Fawad Afzal Khan (born 29 November 1981) is a Pakistani actor, producer, screenwriter, and singer known for his work in films and television. Having received
several accolades, including a
Filmfare Award, two
Lux Style Awards, and six
Hum Awards, he is widely regarded one of the greatest contemporary artists hailing from Asia.
Khan began his acting career on the television sitcom, Jutt and Bond. He formed an
alternative rock band,
Entity Paradigm, with the show's co-stars and began his music career as its lead singer. The band appeared on the finale of Pepsi Battle of the Bands in 2002 and Khan became known for its 2003 debut album, Irtiqa. After about 250 performances, he left the band to pursue a film career. Khan made his film debut with a supporting role in the social drama, Khuda Kay Liye (2007), one of
Pakistan's highest-grossing films.
Khan was born on 29 November 1981 in
Karachi, Sindh.[2] He was born to a family of
Pashtun background. His father was born in
Patiala (present-day
Punjab, India) whereas his mother's family was native of
Lucknow (present-day
Uttar Pradesh,
India), who moved to Pakistan after the 1947 partition of
British India.[3] When Khan was young, his father was in pharmaceutical sales, which required the family to live in
Athens,
Dubai,
Riyadh and
Manchester during the
Gulf War.[4][5] His family moved to
Lahore, Punjab when he was 13.[6] He has two sisters; his older sister, Aliya, is an architect and his younger sister, Sana, is a
physician.[7] He currently lives in Lahore.[8]
Khan studied at an American school, where he said he faced racial issues and was bullied because of his shy, calm, non-combative nature.[9] Khan passed his
A-levels at the
Lahore Grammar School, Johar Town (LGS JT), and received a bachelor's degree in
software engineering from the
National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NUCES) in Lahore.[10][11][12] Because he could not find a job as a
programmer, he soon began acting.[13] In a Forbes India interview, Khan said that he had also failed to find a job in marketing.[14] By then he could play guitar, bass and drums, and became
Entity Paradigm's lead singer.[15] Khan's first amateur performance was in the title role of a play, Spartacus.[16]
Acting career
Debut, breakthrough and television success (2000–2013)
Khan's first
television role was a bumbling spy named Bond with his bandmate,
Ahmad Ali Butt, in the 2001 sitcom Jutt and Bond.[17][18] His debut film was
Shoaib Mansoor's
sociodramaKhuda Kay Liye, where he played a musician who is brainwashed by the local
maulvi.[19] Although the film received positive reviews, critical response to Khan's performance was mixed.
Taran Adarsh of
Bollywood Hungama called it "strictly OK",[20] but The Economic Times' film critic Gaurav Malani found him "engaged" in the role of an extremist.[21] Released in 2007, the film grossed Rs. 250 million and is one of
Pakistan's highest-grossing films.[22] Khan received the
Lux Style Award for Best Actor – Film in 2008,[5] and appeared in the TV series Dil Deke Jaenge.[4] Later that year, in
Anjum Shahzad's
travel adventure TV series Satrangi, he played an engineer who goes on a road trip.[23][24][17] In 2010, Khan played a conservative, middle-class boy in the telefilm Aaj Kuch Na Kaho. Although it received negative reviews, Dawn found Khan "superbly convincing" and called him the film's "only redeeming factor".[25] That year, he starred with
Sanam Baloch in
Haissam Hussain's
period TV series Dastaan. Based on
Razia Butt's novel, Bano, its story (set in the 1940s) revolves around the separation of a young couple during the
1947 partition.[26] A Dawn reviewer wrote that Khan and his costars gave "superlative performances to match Samira Fazal's wonderful script",[27] and The Express Tribune praised the lead pair's onscreen chemistry.[28] For his performance, Khan won the Best Drama Actor award at the Pakistan Media Awards.[29]
Haissam Hussain's comedy Akbari Asghari, a modern adaptation of Mirat-ul-Uroos, was Khan's first television series in 2011; he played Asghar, an unambitious villager who wants to marry one of his cousins.[30] In an interview with The Hindu's Anuj Kumar, Khan described his character as "completely oaf[ish]".[31] In Kuch Pyar Ka Pagalpan, his third collaboration with Hussain, he starred with Sanam Baloch,
Meekal Zulfiqar and
Ayesha Khan as a computer engineer who wants to take over his uncle's business.[32][33] Khan later starred with
Mahira Khan in
Sarmad Khoosat's TV serial drama, Humsafar, for which he won the Best Actor award at the 2012
Lux Style Awards.[34]Humsafar is Pakistan's highest-rated television serial.[35] The series and Khan's performance were praised. Ranika Rajani praised Humsafar in The Indian Express, calling it a "breath of fresh air" and preferring it to Indian soap operas. According to Rajani, the lead pair's chemistry was the biggest factor in the show's success.[36]Zee News critic Ritka Handoo enjoyed the protagonists' performances, calling the Khans a "quite believable onscreen couple".[37]
Khan's first 2012 role was Rohail, a
Turkish resident who goes to Pakistan to marry his cousin but instead marries her sister, in Sarmad Khoosat's Ashk.[38][39] That year, he played a member of an affluent family (with
Sanam Saeed) in
Sultana Siddiqui's family-drama TV series Zindagi Gulzar Hai. The serial, one of the most critically acclaimed
Pakistani dramas, also received widespread praise in
India.[40] Dipti Sharma of The Indian Express enjoyed Khan's skillful portrayal.[41] The role earned him several awards, including the
Hum Award for Best Actor Popular and the Lux Style Award for Best Actor – Satellite.[42][43] Khan's last TV serial was
Ahson Talish's sociodrama, Numm. Broadcast in 2013, Khan played a boy who secretly marries a girl in
London and is forced to marry another girl when he returns to Pakistan.[44]Behadd, director
Asim Raza's telefilm, featured Khan as a young divorcee who proposes to a widow who is the mother of a teenage girl.[45] The Times of India noted that Khan's character in Behadd was different from those in Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzar Hai, calling it "another benchmark".[46] His last telefilm was Anjum Shahzad's romance Armaan (with
Aamina Sheikh), where he played a young, flirtatious boy.[47] He also co-wrote the telefilm's screenplay, with
Vasay Chaudhry.[48]
Work in India (2014–2016)
Khan with actress
Sonam Kapoor at a promotional event for their film Khoobsurat in 2014.
Khan was originally expected to make his debut in
India's
Hindi film industry, commonly known as 'Bollywood', soon after the release of Khuda Kay Liye but the unstable political situation between India and Pakistan after the
2008 Mumbai terror attacks delayed it.[49] He made his Bollywood debut in
Shashanka Ghosh's 2014
comedy-
drama, Khoobsurat, with
Sonam Kapoor.[50] Khan played Vikram Singh Rathore, Kapoor's love interest and the son of her patient.[51] On
Zee News, Ritika Handoo praised his "immensely polished acting skills" and said that he fit his character very well.[52] Deepanjana Pal of Firstpost liked Gosh's decision to make Khan's character a sex object, feeling that he blazed a trail for other male actors in similar roles.[53] The film was particularly well received in the
UK, the
UAE, and Pakistan because of Khan's following in those countries from his television work.[54][55] He received a
Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his role in the film.[56]
Khan made a cameo appearance in
Asim Raza's
coming-of-age film, Ho Mann Jahaan, in January 2016.[57] He then had a main role in
Shakun Batra's family drama, Kapoor & Sons. The film, which featured Khan as part of an ensemble cast including
Rishi Kapoor,
Ratna Pathak Shah,
Rajat Kapoor,
Sidharth Malhotra, and
Alia Bhatt, was a commercial success. The actor received near-unanimous critical praise for his portrayal of Rahul Kapoor, a
closeted homosexual writer.[58][59] A Bollywood Hungama reviewer enjoyed Khan's performance, saying that his character creates an emotional connection with the audience,[60] and
NDTV film critic Saibal Chaterjee praised his self-assured performance.[61]Kapoor & Sons earned Khan the Diversity Award at the
Indian Film Festival of Melbourne[62][63] and a nomination for
Best Supporting Actor at the
62nd Filmfare Awards.[64] According to the film's producer,
Karan Johar, "We went to six actors and after six rejections, I told Shakun Batra (director) that we should drop the idea and he started developing another screenplay. Later, in a flash of thought Fawad came to my mind. I sent him the script, he loved it and said he would do it."[65] In September 2016, Johar said that Khan's wife pressured him to accept the role.[66] Later in 2016, Khan appeared in a small role with
Ranbir Kapoor,
Anushka Sharma, and
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Karan Johar's
romantic drama, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.[67]Raja Sen of
Rediff.com found his role "far too little to justify the ridiculous kerfuffle his casting had caused", but called him the perfect choice for the part.[68] In Deccan ChronicleSubhash K. Jha described Khan's role as "meagre and sketchy".[69]
After the
2016 Uri terror attack, relations between
India and
Pakistan deteriorated and the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) and the Film Producers Guild of India banned Pakistani artists from working in India until the situation normalised.[70]
He is expected to appear as pop singer
Alamgir in Sultan Ghani's Albela Rahi.[77] He will also be seen with
Mahira Khan in a film called Neelofer. Fawad Khan will also be seen in the lead role of renowned director and producer Haseeb Hasan's upcoming film "Aan".[78][79][80] Khan will also be seen in Pakistan's first
Netflix Original Series, Jo Bachay Hain Sang Samait Lo which is an official adaptation of
Farhat Ishtiaq’s 2013
Urdu-language novel of the same name. He will star alongside
Mahira Khan,
Sanam Saeed, and
Ahad Raza Mir.[81][82]
Music career
Khan (right) performing with Ahmed Ali Butt in 2009.
Two rock bands,
Ahmed Ali Butt's Entity and Khan's Paradigm, were active in
Lahore between 1994 and 2000. The bands collaborated on the title track of a television sitcom, Jutt and Bond (featuring Khan and Ahmed Ali Butt), in the early 2000s.[83] This collaboration led to the bands' merger into
Entity Paradigm.[84] The new band appeared in the 2002 finale of Pepsi Battle of the Bands, losing to the band Aaroh.[85] Entity Paradigm's debut album, Irtiqa, was released in October 2003; it received broad critical appreciation, particularly the popular romantic track "Rahguzar".[23] The band broke up in 2007, reuniting in 2010 to participate in the
third season of Coke Studio (where they covered
Sajjad Ali's "Bolo Bolo").[86][87] Their single, "
Shor Macha", was released that year. Dawn listed it among the year's most popular Pakistani songs in the newspaper's online poll.[88] Khan was featured in its video (directed by
Bilal Lashari),[89] and said that he had played almost 250 shows as a musician.[90] He left the band in 2012 to focus on his acting career.[91]
Khan appeared as a judge on Pepsi Battle of the Bands in July 2017, with
Atif Aslam and
Meesha Shafi.[92] He sang the show's introductory song,[93] and appeared in its video (released on 23 July) with Aslam and Shafi.[94][95] According to Vafa Batool of Pakistan Today, Khan "preferred to acknowledge the raw live energy on stage."[96] Khan and the other members of Entity Paradigm reunited and performed "Hamesha" in the show's finale.[97]
Other work and media image
Khan attended
Islamic Relief USA fundraisers in
San Jose and
Washington, D.C.,[98] and raised money for the Shukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in
Bahrain.[99] He has supported
SOS Children's Villages by participating in children's carnivals in 2014 and 2017.[100][101] In March 2015, Khan toured the
United States and
Canada and raised money for Pakistani charities;[102] he has also raised money in London for charitable organisations in Pakistan.[103] He and his wife participated in a musical tour of the United States to raise money for charitable organisations throughout Pakistan.[104] In November 2015, they officiated at the launch of a tree-planting event organised by the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Peshawar.[3] Khan appeared in
Ali Zafar's music video, "Urainge", which was made as a tribute to the victims of the
2014 Peshawar school attack.[105]
Khan is one of the highest-paid actors in the Pakistani film industry.[118][119] According to director and producer
Abdullah Kadwani, "Fawad is the closest actor to
Waheed Murad."[47] Soon after the release of Khoobsurat, The Indian Express's Mimansa Shekhar wrote that the actor redefined the Bollywood actor with charm, replacing "stereotype body builders with six packs".[120] After the success of Kapoor & Sons, Nirmalya Dutta of Daily News and Analysis called Khan's portrayal of a gay male "a big leap forward for India's
LGBT movement"; in India, where homosexuality was illegal at that time, "Khan had the guts and gumption to play this seminal role."[121] In August 2016,
Ranbir Kapoor said that Khan opened a door by playing a gay man and he was now comfortable playing such a role.[122]
Khan is described by
South Asian media as one of its most attractive men,[123] and he was named the Most Beautiful Man at the
2015 Vogue Beauty Awards.[124] He was ranked third in the Times of India's 50 Most Desirable Men poll in 2014[125] and 2015,[126] and was fifth in 2016.[127] In November 2014, Khan received the Fresh Face of the Year Award at the
Hello! Hall of Fame Awards in India.[128] The British magazine Eastern Eye ranked Khan seventh in 2014[129] and sixth from 2015 to 2018[130] third[131] and sixth[132] on its annual list of sexiest Asian men. For his style and fashion, he received the Crush of the Year Award at the Grazia Young Fashion Awards.[133] TC Candler, an independent critics list, nominated Khan as one of the 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2017.[134] He was nominated for the International Pakistan Prestige Award for Style Icon of the Year in September 2017[135] (which went to
Hamza Ali Abbasi).[136]
The Herald named Khan one of its 10 People of 2016.[137] He was ranked the fifth-most-popular Bollywood actor of November 2014,[138] and was called the most popular Bollywood actor in March 2016 by
Times Celebex.[139]MenXP ranked Khan 37th on its Most Popular Bollywood celebrities of 2014 list.[140] He was the first Pakistani to appear on the cover of Filmfare magazine, in September 2014,[141] and again appeared on its cover in October 2015[142] and March 2016.[143]Hi! Blizt magazine featured Khan on its cover in 2016.[144] He received the Best Male Debut Award at the IBNlive Movie Awards, with 48.54 per cent of the vote.[145]
Khan married Sadaf Khan in 2005 after a seven-year courtship.[146][147] They have three children.[148][failed verification][149] Khan and his wife founded Silk by Fawad Khan, a clothing line,[150] whose debut collection was launched in August 2012 in Lahore.[151]
He was diagnosed with
Type 1 diabetes at age 17, after an accident which damaged his pancreas.[152] The accident occurred behind a swimming pool, where Khan was scratched and jumped into untreated water. He later realized he had the disease when he lost 10 kilograms (22 lb).[153]
^
abAkbar, Ali (11 November 2015).
"I will invite Shah Rukh Khan to visit his hometown Peshawar: Fawad Khan". Dawn.
Archived from the original on 11 November 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015. I wish I could speak Pashto," he shared with Dawn News. "I am unfortunately one of the non-Pushto speaking Pathans. I am a Pathan, but have been living in Lahore.
^Iqra, Sarfaraz; Adeela, Akmal (12 October 2015).
"Real life fairy tales". The News International.
Archived from the original on 28 June 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.