The actor also told us about his nature and how he manages his personal and professional life. He told that as a person he is a very patient and tolerant person.  “I don’t like drama or complications in my life. I am a happy guy who has smooth life. In my life, I love my nephew and niece and when it comes to manage time, it’s very easy. Though our work timings are odd but I manage it effortlessly. Sometimes, there are breaks in shooting and if you ask director for earlier pack up due to family commitments then they cooperate and set us free on time.”    

When we acquire about his friends with whom he is closed, Fawad told that he has two friends which is Imran Bokhri and Affan Waheed. Affan Waheed is his childhood friend and he shares everything about his life with him.

Majority actors do not like to be criticized for their work but when we asked this same thing from him, Fawad gave a very positive response. “Whenever I received criticism I take it very positively and feel happy. I always ask people how I act. When someone points out you for something, this gives you the room for improvement. I like those directors also who tell me how to deliver my shot.

And we wrapped up the interview by asking about his future goals and aims for which he said that he don’t have much high aims in my life. “I just want to establish myself as a prominent actor in Pakistani Drama industry. I don’t have any desire to go in Hollywood or Bollywood. If I get a chance, I will consider it my luck. Otherwise I just want to work in drama industry as a promising hero.” 

Sadia Zaheer writes on Fashion&Lifestyle. She conducts interviews of personalities and reports different events in the weekly magazine Sunday Plus, The Nation. She can be reached at sadiazaheer28@gmail.com.

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