“Chiseled their names in stone/Heavy the load you tow.” – ‘The Bandit’ by Kings of Leon

The Legend of Maula Jatt is smashing box office records, in Pakistan and in other territories, appealing to fans across various strata. It has recovered its cost and rushed to the 100-crore club in less than two weeks. As this article goes in print, the film has reached Rs150 crore.

But prior to the film’s opening and subsequent success, Instep spoke to the Khan of the moment about the film, his upcoming work and whether we will see him going back to his musical roots.

Pressed for time since the film’s promotional efforts were sending the actors, producers and director in a wormhole they’d only emerge out of after talking to publications, digital outlets and broadcast journalists, both international and national, and once the exercise was done in a satisfactory manner.

For Fawad Khan, who started his career in acting from theatre, spent several years making music no one was making at the time with his musical group, EP, a brief stint as a jingle producer, a 9-to-5 gig, the craft of acting is among the most promising aspect of performing arts. He admits he is not a natural born actor and flirted with it for some time before taking it seriously.

Coming to our screens after years and playing the titular role in The Legend of Maula Jatt, Fawad is playing his part, not just in the film, but what is required afterwards: promoting it.

If you watch, even just the trailer, you will notice that the lean actor went through a heavy physical transformation for the film.

For Fawad Khan, the physical transformation was not entirely new. But for Maula Jatt, explains Fawad, it was a bit more taxing. “There was very little time to get to where we wanted and as a consequence of that, after the action spell, I was in the hospital for a little while.”

His kidneys had shut down. But Khan has no complains. The real challenge, he observes, was not one particular aspect. “Everything was a bit of a challenge because I had never done something like this before.”

As Khan explains, it wasn’t the physical aspect alone but the whole thing, including speaking Punjabi fluently.

“There were steps to the challenges. Working in blistering heat, for example, was not something new. I’ve worked in heat before and makeup retouches were not an issue for me either. I wanted the authenticity that the character required.”

From the outside, it seems that Fawad Khan is the hero and Hamza Ali Abbasi is the anti-hero, but characters need to be more than binary. Fawad admits that Maula Jatt, the character, is not binary. He isn’t black and white.

“In essence, he is a good guy and that was established from day one. But there are certain things in the film where he has held back but when it is time to respond, he responds with full brute force without thinking about the consequences. The complexities come out with the little bits that have happened in the past, the trauma and how they’ve shaped him. There is, however, no confusion about where he stands.”

The timing of the film’s release is curious. The trailers for Money Back Guarantee, an ensemble film with Khan among the primary actors will follow the release of The Legend of Maula Jatt. MBG will be followed by his home production with Mahira Khan called Neelofar. Somewhere during this period, Khan will also co-star with Sanam Saeed for an Asim Abbasi production that will release as a streaming project.

Did he time the release of these projects together or is it just one of those things that happens, almost serendipitously?

Fawad, laughing a little, says, “This question is better left to God. I hadn’t planned any of this. It is just mere coincidence that it has all come together. Like I say, it is the greater plan of God because I hadn’t planned it this way.”

Fawad continues, “I knew that when the material comes because we’d been working on it for such a long time, it would be like a dam had broken. And I don’t mean to sound insensitive but it is a surge of material.”

What is palpable is that Fawad Khan wouldn’t have agreed to star in any of these projects if they didn’t appeal to him as an actor. But this surge, as he calls it, is based on work that does appeal to him. What is also obvious is that for an actor who neither uses social media to air his views or makes an appearance (on the epidemic of digital talk show) on arbitrary basis anywhere but only when he is promoting a project, the cascade effect to push his newest film is working. But it is also something that he hasn’t done in years. For some actors, the process can be jarring. Where, then, does Fawad Khan stand?

“I am a bit of a recluse, I like to keep to myself and it suits me,” says Khan, “It does not suit everyone and for some people, being socially available, it works for them and I think it’s in my nature.”

The process of promoting the film, admits Khan, has a certain nervousness attached to it, for him.

“Khuda Kay Liye, [the Shoaib Mansoor film] was an alien experience like ‘wow, a film, sounds cool’. But did much thought go into it? No,I did not understand the art of performance. I think my education started from Dastaan onwards.
I did Akbari Asghari and I started looking at my work and what mistakes was I making.” – Fawad Khan

“I think it’s more so because I’m putting out material for the public to consume in something I’m a very big part of. Small things like cameos have been around but I think I’ve been nervous up to a certain point and once I’ve done it, I feel it’s out of my hands. Now I can’t worry about it anymore and I feel like that about this film as well.”

Because Khan admits he has stayed away from social media, he understands that talking about the film also means talking about himself.

Khan says that when something like The Legend of Maula Jatt comes around, it’s better left watched rather than talking about it before the release. “It’s unique that way. So, I think one day the alarm clock rang and I just got out of bed, it’s that kind of a thing. When you’re in bed for so long, your legs wobble a bit and I’m not sure if I’m able to articulate this clearly,” he observes.

What Fawad Khan is trying to say is that he is just starting to become used to the process again. He knows that while these things are part of the process, once his part is done, whether it is this film or any other project, he will go back to being the recluse or the hermit he is.

“Two hundred miles to clear/Chasing a sound I hear.” -’The Bandit’ by Kings of Leon

A self-taught musician, Fawad Khan’s foray into music was not something that he had been chasing his whole life. But, along with members of EP, his college mates, he’d jam and play music. It was also something that allowed him to hang out with friends.

Admittedly directionless, and in a non-liberal arts college, he hadn’t thought of acting or music as a way of life at that point. Music gave him a sense of a taste of fame up to a point as well as pocket money.

Back then, Khan had no idea that EP would gain cult status as a band and acting would take him to a stratosphere of skill and fame very few can dream of.

When he was better known as a musician, Khan recalls that he was an over-actor. If you watch some of EP’s early videos, you will see it. Khan also reveals that Bilal Lashari can play keyboards and was almost a member of the band.

We both laugh.

He flirted with acting for several years and thinks that he was fortunate enough to go back and forth but still find work. He confesses that he started taking acting seriously with a drama serial called Dastaan. Before that, Jutt and Bond, allowed him to merge music with acting. Dastaan, however, opened a door within him.

“Khuda Kay Liye, [the Shoaib Mansoor film] was an alien experience like ‘wow, a film, sounds cool’. But did much thought go into it? No, I did not understand the art of performance,” he says. “I think my education started with Dastaan. I did Akbari Asghari and I started looking at my work and what mistakes was I making.”

He watched the greats and what they did and how they did it. “I don’t think I’m a natural born actor. I think I learned the craft as I went along.”

He credits people like Zain Ahmad and Vasay Chaudhry who encouraged the actor in him. His first role was not Jutt and Bond but a play with Zain Ahmad.

Never Say Never

Meanwhile, the iconic band who were the runner-up of the original Pepsi Battle of the Bands, EP, released an iconic album, Irtiqa, with Fawad playing a major role in the album beyond being the vocalist. But serious acting meant EP would take a backseat. The group did appear in the third season of Coke Studio and released a post-Irtiqa music video by Telenor called ‘Shor Macha’ which was directed by Bilal Lashari.

But acting meant there was little time for music and EP together anymore. More than a decade later, Khan was back on Pepsi Battle of the Bands (2017-2019) but as a co-juror. It was during these three years that he also participated in an EP reunion on the series and performed the head-banger ‘Hamesha’ followed by a song called ‘Satrangi’ in the next season and ‘Uth Jaag’ in the last season.

So, when these seasons happened, I wonder if Khan felt a pull towards music, again?

“I have fun memories of being onstage or in the studio when it comes to music,” begins Fawad. “I enjoy performing. As for the music, I thought that something could be done but it would not be the flavour of the industry. Music was something that will always be driven by passion. If forced to do it, I wouldn’t do justice to it.”

Fawad explains his musicality and how it has always been a part of him to the point that he has a dream home studio. And in some ways, it also found its way in his acting career albeit not always.

The song ‘Satrangi’ explains Fawad, was something he had made back in 2008 he was starring in a drama serial called Satrangi.

“I had never used that song anywhere. So, when Pepsi Battle of the Bands came, because it had never been heard anywhere, I thought of doing it. When I collaborated with Xulfi for ‘Uth Jaag’, it was again something I had been toying with for about 10 years. There was a very industrial approach to the song and the music was something I liked. But it had a very anthemic feel and I had made a lot of loops in 2012.”

Fawad Khan is clear that, for him, music is driven by passion and with acting having taken center-stage, he just didn’t have the time to get back into it.

“PBOTB was not so much about making music but listening to other people’s music, which was a great experience. I got to listen to some great music and great artists.

“The unfortunate part about it is that in the end, they are judged. I find it a bit unfair about music as an art expression.”

“I was sitting there listening and I gave suggestions based on my history as a musician. But getting back into music, yeah, it did rekindle a spark in me but I could never get around to doing it.

Music is one of those things that I would do completely alone as I’d always done earlier when I’d be making demos of the tracks, which you heard years later.”

“I’ve put together my dream studio and if I get time from everything – after Neelofar - maybe I’ll start toying with it again but it would be more for myself than for anyone else.”