SHAYAN KHAN Determined to live his dreams

entertainment

Last year brought good fortune for the Pakistan film industry. It was revived with many successful films while introducing many young and talented filmmakers to the craft. One of them is Shayan Khan, an actor and producer, who holds promising projects under his production company ZASHKO Films.

Shayan is committed to producing good content in Pakistan. Currently, the company has three big projects in line. One is ‘Mandi’, a mini web-series, based on the political scenario of Pakistan, starring Saba Qamar, Mikaal Zulfiqar, and himself in the leading role. He is portraying a police officer in the series. Written and directed by Awais Khan, ‘Mandi’ is supposed to be on a US-based VOD platform in the summer of this year.

But before ‘Mandi’, Shayan is eagerly waiting for the release of his upcoming project on this Eid - ‘Money Back Guarantee’ (MBG), written and directed by Faisal Qureshi and stars Fawad Khan and Wasim Akram in leading roles. About casting of MBG, in which Shayan also plays a role, the actor explained he completely left it to the director. “I didn’t even know which role he was casting me for. I asked him for the role of a Pashtun in the script but he had decided on a different character for me,” told Shayan to this scribe.

At the moment, he is up on a very special project - ‘Gama’, a story on the life of an unbeatable wrestler of the Sub-continent, ‘Gama - The Great’ or ‘Rustam-e-Hind’, being written by veteran scriptwriter Nasir Adeeb. Gama was the actor’s childhood inspiration. “Since a very young age, I was fond of boxing, wrestling and fighting, thus eventually ended up knowing Gama. When I started to read about Gama, I realised that he was an ordinary man in the beginning, but just by using his power of mind he built himself so strong that nobody could defeat him,” elucidated Shayan.

Shayan resides in Houston, USA, where his primary business is in IT and real estate. However, acting is something which attracted him since his school days. “I was a very shy and quiet student, but my teachers at St Michael’s School, Karachi, always picked me for performances in school functions on special occasions. And once the actor in me was on stage, I began to fall in love with the art of performance,” shared Shayan.

When Shayan’s family moved to the USA in 1999, he was still in his early teens and brought his love of acting there, as well. He wanted to join acting school but his family’s financial conditions did not allow him to pursue his passion. “I did not have resources to spend all my time in auditions to get a chance in Hollywood. So, I decided to first finish my studies, settle down and then opt for acting,” expressed Shayan.

Shayan has finally succeeded in establishing his own business after years of struggles. Shayan entered showbiz in 2016. He featured as the lead actor in ‘Na Band Na Baraati’, a 2018 Pakistani romantic comedy film. After performing in theatre and doing different art projects, he finally decided to make his own film. And, it took almost six years for him to produce a viable project with a saleable cast. There is also a reason why Shayan wants to make his own film. “Acting is my first love but now, that I have an established business in USA, I cannot afford to spare three to four months to act in different dramas and films as per other directors’ schedule. But if I produce and act in my own film, then I have the liberty to keep shooting dates according to my schedule without affecting my business,” explained Shayan.

Shayan is not one of those who runs after fame and money; he enjoys acting and likes to perform different challenging roles. “When you give your 100 per cent then fame follows you, you don’t need to run after it,” said Shayan, winner of ‘Mr Pakistan’ competition.

Besides production, Shayan’s company ZASHKO also has distributed Pakistani films like ‘Superstar’ and ‘Heer Maan Ja’ in the USA.

Despite all his passion and enthusiasm for Pakistani films, he believes that one should avoid investing money blindly in producing a film. “Go artistically. Do your research, read 1000s of scripts, pick a couple of good ones, get involved with the right people of the industry and then bet your 100 million on it. If you go this way, you can double your profit,” suggested Shayan to aspiring producers.

Shayan is a staunch supporter of Pakistani films and believes in the revival of cinema. “We plan to make 12 films a year, one film per month on an average. To accelerate this process, we have established production houses in Karachi and Lahore. I want to make direct deals with platforms like Netflix, Amazon or Disney Plus, where Pakistani content can be shown,” concluded Shayan.