While we may remember 2016 as the year in which Nayyar Ejaz ruled the cinemas with his various villainous characters, it doesn’t mean that Ejaz only displays his acting prowess as a villain. He entertained the audience as a sleazy profit-hungry producer in Zindagi Kitni Haseen Hay and played a sly lawyer opposite Mehwish Hayat in Actor in Law. However, it was his sinister portrayal of the corrupt Ikramullah in Janaan that simply stole the show.

What makes him such a good villain, one wonders. "It’s because I interact with common people a lot," stated Ejaz very simply when we finally tracked him down as he flew in to Karachi for a shoot.

2017 is going to be a very busy year for the seasoned actor as he has nearly 7 to 8 cinematic projects under his belt. "When you speak to many different kinds of people, you pick up on language and mannerisms. As an actor, you need to study people. If you don’t study, as needed in any discipline, you won’t be able to create these characters."

And creating characters is something of a specialty of Ejaz. Everyone in the industry knows that he brings his own character sketch to the table when working on a role, and this makes him an attractive prospect for filmmakers.

"Nobody minds when I do this because that’s what the directors like about me," says Ejaz. "Sometimes I’ll ask them ‘what is this character supposed to walk/talk like?’ and they’ll answer ‘this is why we have hired you for the job Ejaz sahab’."

This can be explained by his recent villainous role in Oye Kuch Kar Guzar, an online interactive film by Djuice, starring Ali Safina, Ushna Shah and Uzair Jaswal, that allowed viewers to choose their own alternative endings. Ejaz flawlessly portrayed the character of a dacoit on the streets of Dadu and as he explains it, many of the actions of his character were created and improvised by him.

"My character spits on the road when someone speaks to him. That was my addition. The idea was to create this sense that my character thinks everyone he speaks to is beneath him."

Also, in the film, Ejaz’s character plays a shooting game with his fellow robbers in which his band of bandits accidentally keep dying. "I decided to think up of an entire back story to make the character appear more menacing."

While Ejaz certainly brings his 20-odd years of acting experience to the table, perhaps it’s his height and deep voice that help in making him appear intimidating.

"That’s not necessarily the case," noted Ejaz. "Once, when I was in ninth grade, I played the role of a father in a TV serial, where Azra Aftab played my daughter! People thought I could get away with playing the role because I looked and sounded much older than I actually was."

Then why does Ejaz get chosen to play the villain? "Honestly, I am offered all kinds of roles. You’ll see in the coming year that the next 8 films I’m doing are a bunch of different roles. But maybe my villainous roles are more memorable because villains in general are memorable characters. People notice them more."

This is true because there are two driving forces of a plot: a protagonist and an antagonist. There can be no conflict unless there’s a villain and no resolution unless there’s a hero.

However, Ejaz’s biggest achievement as an actor lies in the fact that he is able to essay three to four different characters simultaneously. "Usually, I’m shooting three to four different films or TV serials at the same time and I have to make sure that nothing overlaps. It can be confusing at times but after nearly 20 to 25 years, I’ve figured out how to keep my acting worlds separate."

One villainous role which perhaps has gone unnoticed from Ejaz’s impressive list of Pakistani films done in one year is his portrayal of a terrorist in Salute, a film dedicated to Aitzaz Hassan, a heroic youngster who sacrificed his life by preventing a suicide bomber from entering a school in KPK. "I don’t know why people aren’t coming to the cinemas to watch such socially relevant films," wondered Ejaz at the low turnout to a film that should have attracted many viewers. Another film based on a true incident, Abdullah: The Final Witness, fell victim to the same outcome as Ejaz’s least popular film this year. "I think filmmakers need to figure out what the audience wants to watch. The film ticket prices are so high. They need to justify that price. When a man goes to a cinema and spends nearly 1000 rupees on it, he needs to leave the cinema feeling like he got value for his money."

However, the lack of an audience doesn’t deter Ejaz as his passion for acting is clearly beyond numbers and figures.

"The thing with me is that I make every small, regular role into something big. I spend a lot of time on it, think about it and plan it to the finest detail."

That’s why Ejaz’s vast body of work speaks for itself and thankfully, will keep bringing him to the big screen in the coming years ahead.