Mumbai: He may enjoy a tremendous fan following, especially among girls, but Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan says he does not want to be just an eye candy in a film.
Fawad made his debut with the 2014 Sonam Kapoor-starrer “Khoobsurat” in the role of a young prince. The actor said his main focus is to choose substantial roles in films.
“I just don’t want to be an eye candy in a film. For me, as an actor, meaty roles are what I rely on. (Like) dancing is not one of my fortes, so I feel the ability to try, and get into different characters which involves you being taken to a completely new avatar,” Fawad told PTI in an interview.
The 34-year-old rose to prominence in the 2007 Pakistani movie “Khuda Kay Liye”, before gaining acclaim for his Pakistani TV shows “Humsafar” and “Zindagi Gulzar Hai”.
When it comes to versatility, Fawad looks up to Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan and the actor aims to attain that kind of career graph. “An example of getting into different characters would be Aamir Khan. I really admire what he has done with his career. That kind of graph is what I want to achieve. Trying something new everytime, not letting it remain stable…”
The actor will be next seen in Shakun Batra-directed “Kapoor & Sons” along with Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt. The film is about two estranged brothers, who are forced to return to their childhood home when their 90-year-old grandfather wants to see them.
Fawad will be seen playing the character of Rahul Kapoor, who is the “picture-perfect, apple of the eye son” of the family.
“My character has been able to succeed with his career a bit whereas his brother is still stuck in a struggling zone. In real life, I have three siblings in my family. My elder and younger sisters were probably allowed more freedom than I was.
“Because of the freedom came more opportunities so I was the black sheep, I was picked on and told ‘Do this, Do that’, out of concern. The character of Arjun (Sidharth) is like that. He is also aspiring. The two brothers come back after a year with a certain emotional baggage they have been carrying.”
“Kapoor & Sons”, which also stars Rishi Kapoor, Ratna Pathak and Rajat Kapoor, is Fawad’s second Bollywood outing in two years. The actor said he is aware of the pressure to deliver but will not completely tailor his career according to fan’s demands.
“There is always a fear that whatever I do has to be good because your core audience is waiting, they have their eyes constantly on you. But if you live in the fear forever then you are trying to tailor your career according to the requirements of the people,” he said.
Fawad, however, holds back doing intimate scene as he feels a very large part of his audience may not like it.
“To a certain extent I still tailor certain things, where I don’t get into intimate scenes because I feel that a very large part of my audience won’t be comfortable with that. Acclimatizing them to such intimacy would take time…”Even in India, the kind of romance shown on the big screen is not shown on TV.
So I do tailor certain things but I don’t take pressure.” “Kapoor & Sons” releases this Friday.
PTI