Fawad Khan

Fawad Afzal Khan (Urdu: فواد افضل خان‎; born 29 November 1981) is a Pakistani film and television actor,singer and model. Khan has established himself as a critically and commercially successful actor in the Pakistani dramas and film industry as well as in the Bollywood.

Khan rose to prominence in the 2007 Pakistani movie Khuda Kay Liye, and later gained acclaim as a lead actor in TV shows Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzar Hai, for which he won two consecutive Best Actor awards at the Lux Style Awards. In 2014, Khan made his Bollywood debut in the romantic comedy film Khoobsurat.[1] and received Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut.

Khan has been associated with various big brands in Pakistan. He has been the brand ambassador and leading face of the print and electronic advertisement of brands like Samsung Galaxy, Pepsi, Servis Shoes, Aquafina, Sprite, Telenor and Engro Foods (Tarang)

Personal life[edit]
He originates from the city of Lahore Pakistan.[2] Khan, as his father's job required, spent the earlier years of his life living abroad with his family in Athens, Dubai, Riyadh and then Manchester during the Gulf War, before moving back to Lahore when he was aged 13.[2] According to Khan, he is a non-Pashto speaking Pathan living in Lahore, which he considers his hometown.[3][4] By age 20, Khan could play the guitar, bass and drums. He put his voice to use as the lead singer of the band Entity Paradigm.[5] Khan obtained his A-levels from the Lahore Grammar School (LGS) and went on to complete his bachelor's degree in computer engineering from the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NUCES) in Lahore.[6] His first performance was amateur acting in a theatre play called Spartacus during A-level in 1999.[7][8]

Khan married on 12 November 2005 after a courtship of 8 years. He has one son with his wife.[9][10][11] Khan, in collaboration with his wife, established a clothing brand called SILK by Fawad Khan,[12] the debut collection was launched in August 2012 at Lahore.[12][13][14]

Khan, developed Diabetes mellitus type 1 at the age of 17 after he met with an accident that damaged his pancreas.[2][15]

Career[edit]
Debut in television and cinema[edit]
Fawad khan first public performance was at high school play which was directed by his friend Manal Butt. A famous director Shehzad Anjum judged the acting skills of Khan who ultimately helped him to enter the media world. Khan's first television appearance was in the funny TV detective series called Jutt and Bond which also starred his friend and former band member Ahmed Ali Butt in 2000. He was 19-years old when he played the bumbling spy role in this play.He and Butt started their band, Entity Paradigm (EP), around this time. Khan's cinematic debut was in 2007 from the movie Khuda Kay Liye in which he played the role of a young musician Sarmad. Khuda Kay Liye was the highest-grossing Pakistani film of 2007 for which he won Lux Style Award for Best Film Actor.

Then, he went on to pursue his acting career on Television. In 2008, he stepped into full-time drama serials appearing in Anjum Shehzad's travel adventure drama series Satrangi. Khan portrayed the role of an engineering student who hires a mini-bus and takes his six friend to a trip around the country. Khan also wrote and sang the original soundtrack of the drama. Later he also appeared in Dil Deke Jayen Ge and Jeevan Ki Rahoon Main.[16] [17][18]

Television (2010–2014)[edit]

Khan at the launch of his clothing line Silk by Fawad Khan in 2012
Khan has appeared in a number of television serials.In 2010, he earned major accolades in his television career from critics and audience for playing the role of Hassan in period drama Dastaan, it starred Sanam Baloch opposite him and was directed by Haissam Hussain [19] After the success of Dastaan, Khan and Sanam Baloch were casted in two more serials Kuch Pyar Ka Pagalpan and Akbari Asghari immediately after Dastaan. Both shows were declared commercially successful. Khan considers Akbari Asghari] as his career best performance.[20]

In 2011, Khan became a household name after playing the role of Asher Hussain in the drama Humsafar.[8] Humsafar received high Television Rating Points and went on to win the Best TV Play (Satellite) award at the Lux Style Awards.[8] Khan was praised for his performance and he won the Best TV Actor (Satellite) award for his portrayal of Asher Hussain in the same ceremony.[8][21][22] After Humsafar, Khan next appeared in the drama Ashk which received mixed reviews from audience and critics for its execution.[23]

Next benchmark success of Khan's career came with the popular show Zindagi Gulzar Hai hitting the Pakistani television screen in 2012-13. He played the role of a rich college going student named Zaroon Junaid opposite actress Sanam Saeed. Khan's performance earned him accolades from both viewers and reviewers. He won multiple awards for the show including Best Actor-Popular award at the Hum Awards and Best Actor satellite at Lux Style Awards [24][25] His natural chemistry with Sanam Saeed earned appreciation from the audience and critics alike; the couple won the Best Onscreen Couple award in both popular and jury categories at the Hum Awards.[25][26][27][27] He later went on to do more dramas such as Behadd, Numm and Armaan, all of which added to his body of praise-worthy work.

Bollywood (2014–present)[edit]

Khan with Sonam Kapoor at the promotional event of Khoobsurat, 2015
Khan was supposed to make his Bollywood debut soon after Khuda Kay Liye was released. But due to unstable political situation between Pakistan and India after Mumbai attacks things could not materialize. "This is certainly not the first Bollywood project that was offered to me, Way back in 2008, I was supposed to fly down to Mumbai to meet several producers and directors, but I wasn’t able to make it. When Khoobsurat came along, there was no way I could say no. I mean, it was the chance to meet and work with a legend such as Anil Kapoor." said Khan in an interview he gave in 2014.[28]

In 2014, Khan made his debut in Bollywood in Shashanka Ghosh's Khoobsurat opposite Sonam Kapoor.[29] A remake of Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s 1980 hit of the same name starring Rekha and Rakesh Roshan, the film revolves around Sonam Kapoor's character, Dr. Mili Chakravarty, who is a middle class physiotherapist from Delhi.[30] Khan plays Yuvraj Vikram Singh Rathore, Mili's love interest and the son of her patient; a Royal Indian family.[30] Movie received positive to mediocre reviews, however Khan's performance was praised by the critics and noted as one of the highlights of the film.[31][32] Moreover, the film emerged as a box office success, being declared as a "hit" by various media outlets. The film was particularly well received in the UK, UAE and Pakistan owing to Khan's following in these countries for his previous television work.[33][34] Fawad khan will be seen with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in his upcoming movie Ae Dil Hai Mushkil which will be produced by Karan Johar. According to the sources of media, this upcoming movie is a remake of Doosra Aadmi which was the 1977 Bollywood film.[35]

Music (2000–2012)[edit]
Initially two separate rock bands, Ahmed Ali Butt's Entity and Khan's Paradigm were both active in the Lahore music scene since 1994 and 2000, respectively.[36][37] During the early 2000s, the two bands collaborated with each other on the title track for Khan's and Butt's popular television sitcom, Jutt and Bond, when the show's director suggested that they do the title song together.[36][37] Led by Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan, the lead guitarist of Paradigm, the two bands collaborated and recorded the title song, Hamein Aazma, which played at the end of the show.[36][38] In early 2002, advertisements for Pepsi's Battle of the Bands began to air on television, calling upon entries from aspiring Pakistani bands. Since independent compilations and releases on record were lacking on both sides of the band, they decided to send in "Hamein Aazma" as a collaborative effort, under the name of Entity Paradigm.[36] It was during this time that Entity Paradigm (EP) officially came into existence, with Fawad Khan as the band's lead vocals.[36][39] Entity Paradigm's debut album, Irtiqa, released in October 2003 and received wide critical appreciation, especially the popular romantic track Rahguzar.[8][36] On 9 January 2007, the band disbanded due to various band members pursuing different projects.[36] The band briefly reunited in 2010 to perform Bolo Bolo in the third season of the popular TV music show Coke Studio. In the same year, the band also released their patriotic single Shor Macha, written by Khan, Ahmed and Salman, and recorded at The Albert Studios.[40]

Khan left the band in 2012 to focus on his acting career.[41] Apart from his rock musical career with his band Entity Paradigm, Khan has done an Original Sound Track for Geo TV serial Satrangi in 2008, in which he acted also. Khan has also given background score for the telefilm Behadd along with Hasil Qureshi.

Modelling[edit]
Appearing strikingly good-looking in his teens, he began modeling in his teens. Khan has occasionally walked the ramp for leading fashion designers of Pakistan. Talking about the modelling, Khan stated that he shies away from modelling and has only appeared in fashion shows as showstopper for his friends.[42] Khan's appearances on ramp include walk for Munib Nawaz in 2010,[43][44] Umar Sayeed in 2012,[45] and for Republic by Omar Farooq in 2015.[46] Recently, Khan has made brand ambassador of the Indian brand Giovanni.[47]

Writing and Production[edit]
Khan is known for regularly improvising the scenes in his TV shows. He has expressed his interest in going behind the camera for writing and direction in future. To fulfill his desire, he co-wrote the screenplay of his Telefilm Armaan (2013 film) with Vasay Chaudhry and director of the movie Anjum Shahzad.[48] Screenplay of the telefilm received positive reviews.[citation needed].[48] He also wrote the lyrics for few songs such as Rahguzar during his association with Entity Paradigm [49]

Khan co-produced his telefilm Armaan along with 7th Sky Entertainment.[48]

Hosting[edit]
Khan hosted 14th Lux Style Awards held on 30th Sep, 2015 in Karachi, Pakistan. He co-hosted this awards ceremony with Mahira Khan.[50]

Reception[edit]
He is often credited with re-introducing the subtle romance to Pakistani television screens with his shows. According to Firstpost "His old-world mannerisms, rugged looks and the way he slips Urdu into his English all come together to make Khan seem distinct in a very charming way from the big, flashy world of Bollywood".[18] He has been particularly applauded for possessing the art of speaking with eyes both in Pakistani and Indian media. Maliha Rahman of DAWN wrote Fawad Khan has eyes that can go from guarded to piercing in the blink of a moment. He just as easily switches from rock star to romantic hero to anti-hero.[51][52]

Khan's show Zindagi Gulzar Hai received unprecedented success in India for a television show in such short span. Khan was praised for his natural performance and good looks. His popularity created a mass swooning and collective hysteria amongst the female audience. A term "Fawad Fever" started circulating on social media; denoting his popularity.[53] An Indian daily reported "Fawad Afzal Khan became a massive hit among girls since the first look hit the telly world. His charisma completely wooed the audience and they looked forward to the show" [54] His movies and his performances are acknowledged by Indian and Pakistani media.[55][56] [57][58][59][60][61]

Humanitarian and social causes[edit]
Khan regularly participates in the charity and social causes in Pakistan and internationally. His most prominent association with charities include Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Islamic Relief. He dedicated his debut Bollywood movie Khoobsurat to the cancer patients of SKMCH&RC and routinely participates in the fundraising campaigns by the institution. Khan took forward his association with the SKMCH by appearing in its telethon fundraising campaign which was telecast on ARY Digital Network in January and February 2015. In 2013, 2014 & 2015 Khan visited the UK and USA for participating in charity dinner galas and concerts organized by the various charities.[62]

Khan has shown his support to SOS Children's Villages by participating in the children carnivals that were organized in 2012 and 2014.[63]

In 2012, Khan was appointed as a brand ambassador of the WWF Earth Hour campaign. Commenting on his role, he shared that it was an honor to be associated with the cause and he hoped he would be able to convince people to adopt a safer strategy for energy conservation in future.[64]

Brand endorsements[edit]
Khan frequently appears in Print and electronic advertisements of the most popular fashion and lifestyle brands.[citation needed]

Endorsement Year Notes
Samsung Galaxy A 2016 2016 #BeWhoYouAre #TakingaChance [65]
Tarang (Chai) 2016 Alongside Sonam Kapoor [66]
Tapal Danedar 2015 [67]
Giovani Italian Cut 2015 [68]
Warid Pakistan mobile network 2015 Brand Ambassador for 4G and LTE services [69]
Samsung Galaxy smart phone 2015 S6/Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime; a selfie phone [70]
Republic by Omar Farooq [71] 2014-2015 Khan appeared as showstopper in Lahore Fashion Week for the designer [72]
Clear Unilever Anti-dandruff Shampoo 2013–present as of 2015 Appeared in a TVC alongside Ileana D'Cruz[73]
Pepsi 2008 and in 2015 Alongside Annie Khalid [74][75]
Fair and lovely Unilever 2014 Men's fairness cream [76]
LUX 2014–present Alongside Mahira Khan [77]
Aquafina 2012 Alongside Mahira Khan [78]
Servis Shoes Footwear 2012–2014 Shoes for everyone [76]
QMobile 2012-2013 Noir Model [76]
Olpers milk 2007–2014 Ramadan Ad on TV almost every year [79]
Tarang Engro Corporation 2013 Alongside Sonya Jehan [80]
TUC (cracker) 2012 [76]
Telenor 2012 Talkshawk package of the brand [81]
Sprite (soft drink) 2011 Sprite Zero Ad [82]
Levi's Pakistan 2010 Photoshoot for Fall-Winter Collection [83]
Mobilink 2008 Alongside Wasim Akram, Bol Ke Lab Azaad Hain Pyare [84]