Fawad Khan mighty impressed by the hospitality extended towards him
Mumbai: Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan who is making his Bollywood debut with Khoobsoorat is mighty impressed by the hospitality extended towards him by his co-stars. The actor says he couldn't have asked for a better start. "The Kapoors are an extremely fun bunch. They have also set really high standards for me as far as hospitality goes," says Fawad referring to his co-star Sonam Kapoor and producers Rhea and Anil.
The actor who has a huge fan base in Pakistan is slowly gaining popularity in India too, thanks to his shows on the newly launched Zindagi channel. He says, "Even with my limited body of work so far, people have been receptive and feedback has been positive. Thanks to my TV shows, I am familiar to people now. But then the expectations are also high," he says weighing the pros and cons of being on Indian telly.
So how familiar is Fawad with Bollywood? "I'm not very familiar, but I have seen my fair share of Hindi films while growing up. I would keep going back to Mr India, Satte Pe Satta, Do Aur Do Paanch, Who Saat Din and Mr Natwarlal. I would mostly watch Amitabh Bachchan films but I also watched Rishi saab, Anil saab, Dharmendra saab and Shatrughan Sinha."
About his film Fawad says that it isn't a remake of the old Khoobsoorat starring Rekha in the true sense. That it has only drawn inspiration from it. "In the older one, the family was much bigger, but it wasn't royal. Here I play Rajput prince. Sonam's character does touch lives of everyone in the family, but we've broken many boundaries of course and veered from the original story," he adds.
The actor admits that promoting a film is much more stressful than working in one: "In films you are playing a character but at live events you have to be much more careful about what you say."
Fawad acknowledges the fact that there is a part of the audience that believes that we don't need cross-border talent. To them he says, "There are some people in India who feel that there is no need to import talent. In America, Hollywood is like a settlement; people have migrated to the country and look at what that amalgamation is bringing out it is because of the variety of cultures flourishing there. It's important to break this hate breeding process. Naseeruddin Shah has worked in Pakistan and it's an honour for our filmmakers. If I can't perform, my career will meet its demise at the end of the day. Cinema, music, arts and crafts can bridge gaps in an intolerant society. Discouraging it is a very uneducated approach."
We prod him about his family and Fawad says, "My wife runs and inhouse design label called Silk By Fawad Khan. When I am not working, I am very lazy and only play with my son. That I think is the best way to spend my time"
