The fact is that Pakistani dramas have a huge following and any actor who has just started his or her career with television becomes a household name in no time. In the past couple of years, television has introduced a number of new faces that have the spark to become the next big thing on the small screen. One such actor is Farhan Malhi, who started his career as a VJ in 2014 and gradually ventured into modelling. A year later, the VJ turned model made his acting debut with drama serial Maamta, which was directed by late Syed Atif Hussain. He has a number of drama serials to his credit including Kaise Tum Se Kahoon, Tumhari Natasha, Kaisa Hai Naseeban,

Piya Naam Ka Diya amongst many others.

Farhan Malhi appeared in the recently concluded drama Uraan, which featured Aijaz Aslam, Rubina Ashraf, Zainab Qayyum (Z.Q), Adeel Chaudhry and Kinza Hashmi in key roles. The actor essayed the character of Aqeel, proving his mettle as a versatile actor.

Talking about his transition from VJ-ing to acting, Farhan tells Instep, “As a performing artist, I decided to take acting more seriously back in 2015. I just wanted to evolve as an artist and hence I started off as a VJ, then did some modelling and ultimately I landed some acting projects.”

The Uraan actor, who has done his MBA from National College of Business Administration & Economics, Lahore, says that even though he has not taken any training for acting, he has learnt a lot in the last six years and the best part is that he is still evolving.

“Being a VJ certainly helped me a lot in terms of building my confidence, expressions, dialogue delivery and camera presence. I am a self-taught artist who keeps on learning from experience,” he explains.

He further went on to talk about his inspiration of becoming an actor. “People are engaged in some kind of act on a daily basis and getting paid for those certain acts on camera inspired me to become an actor in the beginning. With a flourishing drama industry like ours, it’s the best acting school in Pakistan, if you see it from a learning point of view.”

According to him, his claim to fame project is Kaisa Hai Naseeban in which he played the character of Waheed. Besides, Farhan shares that Aqeel from Uraan is one character that is closest to his heart. “The character Aqeel was a one-man army; he was fearless, playful as well as protective with a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. He was the man of the house as his father had passed away. You can say that Aqeel was a ‘my way or highway’ type of a character,” he says.

As for what factors he keeps in mind when selecting roles, he says, “Before taking up any acting project I make sure that role has substance and has something new to offer. I don’t like characters that are shallow, even if it is the main lead and is super positive. I look for roles that have an acting margin and I can speak volumes through my acting.”

Given that television is recently considered to be more of a woman’s domain, one asked how diverse are the options for male actors? Farhan responds that sadly, they don’t have much options. “If they are producing and acting in it themselves, only then can they diversify,” he asserts.

Speaking of his upcoming projects, Farhan Malhi shares that these days he is busy with a UK-based shoot campaign. “I am the brand ambassador and the shoot is currently in progress. As far as drama series are concerned, I don’t take up acting projects just for the sake of doing it. I would rather choose and do a drama that I connect with and I really feel like doing,” he adds.

When asked why he mostly essays negative characters, the actor responds, “As I mentioned earlier, male actors have fewer options as compared to women, hence we tend to get similar kinds of characters. There was a time when I was fed up of doing positive roles; it felt fake and there was no diversity, so I chose a few negative characters, but very wisely. You can’t call them negative per se, but I think that villainous parts give me a lot of margin to act and experiment.”

On whether he has any films in the distant future, Farhan says on a parting note, “I am not in a rush when it comes to movies. I am taking small and wise steps in my career, and hopefully you guys will see me on the big screen soon. And I promise it is going to be something worth watching.”