Bilal Khan: Acting pushed me out of my comfort zone

The singer makes his acting debut with ‘Tamanna Ki Tamanna’ this Eid.

LAHORE:

Young singer Bilal Khan, who rose to fame with his hit single “Bachana”, is branching out to expand his horizons. After the success of his recent single “Lamha” which was picked up for the film Seedlings, this Eid Khan donned the role of an actor by starring in the Hum TV telefilm Tamanna Ki Tamanna. Khan played a TV show personality, Jazib, who is stalked by a girl named Tamanna.

“It’s a light comedy,” says Khan who has not acted before this stint. “I play a TV show host who is a big star who sings and comes on radio. He is stalked by a fan named Tamanna who can go to any extent to get the star’s love for her. Jazib however, is not interested in her at all. In fact he is repulsed by her,” he says.

Khan says that he had been offered roles to appear in dramas before, but was reluctant to take them. This time around however, he thought it would be good to venture outside his comfort zone. The screenplay was penned by Bushra Ansari and directed by Sirajul Haq. Khan, who stars alongside Sanam Saeed and Mathira, was excited about his new venture.

“Sanam Saeed was very professional and friendly. She’s done this for so long that we all just felt like amateurs in front of her, but I think by the second day of the shoot she noticed I had improved.” Turning to his other co-star, Khan says with a smile, “Mathira is Mathira, what more can I say?”

Further elaborating on his acting experience, Khan explains that he sees acting as another way to challenge himself. “I had to drive a convertible foxy on the streets of Karachi while cameras were stripped to every angle of the car. And the toughest part as a newbie was learning the lines in like five minutes,” says Khan

“The most satisfying experience was when it was all done, and I realised that I had done it.” Unsure about he will pursue acting further, Khan maintains that his current focus remains on his music. 

Back to music

While Khan has achieved commendable praise in a small amount of time as a singer, he has also accumulated his fair share of critics. He chooses to keep himself away from the race for most views or Facebook fans. “It does nothing for you musically and just detracts you from what is real. I just write songs now without keeping any criticism or expectation about views in mind,” says Khan.

“Commercial criticism is obvious after success, as Usher says, it comes with the territory. All the people preceding me like Atif and Ali Zafar have experienced it too, so it was expected,” he adds. He says that his focus has been on his second album Maktoob which is based on the philosophy that one should not worry too much about the future.

“The songs are optimistic and opposite to the worries that exist in society today. The first album addressed the troubles of our times, while this one says that things get better and it’s futile to worry about problems,” says Khan, who intends to produce around eight songs and release the album by the end of the year.

Shedding some light on the recent success of Seedlings, Khan feels that the success of the film reflects the quality of the story, the direction and acting. “Seedlings is a very moving film and “Lamha” went well with it. The song is deep, dark and sad and fits the situation really well,” says Khan.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd, 2012.