When you play a character than its acting but when a character becomes synonymous with your name then that’s quite the performance.
Ahsan Khan might go on to play some exceptional characters in his career but the audience will always remember him as the ferocious and immoral Imtiaz from Udaari.
The character not only changed Khan’s fortune on the telly but made him the torchbearer of socially conscious characters. A weight even he sometimes feels is too heavy to carry, as much as it is necessary. Khan has come a long way after making his screen debut as just another fair boy from Lollywood, and this journey has been full of not milestones but cleverly picked roles.
“As much as people love doing that but I prefer not to be typecast as an actor.” “Our dramas are replete with clichés associated with the protagonist; pious, morally sound, politically upright – same is the case with our female counterparts.”
Khan was offered a catalog full of characters similar to Imtiaz but he chose to stay away from them. As much as they could have added to the buildup that Udaari had provided.
“That box was already ticked for me so I went back to London for a couple of months and did theatre there just to keep myself in the groove,” Khan said.
And then Alif happened. “Even though it wasn’t the main character, I received much praise for it,” Khan shared as he sipped on a freshly made cup of kehwa.”Sometimes, you work on a project, and the impact of it is so massive, that it leaves you humbled. It was incredible as to how the audience loved my part in Alif.”
The actor believes honesty is the virtue one should hold on to as far as acting is concerned. “It’s rather simple. You give your all, you try your best and then you leave it to the audience to decode your work. And more so than often, they appreciate it. They love it.”
As much as Khan loved the serial he didn’t get the spiritual fulfillment his co-stars said they received while working on Alif. “I wouldn’t say it made me second guess my beliefs – because everything it (Alif) stood for and hoped to convey, I had it.”
However, for Khan, Udaari was what actually made him reflect more than Alif.
“Udaari changed the way I looked at the world,” he said. “I think the drama played a key role in normalizing the discourse around child abuse and that was quite fulfilling to see.” But the sad part Khan feels is that a story like Udaari will never lose relevance, which is a reflection of the kind of society we live in.
“Rape, violence and all forms of abuse are grave issues which should find space in our scripts but the key is to address the problem without sensationalizing it. Yes, we should convey the ghastliness of the crime but also realize that we are walking on a slippery slope,” Khan acclaimed.
International competition
Whether it is Indian content or Turkish, there’s always this debate about our drama serials being at par with international standards. Have started working on our storytelling and moved beyond capitalizing on a specific subject matter?
“I think this debate is a tad bit unfair,” Khan said. “We are way behind in terms of budgets, in terms of how many actors our industry has. Our competition has a huge platform with unimaginable resources so I don’t think we are there yet and there is nothing wrong in admitting that.”
Khan reiterated that cinema culture also affects the flow of films in Pakistan. “I don’t think we should even talk about it. It doesn’t make any sense,” he said. “But then again, our dramas have certainly had an upper hand. The reason is that TV is accessible in every household. It’s an easier means to have. But it’s not just about convenience – our scripts, our stories are brilliant as well. We have relatable content that not just Pakistanis but people outside it can connect to.”
As much as Khan appreciates and lauds Pakistani original shows being produced by an Indian streaming giant, he hopes one day, we can launch a similar medium for our own for the same content.