Adnan Malik

Early life and education

Adnan was born on June 9, 1984 in Islamabad to a Muslim family. His ancestral roots lie in the Shamsabad village, near Attock. His father is a successful doctor, while his mother Parveen Malik is a TV actress and his brother Saqib Malik is a director. Adnan got his early education in Islamabad, and went on to receive his degree in Public economics in US but he dropped out and took admission in film-making at Vassar College class of 2003.

Documentaries

After studying film-making in US, he started working on directing documentaries, such as Why We Fight which cited as one of a "best American Documentary" at Sundance Film Festival 2005. He also once own a T-shirt company "Urban Turban" in NYC. Adnan came back to Pakistan in 2005 but before coming made a short subject documentary Bijli which earned him a great attention and acclaim winning Best Short Film at Kara Film Festival, Delhi Digital Film Festival and was finalist at Student Academy Awards 2003. His second documentary long form Bhuli Hui Hoon Dastaan (The Forgotten Song) gave him further success as documentary filmmaker. The documentary was commissioned by Geo TV and played at festivals around the world. After Mushtaq Gazdar's book on Pakistani Cinema, this documentary was the only other major research piece on the subject.

TV commercials and Music videos

Adnan has also done modeling with famous clothing brands and was a VJ at MTV. He serves as an associate video producer and behind the scene producer at Coke Studio for four years. Malik then directed and produce numerous TV commercials for Pepsi, Djuice, Telenor, Wall's, Cornetto, Nescafe, LUX etc. He also directed a music video for Levi's "Mera Bichra Yaar" in collaboration with Strings and Zoe Viccaji which earned him a Best Music Video Director at 11th Lux Style Awards. In 2012 he directed/produced a video My Punjabi Love For You for "Bumbu Sauce", featuring Aamina Sheikh and Rizwan Ali Jaffri. In addition he has also directed Lux Style Awards ceremonies for four years. In 2016, he directed critically acclaimed short-film Love is in the Air for Cornetto under advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather Pakistan, Adnan said, "I never expected such a response but I did believe it would have an empowering impact on some people. Multiply this by ten and you get a feature film, that's the goal...one day!."

Acting

Adnan marked his professional-acting debut in 2014 Hum TV's hit-drama serial Sadqay Tumhare written by khalil ur Rehman based on his own life-story and directed by Mohammed Ehteshamuddin, he portray Khalil opposite to Mahira Khan, as her love interest. His performance in serial led him through widespread acclaim and success, he describes his experience in serial as "personal growth". or his role he received three Hum Award nominations winning two including Hum Award for Best Television Sensation Male, Hum Award for Best Onscreen Couple and was nominated for Hum Award for Best Actor Popular. Malik received his first Best TV Actor nomination at 15th Lux Style Awards. Before the serial he played a supporting role in controversial film Slackistan. In 2016, he was cast in a role of Sikandar an aspiring photographer in romantic drama series Gypsy, opposite Sanam Saeed and Mira Sethi. In an interview with Dawn News, Malik describes, "I play the role of Sikander, who's an aspiring photographer, a part of him that resonates with me because that's what peaked my interest in the arts, when my father bought me my first camera. He's a very rugged, outdoorsy kinda guy, very different from Khalil. There's just this lightness to him. So the show revolves around this guy who's a bit of a wanderer and his equation with two ladies, a non-traditional love triangle of sorts."

Production House

Adnan owns a Boutique Media Production House "Adnan Malik Production (AMP)", where Malik directs/produced TV commercials, documentaries, music videos and photography.

Documentaries