The actor talks to Instep about his character in drama serial Lamhay, how he selects his roles and more.
Pakistani-American actor Shazli Hafeez Khan popularly known as Shaz Khan delivered a remarkable performance in Jami’s critically-acclaimed film Moor (2015) in which he essayed the character of a Pathan.
In 2016, Shaz appeared in Mehreen Jabbar’s Dobara Phir Se in a supporting role as Zainab’s aggressive husband. This was followed by drama serial Yakeen ka Safar, in which the actor essayed the character of Barrister Daniyal Ali Khan. Shaz also played the role of Squadron Leader Nadir Kirmani in air force film Parwaaz Hai Junoon that is running successfully in theatres across Pakistan.
Based in California, Shaz Khan has appeared in a few supporting roles after Moor. However, in his current drama serial Lamhay he can be seen in the lead alongside Zara Noor Abbas. Instep got in touch with the actor to know about his recent projects and why he relegated to side roles after Moor.
“I don’t think that the characters that I essayed in all my projects were side roles. I would not even look at it in that way. In fact, as an actor you go by the things you get,” said Shaz adding that after Moor, the leading roles that he got weren’t too appealing. “They didn’t have the substance that a character requires to leave an impact, so I chose the ones that actually fulfilled me.”
Talking about his role in the popular drama serial Yakeen ka Safar, Shaz shared, “I will never ever get the kind of character that I essayed in this play. When I read the script I thought it was one of those really rare and beautiful characters that an actor dreams about. The appreciation and joy that I got for bringing Barrister Daniyal to life, I would never look at it as a side role.”
As far as his movie Dobara Phir Se is concerned, the actor says that he just wanted to work with Mehreen Jabbar even if it was a small role. In the movie Parwaaz Hai Junoon, we see Shaz as an F-16 pilot and according to him, he had signed up for a more substantial role that got compromised due to space restrictions. “I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process of getting ready for it and will cherish the memory of it forever.”
A major in Finance, Shaz decided to pursue acting after he got a job in a bank. “I did a film in college and that just ignited the flame. After working for some time as a banker, I realized that this is not what I want to do and went to give an audition for a play. When I started getting parts in local plays, I thought I have it in me and I should give it a shot. I left my job and moved to New York and over there I officially studied acting.”
He continued, “I was visiting Pakistan a few years ago and it was by luck that I was offered a role in Moor and the beautiful journey started from there. I’m grateful for working with Jami and proud of being part of such an amazing film. I feel so blessed to get opportunities to work both here and abroad.”
Coming back to his play Lamhay that is currently on air, three episodes down we know that Haashir is an expat, who is very close to his dadi, Bibi Jaan (essayed by Saba Faisal) and comes back to Pakistan to pay her a visit. He has a modern wife (Hira Hussain) back in America but there is a twist. At the age of seven Haashir was married to Feroza as part of a vani ritual in his family. Bibi Jaan is obviously furious when she gets to know about his secret marriage.
Haashir is unaware of the fact that his father was killed by Feroza’s uncle in a feud but Bibi Jaan now tells him everything, putting him in an extremely sensitive and sticky situation. He crosses path with Alina (Zara Noor) who works as a caretaker at his house and things are fine until Bibi Jaan comes over to Haashir’s house and mistakes Alina to be Haashir’s wife. All this confusion leads to Haashir asking Alina to pretend to be his wife. How things take a turn will be revealed in upcoming episodes. Haashir is faced with dilemma of having one foreign marriage, one childhood marriage and one fake marriage.
Speaking about his character, Shaz said, “Haashir is sort of a guy who is going back and forth between his emotions. He might seem negative but he definitely is not. In every episode you will see that he is dealing with identity crisis and is trying to find his eastern roots. He tries to figure out where his life is going, what love actually means to him and what it means to be a man and taking responsibility for his actions. In due course, you will see a shift and growth in the arc of the character.”
When not doing projects in Pakistan, the actor is engaged in his own projects that include making films and creating his own content. As for his upcoming projects, Shaz revealed that a production is in the works right now and the story will explore both Pakistan and America. “Apart from that, there is a feature film that I can’t disclose much about but it is a story of a desi-American martial artist who is on a spiritual journey,” he shared.
