Fawad Khan

For the cricketer, see Fawad Khan (cricketer).

Fawad Afzal Khan
فواد افضل خان
Fawad Khan at red carpet of Grazia Young Fashion Awards, 2016
Born	Fawad Afzal Khan (1981-11-29) 29 November 1981 Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan
Nationality	Pakistani
Alma mater	National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences
Occupations	Actor singer
Years active	2001–present
Spouse	Sadaf Khan ​ (m. 2005)​
Children	2
Musical career
Genres	Rock alternative rock
Instruments	Vocals guitar

Fawad Afzal Khan (born 29 November 1981) is a Pakistani actor, model and singer. He is one of the highest paid actors in the Pakistani film industry and is a recipient of several awards including a Filmfare Award, three Lux Style Awards, and six Hum Awards.

Khan started his acting career by appearing on a television sitcom called Jutt and Bond. With the costars of the show, he formed an alternative rock band named Entity Paradigm and began his music career as its lead singer and vocalist. The band made it to the finale of Pepsi Battle of the Bands in 2002. In the beginning, Khan received widespread recognition for the band's first album Irtiqa (2003). After performing in around 250 shows, he left the band to pursue his cinematic career.

Khan made his film debut with a supporting role in Shoaib Mansoor's sociodrama Khuda Kay Liye (2007) which is ranked among one of the highest grossing Pakistani film of all time. He then returned to television and had his first success in periodic drama Dastaan (2010) for which he won Best Actor Award at Pakistan Media Awards. The following year, Khan played a lead role in highest-rated Pakistani television serial Humsafar (2011) and subsequently appeared in Sultana Siddiqui's family drama Zindagi Gulzar Hai (2012). Both of whom earned him the Lux Style Award for Best Actor - Satellite. Khan commenced his Bollywood career with the leading role of a prince in Shashanka Ghosh's romantic comedy Khoobsurat (2014), for which he won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. He was critically praised for his portrayal of a closet homosexual in Shakun Batra's Hindi family drama Kapoor & Sons (2016), which became a major critical and commercial success.

In addition to acting, Khan has also raised funds for charitable organizations across Pakistan. In 2017, he appeared as judge on the talent show Pepesi Battle of the Bands. Khan is a prominent celebrity endorser of several brands and products. He has been listed among "Sexiest Asian Males" by British magazine Eastern Eye Weekly. Along with his wife, Khan formed a clothing brand named Silk by Fawad. He has also walked the ramp for prominent designers.

Early life

Khan's 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 was born in Karachi on 29 November 1981. His family later moved to the city of Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan. When he was young, his father was in pharmaceutical sales, which required the family to live abroad in Athens, Dubai, Riyadh, and then in Manchester during the Gulf War. The family moved back to Lahore when he was aged 13. Ever since his childhood, he has been fan of Amitabh Bachchan and Rishi Kapoor. Khan has two sisters, his elder sister Aliya is an architect by profession; while his younger sister, Sana, is a doctor. He is a non-Pashto speaking Pashtun. He studied in an American school where he was intimidated by racists. According to him he was picked up for bullying because he was shy and calm and would avoid arguments. 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 the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne while receiving an award, said, "I couldn't make money out of coding. I was a terrible computer engineer. I was down and I became an actor to make money." In his early 20s, he faced hardships in getting job. In an interview with Forbes India, Khan told that he looked out for a marketing job but couldn't find one. By then he could play the guitar, bass, and drums. He put his voice to use as the lead singer of the band Entity Paradigm. His first amateur performance was acting the title role in a play called Spartacus.

Music career

Entity Paradigm (2000–2012)

Khan (right) performing with Ahmed Ali Butt, 2009.

Initially two separate rock bands, Ahmed Ali Butt's Entity and Khan's Paradigm, were both active in Lahore between 1994 and 2000. During the early 2000s, both bands collaborated on the title track of the television sitcom, Jutt and Bond which featured both Khan and Ahmed Ali Butt. There newly formed band Entity Paradigm participated in Pepsi Battle of the Bands in 2002 and made it to the finale of the show loosing it therein to the band Aaroh. Their debut album, Irtiqa, was released in October 2003 and received wide critical appreciation, particularly for its popular romantic track "Rahguzar". The band was dissolved in 2007 but later, in 2010, re-united to participate in third season of Coke Studio where they covered Sajjad Ali's "Bolo Bolo". The same year, their song "Shor Macha" was released. Dawn listed it among the most popular Pakistani songs of the year on the basis of an online poll the newspaper conducted. Khan was featured in its video directed by Bilal Lashari. He 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 appeared as a judge on the talent show Pepsi Battle of the Bands, that also featured Atif Aslam and Meesha Shafi. Khan lent his voice to the launch song of the show, and was also featured in its video alongside Aslam and Shafi, and it released on 23 July. Vafa Batool of Pakistan Today wrote about Khan's judging on the show's first episode that he "preferred to acknowledge the raw live energy on stage." Khan and the other members of Entity Paradigm re-united and performed their song "Hamesha" in the show's finale.

Acting career

Debut, breakthrough and television success (2000–2013)

Khan's first television role was of a bumbling spy named Bond alongside his band mate Ahmad Ali Butt in the 2001 sitcom Jut and Bond. His debut film was Shoaib Mansoor's sociodrama Khuda Kay Liye, where he was cast in the role of a musician who is brainwashed by the local maulvi and ends up completely "messed up". The film received positive reviews however critics were divided in their opinion on Khan's performance. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama described his performance as "strictly ok", while The Economic Times' film critic Gaurav Malani found him "engaged" in the role of extremist. Released in 2007, the film grossed Rs.  250 millions and ranked itself amongst the highest-grossing Pakistani films of all times. Khan was awarded the Best Actor – Film award at 7th Lux Style Awards for this role. In 2008 he appeared in the TV series Dil Deke Jaenge. Later that year in Anjum Shahzad's travel adventure TV series Satrangi he played an engineer who goes out on a road trip. In 2010, Khan portrayed a conservative middle class boy in the telefilm Aaj Kuch Na Kaho. It received negative critical reviews, but Dawn found Khan "superbly convincing" in his role and labelled him as "the only redeeming factor" in the film. The same year, he starred opposite Sanam Baloch in Haissam Hussain's periodic TV series Dastaan. Based on Razia Butt's novel titled Bano, the story is set in 1940s and revolves around separation of a young couple during 1947 Partition. Of his performance Dawn wrote that Khan and his costars gave "superlative performances to match Samira Fazal’s wonderful script". The Express Tribune praised the onscreen chemistry of the lead pair. For his role, Khan won Best Drama Actor award at Pakistan Media Awards.

Haissam Hussain's comedy Akbari Asghari, a modern adaptation of Mirat-ul-Uroos, was Khan's first television series of 2011 where he essayed the role of Asghar, an unambitious guy who wants to marry one of his cousins. In an interview with The Hindu's journalist Anuj Kumar, Khan described his character in the show as "completely oaf". Kuch Pyar Ka Pagalpan was his third collaboration with Haissam Hussain, which featured him, alongside Sanam Baloch, Meekal Zulfiqar and Ayesha Khan, as a computer engineer who wants to take over his uncle's bussiness. He later starred opposite Mahira Khan in Sarmad Khoosat's emotional TV serial drama Humsafar, for which he won Best Actor award at the Lux Style Awards in 2012. Humsafar is highest-rated Pakistani television serial. Both the serial and Khan's performance was 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." She also deemed the lead pair's chemistry as the biggest reason behind show's success. Zee News's critic Ritka Handoo appreciated the performances of protagonists calling them "quite believable onscreen couple".

Khan's first role of the following year was of Rohail, a Turkish resident who heads to Pakistan to marry his cousin but instead marries her sister, in Sarmad Khoosat's Ashk. The same year, he played a member of an affluent family opposite Sanam Saeed in Sultana Siddiqui's family drama TV series Zindagi Gulzar Hai. The serial was one of the most critically acclaimed one. It also received widespread commendation in India. Dipti Sharma of The Indian Express praised Khan's performance and wrote: "Fawad Khan was a breeze of fresh air, as cliched as it may sound. So, watching Fawad Khan, a man in his early 30s, playing a mature character with so many layers, nuances and subtlety, it is hard not to admire him." For this role, he won Best Actor-Popular award at the Hum Awards and the Best Actor satellite at Lux Style Awards, and with Saeed he 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, the drama saw Khan play a boy who secretly marries a girl in London and is forced to marry another girl upon returning to Pakistan. Behadd, director Asim Raza's telefilm, featured Khan as a young divorcee who proposes to a widow, mother of a teenager girl. The Times of India noted that Khan's character in Behadd was different from those he played in Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzar Hai and termed it "another benchmark" of his. His last telefilm was Anjum Shahzad's romance Armaan opposite Aamina Sheikh, where he was cast in the role of a young flirtatious boy.

Bollywood; debut and recognition (2014–2016)

Khan with Sonam Kapoor at a promotional event for Khoobsurat, 2015

Khan was supposed to make his Bollywood debut soon after Khuda Kay Liye was released, but due to the unstable political situation between India and Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, it did not materialize.

In 2014, Khan made his Bollywood debut in Shashanka Ghosh's comedy-drama Khoobsurat opposite Sonam Kapoor. Khan plays Vikram Singh Rathore, Mili's love interest and the son of her patient. Writing for Zee News, Ritika Handoo praised Khan saying, "In this film he 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)." Deepanjana Pal of Firstpost liked Gosh's decision of making Khan's character a "sex object". She felt Khan has opened the way for other male actors to play "sex object". The film did decent business at the box office. It was particularly well received in the UK, UAE, and Pakistan owing to Khan's following in these countries for his earlier television work. Khan also won Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut for his role in the film.

In early 2016, Khan was seen in a supporting role in Shakun Batra's family drama Kapoor & Sons. The film, which featured Khan with 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 appreciated Khan's performance and wrote, "As far as performances are concerned, the film totally belongs to Fawad Khan, Ratna Pathak Shah and Rajat Kapoor." It continued, "The emotional bond that his character develops with the audiences is so strong that almost everyone will want to have a son and a brother like him." Writing for NDTV, Saibal Chaterjee said, "On the acting front, Fawad Khan steals the show with an impressively modulated, confident performance." Kapoor & Sons also earned him the Diversity Award at Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, and a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at 62nd Filmfare Awards. The role of Rahul Kapoor was rejected by six actors. Karan Johar, the film's producer, 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." In September 2016, Johar said that Khan's wife pressurized him to play the role. Later in 2016, he appeared in a small role opposite Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Karan Johar's romantic drama Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Critics noted that Khan's role was too short to judge. Raja Sen of Rediff.com found his role "far too little to justify the ridiculous kerfuffle his casting had caused" but also labelled him as perfect choice to play the part. Writing for Deccan Chronicle Subhash K. Jha criticized his role for being "meagre and sketchy". Following the Uri terror attack, bilateral relations between India and Pakistan took a downturn resulting in the Indian Motion Picture Producers Association (IMPPA) and The Film Producers Guild of India deciding to ban all Pakistani artists from working in India until the situation normalises.

Upcoming projects, Pakistani films

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

In the media

Khan at the Vogue Beauty Awards where he won the Most Beautiful Man of 2014.

Khan is one of the highest paid actors in the Pakistani film industry. Speaking of him, director and producer, Abdullah Kadwani said, "Fawad is the closest actor to Waheed Murad." The Indian Express's critic Mimansa Shekhar felt Khan redefined the image of Bollywood actor with charm than the "stereotype body builders with six packs". He was Named as The Most Beautiful Man of the year at the 2014 Vogue Beauty Awards. He was voted third in The Times of India's 50 Most Desirable Men of 2014, finished in the same place the following year, and fifth in 2016. After success of Kapoor & Sons Nirmalya Dutta of Daily News and Analysis described Khan's role as a gay male as "a big leap forward for India's LGBT movement," noting that in India, where it is illegal to be gay, "Khan had the guts and gumption to play this seminal role." In August 2016, Ranbir Kapoor said Khan has open the door by playing a closet and that now he was comfortable playing such roles. In September 2014, Khan became first Pakistani to be featured on the cover of Filmfare magazine, and was featured again on the cover of same magazine in October 2015, and in March 2016. In November 2014, he won Fresh Face of the Year Award at the HELLO! magazine Hall of Fame Awards, India. MenXP ranked him at 37th among Most Popular Bollywood celebrities of 2014. Khan was called the fifth most popular Bollywood actor of November 2014, and was later called the most popular Bollywood actor in March 2016 by Times Celebex. British magazine Eastern Eye Weekly, in its list of Sexiest Asian men of the year, ranked Khan seventh in 2014, and subsequently spotted him at sixth, third and sixth in the following three years. At the 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 the Grazia Young Fashion Awards. Hi! Blizt magazine featured him on its cover in 2016. Pakistani magazine The Herald named him one its 10 people of 2016. TC Candler, an independent critics list, nominated Khan for 100 Most Handsome Faces of 2017. In September 2017, he was nominated for the International Pakistan Prestige Award for Style Icon of the Year, which later went to Hamza Ali Abbasi. In 2018, Khan did a photo-shoot along with Mahira Khan, in cloths designed by his wife, for June–July publication of Indian magazine Brides Today.

Other works

Khan at the launch of Giovani’s FW15 collection where he was announced as brand's ambassador

Khan attended Islamic Relief fundraisers in San Jose and Washington DC. He raised money for the Shukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Bahrain. Khan has shown his support for SOS Children's Villages by participating in the children's carnivals that were organized in 2012 and 2014. In March 2015, he toured the United States and Canada and raised money for various charitable organizations in Pakistan. He has also raised money in London for charity organisations in Pakistan. He and his wife attended a musical tour across the United States to raise money for charitable organisations across Pakistan. In November 2015 Khan and his wife officiated at the launch of a tree planting event organised by the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre Peshawar. He appeared in Ali Zafar's music video "Urainge" that was created as a tribute to the victims of Peshawar school attack.

Khan is also the Brand Ambassador of Italian brand Giovanni in Pakistan. He is also the Pakistani brand ambassador for Suzuki Vitara, Pepsi, Oye Hoye, Tapal Tea, Zameen.com, Servis Shoes, QMobile and TUC biscuit, and has served as a team ambassador for Pakistan Super League's Islamabad United since January 2016. Khan has walked for fashion designer Munib Nawaz in 2010, Umar Sayeed in 2012, and for the Republic by Omar Farooq in 2015.

Personal life

Khan with his wife Sadaf at the 61st Filmfare Awards, January 2016

He met his wife-to-be Sadaf Khan in 1998 at the age of 16 and proposed to her. They married after seven years of dating in 2005. They have a son named Aayaan and a daughter named 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.

He developed diabetes mellitus type 1 at the age at the age of 17. The incident occurred behind a swimming pool where Khan got scratches and jumped into untreated water. He later realized about the disease when he lost 10 kgs.

Discography

Year	Song	Work title/Album	Ref
2003	"Fitrat"	Irtiqa
	"Barzakh"
	"Kahan Hai Tu"
	"Hamein Aazma"
	"Agosh"
2004	"Waqt"
	"Hamesha"
2010	Shor Macha	Single by Entity Paradigm)
	"Bolo Bolo"	Coke Studio 2010
2017	"Do Pal Ka Yeh Jewan Hai"	Pepsi Battle of the Bands

Filmography

Films

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Khuda Ke Liye	Sarmad	Lux Style Award for Best Actor
2014	Khoobsurat	Vikram Singh Rathore	Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut
2016	Ho Mann Jahaan	Rafael	Cameo appearance
2016	Kapoor & Sons	Rahul Kapoor	Nominated-Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor
2016	Ae Dil Hai Mushkil	DJ Ali	Extended Cameo
2018	Maula Jatt 2 †	Maula Jatt	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Jutt and Bond	Bond
2008	Dil De Ke Jayengy	Arsalan
2008	Satrangi	Behzaad
2010	Daastan	Hassan	Nominated—Lux Style Award for Best Television Actor – Satellite
2010	Aaj Kuch Na Kaho	Rehan	Telefilm
2011	Akbari Asghari	Asghar
2011	Kuch Pyar Ka Pagalpan	Mujtaba
2011	Humsafar	Ashar Hussain	Lux Style Award for Best Television Actor – Satellite
2012	Ashk	Rohail Hayat
2012	Zindagi Gulzar Hai	Zaroon Junaid	Lux Style Award for Best Television Actor – Satellite
2013	Behadd	Jamal Ahmad	Telefilm
2013	Numm	Wali Bakht Khan
2013	Armaan	Armaan	Nominated—Tarang Housefull Award for Best Actor

Music video appearances

Year	Song title	Artist	Notes
2015	"Urainge"	Ali Zafar	Tribute to the victims of 2014 Peshawar school attack
2017	"Do Pal Ka Jeevan Hai"	Himself	Launch song for Pepsi Battle of the Bands

Awards and nominations

Khan after winning Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut, January 2015

Year	Film	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2008	Khuda Ke Liye	Lux Style Awards	Best Actor – Film	Won
2011	Dastaan	Pakistan Media Awards	Best Actor – Satellite	Won
2013	Humsafar	Hum Awards	Best onscreen Couple; with Mahira Khan
			Hum Honorary Phenomenal Serial Award
		Lux Style Awards	Best Television Actor – Satellite
	Armaan	Tarang Housefull Awards	Best Actor	Nominated
			Best Couple; with Aamina Sheikh	Won
2014	Zindagi Gulzar Hai	Hum Awards	Best Actor – Jury	Nominated
			Best Actor – Popular	Won
			Best onscreen Couple – Jury; with Sanam Saeed
			Best onscreen Couple – Popular; with Sanam Saeed
		Lux Style Awards	Best Television Actor – Satellite
	Khoobsurat	Masala! Awards	Best Bollywood Debut
		BIG Star Entertainment Awards	Most Entertaining Actor (Film) Debut – Male	Won
2015		Star Guild Awards	Most Promising Debut (Male)	Nominated
		Filmfare Awards	Best Male Debut	Won
		Hum Awards	International Icon of The Year
		International Indian Film Academy Awards	Star Debut of the Year (Male)	Nominated
		Kara Film Festival	KWIFF Award for Best Male Debut International	Won
2016	None	ARY Film Awards	International Icon of The Year
	Kapoor & Sons	Indian Film Festival of Melbourne	Diversity Award
2017		Filmfare Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated
2018	None	Filmfare Middle East	Best Cinematic Icon	Won

See also

• List of Pakistani actors
• Imran Abbas
• Ali Zafar
• Sami Khan (actor)

External links

• Official website
• Fawad Khan at IMDb
• Fawad Khan at Rotten Tomatoes