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Face forward
My first thought upon being assigned the interview was, ‘Farhan who?’ A persistent scan of my mental record of Farooq Mannan wannabes turned up one tenuous match that couldn’t possibly merit a profile in Images.
The interview was to be held at a restaurant on Karachi’s Zamzama Boulevard. Farhan Qureshi happens to be a manager at the said restaurant.
As we met, the handshake was preceded by a faint spark of recognition on my part — this wasn’t the Farhan that I had in mind. At a willowy 6’ and with an aerodynamic silhouette, the 24-year-old’s lean and sleek lines were evident despite his casual attire. He ushered me to a corner where the light gently bathed the contours of his exotic face, whose beauty had to be an acquired taste — it’s pleasing to look at, but it confounds you because it doesn’t easily lend itself to any conventional term of attractiveness. The site of the conflict is his far-set and upward slanting eyes which give him a look that is, to borrow the phrase favoured by Lollywood, ‘very different’.
Farhan has been on the modelling scene for over five years now. In these four years he has worked up an impressive portfolio of print, advertisement and runway assignments. He is a regular at Imran Kureishi’s shows, having paraded the clothes of designers/labels such as Amir Adnan, Khaadi and Aijazz Aslam. He has also done shoots for Levi’s and Cotton & Cotton, and is currently the brand model for Deepak Perwani. The face has made a mark, now it’s time for the name to follow suit.
Farhan joked that he doesn’t have an enchanting tale of how his car broke down in front of some famous photographer who then “discovered” him. “I answered an ad in a newspaper by a modelling agency. Then a designer called Saud Chishti introduced me to Rizwan Beyg, who in turn sent me to Nabila. At the time they were conducting a model hunt competition organized by a weekly magazine that had received some 3,500 applications and they hadn’t yet selected a winner. Nabila was on the jury and she picked me.”
Further describing his induction in showbiz as a typical “dream come true,” Farhan is nonetheless mindful of its ephemeral embrace. He observes: “In Pakistan it can’t be a full-time job, especially not for male models,” which is why this recent business graduate has sought professional security as a restaurant manager and seems quite content with the handful of fashion assignments he gets each month as part of his after-hours stint. “My job doesn’t afford me much time for these extracurricular activities anyway,” he explains. “I never have weekends off. In the restaurant business the weekends are the busiest.” Thus, on the sacrificial board go his hobbies, working out at the gym, and hanging out with friends.
But Farhan doesn’t take showbiz lightly. It’s his passion and he intends to run with it for as long as he can. He says he is open to offers from television as well as films, but certainly not from lecherous no-gooders who want illicit gains. The glint in his vixen eyes belies the evenness of his voice when he reveals that the ‘casting couch’ is indeed an intrinsic part of our showbiz industry. “As far as my experience is concerned, it happens a lot.”
Asked if he hopes to head up north to work with Khawar Riaz, he says, “If I get a chance, why not? He is doing really well with male models and has made that field more professional. But no, it’s not like I dream of working with him.” He does, however, concede that sometimes one needs the support of established people in the industry in order to groom oneself, both professionally and personally.
On the subject of person grooming, he says, “I suppose to some extent I would consider myself a metrosexual. People in general have become a lot more aware nowadays: they know what fashion is; they’ve become more conscious of their looks. So why not? There’s no harm in primping yourself. But I’m not the sort of person who wants to look glamorous all the time. Sometimes I just want to let go and relax — if only just to vary my look. Continual doses of overly done-up perfection can become monotonous after a while — and I love change.”
This restless quality is reflected in other facets of his personality as well. For example, in his style statements: he’ll alternate designer pieces (Deepak Perwani being a favourite) with nondescript retail; in his pastime: not having the patience to trudge through books, he calls himself “a poor reader;” and in his choice of movies, music, and TV shows: he insists that “it all depends on my mood.”
One thing Farhan is always in the mood for is light romantic comedies. Perhaps it’s because of his own romantic inclinations. His face brightened up at the mention of a sweetheart who he affirms is “more than a girlfriend.”
All we can do now is simply admire his images — and which we’ll be seeing more of in the near future. Prominent among his upcoming projects is a commercial for a line of winter wear. There’s little doubt then that Farhan Qureshi will soon be a permanent entry in everyone’s mental record.
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