Fawad Khan

Early life

Khan was born on 29 November 1981 in Karachi but later moved to the city of Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan. 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. His father was born in Patiala, British India (now in Punjab, India) and moved to Pakistan at a young age following the 1947 partition, while his mother's family originated from Lucknow, British India (now in Uttar Pradesh, India). Khan has two sisters, his elder sister Aliya is an architect by profession and his younger sister is a doctor. He is a non-Pashto speaking Pashtun and speaks Punjabi as his first language. 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. 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. Speaking of his educational status, Khan, at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne while receiving an award, said, "I couldn't make money out of coding (Computer programming). I was a terrible computer engineer. I was down and I became an actor to make money." His first performance was amateur acting in a theater play called Spartacus during A-level in 1999.

Entity Paradigm (2000–2012)

Initially two separate rock bands, Ahmed Ali Butt's Entity and Khan's Paradigm were both active in Lahore since 1994 and 2000, respectively. During the early 2000s, the two bands collaborated with each other on the title track for popular television sitcom, Jutt and Bond which featured both Khan and Butt, when the show's director suggested that they do the title song together. Entity Paradigm's debut album, Irtiqa, released in October 2003 and received wide critical appreciation, especially the popular romantic track "Rahguzar". The band covered Sajjad Ali's "Bolo Bolo" in the third season of Coke Studio. Khan said that as a musician he has performed almost 250 shows. Khan left the band in 2012 to focus on his acting career.

Pepsi Battle of the Bands (2017)

In July 2017, Khan returned to music by appearing as judge on the talent show Pepsi Battle of the Bands that also featured Atif Aslam and Meesha Shafi. The launch song for the show was released on 23 July 2017, titled "Do Pal", Khan lent his voice to the song and was also featured in its video alongside Aslam and Shafi. Vafa Batool of Pakistan Today, speaking about Khan's judgment on the show, wrote, "Fawad Khan preferred to acknowledge the raw live energy on stage". Khan and other members of Entity Paradigm re-united perform their song "Hamesha" in finale of the show.

Debut, breakthrough and television success (2000–2013)

Khan's first television appearance was in a TV series called Jutt and Bond. His cinematic debut was in 2007 from the movie Khuda Kay Liye, where he played a musician who is brainwashed by the local maulvi and ends up completely messed up. It was the highest-grossing Pakistani film of 2007. He then appered in TV series Dil Deke Jaenge, where he played Arsalan. In Anjum Shahzad's travel adventure TV series Satrangi, he played a young boy who, after having fight with parents, leaves home. In 2009 Khan played a rich boy who changes girlfriend every week, in Haissam Hussain's drama TV serial Jeevan Ki Rahon Mein. He also played a college student in Anjum Shahzad's telefilm Kal.

In 2010, Khan played a conservative middle class boy in telefilm Aaj Kuch Na Kaho. He played the role of Hassan in Haissam Hussain's periodic TV series Dastaan, for which he earned critical acclaim. In 2011 he played an illiterate boy who falls in love with an urban girl (portrayed by Sanam Baloch), in Haissam Hussain's directed comedy TV series, Akbari Asghari. Kuch Pyar Ka Pagalpan was Khan's fourth collaboration with Haissam Hussain in which he plays a boy who arrives from Pakistan to the US and is constantly looked down upon by his relatives there. He later played the role of Asher Hussain opposite Mahira Khan in Sarmad Khoosat's emotional-drama TV serial Humsafar, for which he won the Lux Style Award for Best Actor in 2012. Humsafar was critically acclaimed. Writing for The Indian Express, Ranika Rajani praised Humsafar saying, "The Pakistani drama is a breath of fresh air in comparison to its Indian counterparts." Writing about performances, she said, "The chemistry between Mahira Khan and Fawad Khan is also one of the reasons why Humsafar is a must watch. Both of them convincingly wow you with their performance." Khan next appeared in Sarmad Khoosat's another emotional TV series, Ashk which received a negative review from The Express Tribune critic.

In 2012, Khan played the role of Zaroon Junaid, a member from an affluent family opposite Sanam Saeed in Sultana Siddiqui's family drama TV series Zindagi Gulzar Hai. For this role, he won Best Actor-Popular award at the Hum Awards and Best Actor satellite at Lux Style Awards. Sanam Saeed and Khan won the Best Onscreen Couple award in both popular and jury categories at the Hum Awards. His last TV serial was Ahson Talish's sociodrama Numm, broadcast in 2013 where he plays a boy who secretly marries a girl in London and after returning Pakistan, he is forced to marry another girl. He then appeared in Asim Raza's drama telefilm Behadd where he played a young divorcee who proposes a widow. His last telefilm was Anjum Shahzad's romantic telefilm Armaan opposite Aamina Sheikh, where he played a young flirtatious boy.

Bollywood, debut and recognition (2014–2016)

Khan was supposed to make his Bollywood debut in India, after Khuda Kay Liye was released in 2008. But due to unstable political situation between India and Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, things could not materialize.

In 2014, Khan made his debut in Bollywood with Shashanka Ghosh's comedy-drama film Khoobsurat opposite Sonam Kapoor. Khan plays Vikram Singh Rathore, Mili's love interest and the son of her patient. His performance was praised by the critics and noted as one of the highlights of the film. Writing for Zee news, Ritika Handoo described Khan as, "In this film he (Khan) shines above everyone else and how! The man is here to stay - his acting skills are immensely polished and not over-the-top. Fawad fits into the shoes of the royal Prince Vikram with such ease, that it becomes difficult to take eyes off him (sigh)". 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. Sheikh Amjad Rasheed, chairman of the IMGC Global Entertainment, said the response has been outstanding and Khoobsurat has done extremely well.

In early 2016, Khan was seen in a supporting role in Shakun Batra's family drama Kapoor & Sons. The film, which featured Khan alongside an ensemble cast including Rishi Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah, Rajat Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, and Alia Bhatt, became a commercial success upon its release, and Khan received almost unanimously positive reviews from critics for his portrayal of Rahul Kapoor, a writer who is revealed to be a closeted homosexual. Bollywood Hungama praised Khan's performance writing, "As far as performances are concerned, the film totaly belongs to Fawad Khan, Ratna Pathak Shah and Rajat Kapoor". The role of Rahul Kapoor was rejected by six actors as Karan Johar, the producer of the film said, "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." Later in 2016, he appeared in a small role in Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Following the Uri terror attack, bilateral relations between India and Pakistan took a downturn due to which Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) and 'The Film Producers Guild of India' decided to ban all Pakistani artists working in India till the situation gets normal.

Upcoming projects, Lollywood

In January 2016, Khan played a cameo in Asim Raza's coming-of-age Ho Mann Jahaan. Khan will be next seen in Bilal Lashari's action Maula Jatt 2, the remake of 1979 Lollywood film by the same name, where he will play the lead role of Maula Jatt, previously portrayed by Sultan Rahi. For his role, Khan went through a body transformation. He has also signed Sultan Ghani's Albela Rahi, where he will play pop singer Alamgir.

In the media

Khan is one of the highest paid actors in the Pakistani film industry. Speaking about him, the director and producer, Abdullah Kadwani said, "Fawad is the closest actor to Waheed Murad". He was Named as The Most Beautiful Man of the year at Vogue Beauty Awards. The Times of India called him 3rd Most Desirable Men of 2014 and was called same, the next year. In September 2014 Khan became first ever Pakistani to be featured on the cover of Filmfare magazine and was subsequently featured on the same magazine in October 2015 and March 2016. He has also won Fresh Face of the Year Award at HELLO! Hall of Fame Awards, India. He was also featured on the cover of Man's World magazine. MenXP ranked him at 37th among Most Popular Bollywood celebrities of 2014. Khan was called 5th most Popular actor of November 2014 by Times Celebex and was later ranked at first in the list in March 2016. British magazine Eastern Eye Weekly, in its list of Sexiest Asian males of the year, ranked Khan at 7th in 2014 and subsequently spotted him at 4th and 3rd in next two years respectively. At IBNlive Movie Awards, Khan won the Best Male Debut Award receiving 48.54% of the total votes. In recognition of his style and fashion, he was awarded the Crush of the Year Award at Grazia Young Fashion Awards. In 2016, he was featured on the cover of Hi! Blitz magazine. TC Candler, an independent critics list, nominated Khan for 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2017. In September 2017, he was selected as a nominee for International Pakistan Prestige Award for Style Icon of the Year.

Khan is also the Brand Ambassador of Italian brand Giovanni in Pakistan. Speaking about the brand, Khan said, "I'm very delighted to be associated with Giovani as the brand ambassador. The Italian Cuts and the detailing that goes in to making a Giovani suit makes it look classy, elegant and refined. It compliments my personal style." Apart from this, he is the Pakistani brand ambassador of Samsung, Suzuki Vitara, Pepsi and Oye Hoye. He also serves as a team ambassador for Pakistan Super League's Islamabad United since January 2016.

Khan has walked for Munib Nawaz in 2010, Umar Sayeed in 2012, and for Republic by Omar Farooq in 2015. Khan co-hosted 14th Lux Style Awards with Mahira Khan, held on 30 September 2015 in Karachi.

Philanthropy

He has raised money for Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Islamic Relief from Bahrain. In an interview in Bahrain, Khan said, "Thank you Bahrain for such a warm reception and coming out in great numbers for a worthy cause in support of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre". He has shown his support to SOS Children's Villages by participating in the children carnivals that were organized in 2012 and 2014. In 2012, he 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. In March 2015, Khan toured United States and Canada and raised money for various charitable organizations in Pakistan. Khan has also raised money from London for charity organization in Pakstan. He, along with his wife, attended a musical tour in United States to raise money for charitable organizations across Pakistan.

Personal life

Khan married his wife Sadaf Khan in 2005. Khan met Sadaf in 1998 at the age of 17 and proposed her although they got married after 7 years in 2005. Speaking about the proposal, Sadaf said, "Well the proposal was nothing dramatic. It was a simple question over the phone. Fawad proposed to me when I was sixteen and he claims that he’s been married to me the day the relationship began fourteen wonderful years ago." They have a son Aayaan and a daughter Elayna. Khan, in collaboration with his wife, established a clothing brand called SILK by Fawad Khan, the debut collection was launched in August 2012 at Lahore. Khan developed Diabetes mellitus type 1 at the age of 17 after he met with an accident that damaged his pancreas.

Awards and nominations

Fawad Khan started his film career with Khuda Kay Liye and for his very first film he won 'Best Film Actor' Award at 7th Lux Style Awards, 2008. Khan went on to receive many awards for television. For Dastaan, he won 'Best Actor Satellite' award at Pakistan Media Awards. For Humsafar, he won 'Hum Honorary Phenomenal Serial Award' and 'Best Onscreen Couple' award along with Mahira Khan at Hum Awards and 'Best Actor Satellite' Award at Lux Style Awards. For Zindagi Gulzar Hai, he won 'Best Actor Satellite' award at Lux Style Awards. After winning several awards for television, Khan stepped in Bollywood with Khoobsurat and for his debut Bollywood film, he won Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut and became first ever Pakistani to win Filmfare Award of acting and till now he is the only Pakistani to do so. Khoobsurat also made Khan's Bollywood career for which he won 'International Icon of the Year' awards at Hum Awards and ARY Film Awards in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Khan has won 16 awards out of 25 nominations.