“If a good script comes along, my brother Aamir and I will surely work together”

By Jyothi Venkatesh

Today is Aamir Khan’s younger brother Faizal Khan’s 54^th birthday. We wish him a happy 54^th birthday by reproducing an old interview of FAISAL KHAN, by JYOTHI VENKATESH which appeared almost sixteen years ago. Besides having married Samia Kamruddin, the pretty beauty with brains as he puts it, just two weeks ago- that is on August 14 in a quiet ceremony attended just by close friends and family including his brother Aamir, sister in law Reena and his parents and cousin Mansoor Khan, Faisal is also acting in a play produced by him under his banner eemotion theatre production- Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahey  in which he has been teamed opposite Mayoori Kango, who, by the way, is making her debut on the stage with this play directed by Shagir Ahmed

Faizal plays the role of Aditya Khanna, a male chauvinist husband who walks out on his wife only to meet her and reunite with her after two decades. “I was tempted to accept the offer when initially I was approached by Shagir to play the role. Eventually I was so taken up by the play that I decided to turn the producer of the play, especially because I did not want someone else to take over when the original producer could not go ahead with the production and spoil the play by cutting corners”.

Faizal adds that his wife Samia has liked his performance in the play immensely, though he is far from the character that he plays in the play. “I am anything but a male chauvinist. I found the role of Aditya Khanna quite challenging because I am totally opposite of what I am portraying on the stage. I am doing a totally contradictory role in the play. My wife Samia tells me that had I been like Aditya Khanna in real life, she would have chosen to walk out on me instead of putting up with me and stomaching my egoist inanities.”

Samia hails basically from London. Faizal and Samia knew each other for the last nine years, though it took him almost nine years before he could pop up the question in January this year when Samia was on a vacation in India. There was no opposition from either of the two families because both belong to the same religion. Samia is into the business of exporting designer bags and is also planning to set up a clothesline shortly.

Faizal adds shyly. “We got engaged in June and the marriage took place on August 14 because both of us had to adjust our schedules and take out a date for our marriage. Samia is busy with her business schedules, which require her to shuttle between the U.K and USA and India. Samia and I have still not been able to take out time for our honeymoon, which will have to wait till she comes back from abroad while I am busy with my play in India. In December this year, we plan to solemnize our marriage by going in for a registered marriage”.

And just for the record, Faizal is having as many as seven films on the floors.  They are Yogesh Bharadwaj’s Border Hindustan Ka opposite Priya Gill, Vicky Ranawat’s Kaboo, Imran Khalid’s Dushmani, Kader Kashmiri’s Palton opposite Vandana, lyricist turned producer Faaiz Anwaar’s Chand Bhuj Gaya opposite Shama Sikander, Dinesh Awasthi’s Mera Yuddh opposite a new girl and also Basti opposite Shama Sikander. “I had selected these subjects out of the 37 offers which I had bagged before Mela had flopped. I want to do only those films, which excite me. If I do not get a good script, I’d rather stay at home than grab each and every C grade offer which is dangled in front of me.”

Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahey is Faizal Khan’s sixth play as an actor. Faizal had kept himself busy with Makrand Deshpande’s play after his career hit a low patch with both Madhosh and Mela not faring well at the box office. It was with Samrangan that he had made his debut on the stage as a director with Makrand Deshpande as the director.  Then followed plays like Jungle Ke Paar, Yoddha, Yaatri and Yes Boss, which incidentally had just one show before it was wound up.

Excerpts from the interview

What is the film Chinar-Daastaan-E-Ishq”all about?

The subject Chinar – Daastaan-E-Ishq is based on a super-hit Urdu novelist Khwaja Farooq Ranzu Shah’s “Jheel Jalti Hai”, who incidentally hails from Kashmir and the film too is set in Kashmir off-limits.  It is a love story set amidst the atmosphere of terrorism and pathos in Kashmir. It is produced by enterprising Rajesh R. Jain under his production banner Shagun Films Pvt. Ltd. and is directed by Sharique Minhaj, whose last released film was Lateef – The King of Crime, on Gujarat mafia.

What is your role in the film?

I play the lead. My character is of a poor boy, who is in love with a girl next door. For some reasons we part away and that forms the whole crux of the story.  More than 70 per cent shooting of the film has been completed.

What about your director?

I have worked with Sharique Minhaj earlier in a film titled Chand Bhuj Gaya in the year 2005. It was based on Gujarat’s Godhra incident. I want to do good roles. He comes with this film story. I liked this story and hence I decided to do this movie. I will do movies only if it has a good script.

What about your co-stars?

Dalip Tahil, Pramod Moutho, Shahbaaz Khan, Inayat Sharma are in the cast. It was nice working with veterans after a long gap.

How much scope does your film have for music?

Salim Sen has provided the musical score for the film. It has lilting music which will appease people from all the ages.

As a main protagonist your films did not have their fair share at the ticket windows?

I played the lead in Madhosh. Then there was Kaboo, Border Hindustan Ka and Basti. As far as the costing was concerned all the films had their average respective run at the box office. All were of different genres and were appreciated too.

The audience will love to see you sharing the screen space with your brother Aamir Khan?

We have already worked together in films like Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar and Mela.Aamir is a perfectionist, a successful actor and filmmaker. If a good script comes along, we will surely work together.

Looking at your career graph, you seem to be in a hiatus too many times

Smiles…. Yeah, what was destined had to happen, happened. Giving it a rundown…. As a child actor, I played Shashi Kapoor’s younger role in Pyar Ka Mausam in 1969. In my adult film debut in 1988, I played a minor role as a villain in my brother Aamir’s also debut film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. In 1992 I featured in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. Madhosh was in 1994 produced by my father Tahir Hussain and directed by Vikram Bhatt. After a five-year hiatus, I made a comeback with my brother in Venus’s Mela. Thereafter my other films followed back-to-back. In 2003 I appeared in a TV series titledAandhi.

Your family tiff and vanishing had garnered you much media coverage?

It was an unpleasant situation. Now my father is no more and we have ironed out the differences. I do not want to recall those incidents.

What kind of roles are you looking forward to?

The entertainment industry has seen a vast change. Now it is really interesting. I will want to do good, versatile authored roles.