I can't be more popular than this: Fahad Mustafa on return to TV, Aamir Liaquat and more

Sitting across Ahmad Ali Butt as the host, celebrated actor Fahad Mustafa graced the Excuse Me podcast. An introductory back-and-forth filled with jest led to Ahmad asking Fahad to sing, and the superstar obliged. He crooned a song in his melodious voice, setting the tone for the conversation. 

Talking about his multifaceted nature, Fahad said, "There are a lot of things one can do. I can play cricket, snooker, table tennis, badminton - and I can play in a way where if I apply my mind, I'd be good at it. Music is also one of those things."

He continued to highlight, "In fact, yesterday, Xulfi was playing a cricket match with me. I keep singing, I don't hear these singers sing, maybe it's because you don't see us acting all the time. So when they're around, I don't realise they're all masters of their craft, and we're constantly singing -" Ahmad interjected to add that Fahad sings well. "Because I know what actual singing is," continued Fahad, "then I start feeling scared because I am, in no way, near that."

He added, "I hang out with Asim Azhar. He is an amazing singer. When he starts singing, then I say, 'Okay, let's stay quiet.' I get a reality check." Ahmad responded by saying, "I wish that happened with your acting, too," bursting into laughter himself as Fahad looked at him with a polite smile on his face.

The Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad actor also opened up about his childhood and his father. Reflecting upon one incident, Fahad shared, "I still remember, there was this one cricket match and my father was a producer also. One of the pioneers. He started producing for STN and NTM. People ate up his money, but he was a producer."

He continued, "So there was this cricket match. I was an assistant at that time, and dad was the producer. Qasim Jalali Sahab was probably directing. I told the actors that a match was being held at the National Stadium, with stars and celebrities. It was me and another assistant, he's in Canada now. I said that we'd also go watch the match. I won't name the actors, but I said we'd come too. 'Uncle, we'll come watch.'"

Fahad went on to reveal that he received an affirmative response. "When we reached, I could see the Uncle from outside the gate standing right in front of me and I was calling him, 'Uncle! Uncle!' Uncle never looked back. I was an actor's son, you know? I was also part of the fraternity and all that. But I was never given that kind of...probably because it's a regional thing."

Fahad then went back to his father, telling him what had transpired. He shared that while he never got an answer from his father, he understood later on. "It's not easy for a regional actor, who's got so many amazing characters, who's got Pride of Performances and everything else, he has so many PTV awards also -  I don't have as many awards as my father does. And legit, genuine, deserving awards." He went on to highlight the unapproachability of the methods actors from his father's time utilised for recent time actors. The star also highlighted how he never got any special treatment, despite his father's success. 

When asked if he missed television, given that he would invest heavily in a role, utilising method acting to enhance his craft, Fahad stated, "I miss acting." When probed further, he said with a sigh, "I don't know. I can't say. I'll tell you why. I'm a producer also, so I speak from two perspectives. I have done so many serials in my life. Not as many as other actors have done, because at that time, this would also happen. Faysal bhai would do five serials at one time."

He further said, "It's not like he's wrong or I'm right. That's just my capacity. I can do one at a time. I've done those stories. Good, bad. Television is kind of stuck. Not really 'saas-bahu' but there is a certain type, there are certain formulas to it. Now that I'm a producer, I have done focus groups, I know what people are really looking for. There are some myths that you hear from 'actors' that this should happen or that should happen. And then there's reality. When reality hits you, then you say, 'Okay, let's not invest yourself in something -' is it just about being popular? I am popular, I can't be more popular than this. So I'm not looking for that now. What the other actors are doing right now, they're justified, they want to be big. They're working to be hit and famous, which is correct completely."

He continued, "But I have nothing against TV. I love TV. I am a product of TV. I'm producing TV. I've produced over a hundred serials now, so why would I be against it? But when the heart wants - I haven't crossed anything out in life - when the heart wants, I'll do it. But I don't want to do something where I'm trying...I just want to pick a story, and you shoot the story accordingly. I don't want any [over-the-top] changes from my arrival."

Talking about Jeeto Pakistan, Fahad openly shared that there was no character to play. "I've flirted on Jeeto Pakistan, I've placed my hand on girls' heads on Jeeto Pakistan, I've had aunties sit on bikes, I've had girls sit on bikes, and I've had men sit on bikes too...Back then, when this started, nobody had YouTube, nobody had platforms. So if you're on Jeeto Pakistan, you're everywhere sir. You know how they say, 'A show ran on PTV at night and in the morning, it's a hit.'" 

He added, "People got such recognition, one can't even imagine, that they came at night and became the heroes of their society the next day. The show evolved, and the biggest credit for that goes to Aamir Liaquat Sahab, may God grant him a place in Heaven. That competition...was so much fun. To people, it must be a fight, a controversy...I had a blast. And I missed him. I missed him later."  

Ahmad posed the question, "But when the show was on, were you two friends?" Fahad responded, "I was never impolite towards him, nor was he to me. The rest of the world made stuff up, but him - never. He was a good-hearted man. But see, it's a facade. It's a rivalry of two channels. It's a competition for the same slot. How can you let it go? You cannot. There was competition - it was fun! It was so much fun -" Ahmad chimed in to state, "It always seemed like, 'Fahad has done this, Aamir bhai will now do this. Then Fahad has done this, and so, Aamir bhai will do this -'" Fahad replied, "It used to be fun. It was fun."

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