It's official — Fawad Khan is India's darling.
The chiseled actor appears on the cover of April's
Hello! India magazine ahead of the HUM TV awards in Dubai, spilling the beans about his foray into Bollywood, his take on romantic scenes in upcoming movies and more.
We understand that how I act onscreen isn't real while our relationship truly is: Fawad
Recently
rumours have been flying about that Fawad has reservations about acting in certain intimate scenes with Alia Bhatt in an upcoming Bollywood flick, in a nod to Pakistan's more conservative norms.
In his Hello! interview Fawad talks about navigating these tricky waters with his wife, Sadaf, and about jealousy that might crop up due to his superstar status.
"Sadaf’s been with me through thick and thin." he says. "She was there at the first screening of Khoobsurat and she was laughing along with Sonam and me when we posed for a somewhat steamy shoot."
"We both understand that how I act on-screen isn’t real while our relationship truly is," he says.
Fawad talks about how his career exploded post-Humsafar, saying: "I can't say Sadaf didn't get annoyed by the female attention I was getting — anybody would. The invasion of our privacy bothered her because where ever we went, we got surrounded by fans. Eventually, we took it in our stride. We both realised that this was just the inevitable outcome of the career I had chosen but we could not let it affect our marriage. I must admit that had I been in her place, my reaction may have been much more possessive."
"It helps that we have always had a hopelessly romantic relationship," continues Fawad. "I met my wife when I was 16 and we have been together ever since."
I was a rebel without a cause: Fawad
Talking about his path to becoming an icon and veritable heartthrob, Fawad admits that for the longest time he lacked direction and in fact, was more drawn to music than acting.
"I was an angry young man, a rebel without a cause and I channeled my emotions into my music," he says.
Being frontman for the rock band band EP made him feel more empowered: "I felt that I could actually make a difference, set new trends and send out messages that departed from the usual romantic odes."
During this time however, Fawad was also looking for a day job without much success. But soon after, he got a role in Shoaib Mansoor's Khuda Ke Liye, and everything began to change.
I was too plump for the role: Fawad
Of his turn in Khuda Ke Liye, Fawad says, "I recall going in for my audition and seeing Ali Zafar's pictures lying on the table — he was apparently first choice for the role that I was trying out for. The director dismissed me, saying that I was too plump for the role. Over the next few months, I shed a lot of extra pounds and one day, out of the blue, I got a call asking me if i was still interested in acting in the movie.
After Khuda Ke Liye, Humsafar followed, and then Zindagi Gulzar Hai, and soon Bollywood was knocking on his door.
Khoobsurat memories
“Khoobsurat was an eye-opener in many ways," Fawad tells Hello! India. "Cinema is a colossal, money churning business in India and working in that environment offered me quite an incredible learning experience.”
He also praised his cast and crew members for being supportive:
“You learn a lot about people when you live together. I was fortunate to work with extremely dedicated, positive group of people. I became friends with Sonam Kapoor and Rhea Kapoor. Anil Kapoor, a legend in his own right, is one of the most jovial men I have ever met.”
Recounting the filming of Khoobsurat, Fawad shared a memorable incident about his birthday:
“I was unable to go back home on my birthday and the cast and crew arranged a surprise party for me. When I cut the cake at midnight, a voice recording of my wife and son wishing me a happy birthday suddenly began playing. They had gone behind my back and arranged the recording for me. In my room, they placed a hamper of sugar-free treats for me, since I’m diabetic.”
My dance sequence was still scary for me: Fawad
Although we haven’t seen Fawad bust a move in any of the projects he has done so far, we did catch a glimpse in the famous ‘Abhi Tou Party Shuru Hu Hai’. Fawad, who has proven his acting skills time and again had to face some obstacles while doing the film:
"I had to master the correct Hindi pronunciations and Rhea bullied me into doing one thing I am still terrible at — dancing. Women have always been able to bully me and even though my dance sequence was extremely short, it was still scary for me.”
He also revealed that despite appearing several times on different Indian shows like Comedy With Kapil, he still doesn’t know how to react to certain things like ‘Dadi’ trying to plant kisses on his check.
“Sometimes I don’t know how to react. People scare me,” he says.
Fawad’s fandom and future plans
With back-to-back hit projects, Fawad's fans have high hopes for him. The mere mention of his name pulls large crowds. He acknowledges their support and is usually seen thanking them.
"The pressure is always there to do my best. I feel happy that I have an audience that looks forward to my next project. I have to make sure that I deliver," he says.
Whether Fawad will be actually be seen doing 'steamy scenes' or upbeat songs is still unclear, but he wants to explore all horizons in acting whether its a role of a bandit, comedian or even a serial killer — he is up for everything:
"I am open to the idea but more than anything else the script has to appeal to me,” he says.
Bollywood film ‘Khoobsurat’ was Fawad Khan’s big ticket to Bollywood and it actually worked the most in his favour. Every second day we have been hearing rumours about him signing film projects with top notch actors and directors in an Indian film industry, following which rumours started doing the rounds that the actor might have bagged “Dhoom 4″. Which will be part of actors three film deal with YRF.
