Despite Hollywood having collectively decided that the only the white dude will play the lead, even if the brown dude has a commanding screen presence that shoves Robert Downing Jr into his armour, the Nathoo of Jungle Book (1994) has gone places. He is the villainous terrorist Raza in Iron Man (2008), the futuristic President Patel in Elysium (2013), the mysterious Captain Robau in Star Trek (2009) and the whacky Javed in Escape Plan (2013). This is Faran Tahir, our best Hollywood export yet. And that’s not all of it. He has done over 40 TV shows such as Supernatural, Lost, Warehouse 13 and Grey’s Anatomy interspersed with theatre.

Just an hour away from his shoot in Austin, Texas for American Crime (TV series) the latest addition to his repertoire, Faran found some time to Skype with Images on Sunday about his roles, his inspiration and how excited he is about the surge of Pakistani films.

It is said that the iconic villain keeps on giving, elevating even the most mediocre of films to cult status, and sometimes transforming good movies into truly great ones. Is that why Faran mostly does baddies? “There is something very delicious about playing the bad guy. I mean how many times in real life will you pick up a piece of coal and shove it in somebody’s mouth?” he laughs, referring to Iron Man where Faran’s screen presence shoves Robert Downing Jr into his armour. “Indeed, you can be as nasty as you want to be and the audience and the character will take it. But I don’t always play the bad guy. I probably do half and half. In the last five years, of the about 25 projects that I have done, I played baddie in eight of them whereas in the rest of them I was the good guy. But the truth of the matter is that baddies stick in our minds longer because they bring out in us all that we have a hard time expressing and accepting. You want to see someone else doing it. So if you do a reasonably decent job of it, it becomes a brand that ‘this fellow plays villains’.”

In conversation with Faran Tahir, our man in Hollywood

As an actor, Faran smoothly glides between film, theatre and television. Where is his skill work best? “I have done about 50 plays on stage, about 75-100 appearances on television, 20-25 films ... pretty evenly balanced between all three media. The way I look at it is that a painter sometimes sketches with a pencil or uses oil paint, other times water colour, depending on what he is trying to express. That is how I approach all of these mediums depending on the story you are trying to tell. There are certain stories that are best told on the big screen. If you take science fiction and you do it on stage, even if it is a tragic one, it will look like a comedy because the audience needs to immerse itself into a larger-than-life universe and identify with it. Certain stories are best told on TV because it has the luxury of coming back to the characters week after week after week, and really explore the layers of the storyline and characters. Stage provides you the really delicate intimacy that you share with the audience in that moment which is never to be repeated. You do it for that audience on that night.”

Making a mark in Hollywood is not an easy thing to do, says Faran. “I had a very different journey. When I was becoming an actor I looked across and I saw that the roles written for a person of my skin colour and background were not that great (in those days). Gradually, they got better. I opted for theatre and did Shakespeare for the longest time and I was part of the repertory company for a while and got my training there.”

Faran believes it is his responsibility to make sure that he provides a certain level of variety to himself as well as the audience. “I don’t consider all work good work. You have to sort through the content which is so slanted at times that it makes it hard to get into it. Previously, roles for us were limited to being a grocery store owner or a terrorist, but naturally, there is a shift in the industry to find better content for people of our colour so a better variety of roles has to be searched. I have also been fortunate enough to play different ethnicities. Part of it is because over time I have been able to create relationships and a certain level of an image that has afforded me to find a variety of roles in my career.

“But when I have played two or three bad guys, I feel that I should go and do something else like change media, go and do theatre or TV. So the opportunity is there but as more South Asians and Middle-eastern people get into the industry and produce, direct and act more, it will bring a change in the complexion of things as we go along. If you do something well enough, it is a business, like when a product works well, the industry wants to put that product on the shelf more. But my responsibility is that I don’t become that one product, so that I can show variety. When that particular variety or character is done, then what am I supposed to do? So it is important to mix it up a bit.”

Presently, Faran is shooting for a TV show called American Crime which was nominated for 11 Emmys last year, and this season it may do even better. “I play the father who is dealing with teenage issues of his kid. I did one season of American Crime last year. The second season will come out later this year. When I get done with this, I am going to play Othello on stage for which I will start rehearsing in January and then we do it on stage for three months, eight shows a week, that’s going to be pretty exciting.”

Critiques and compliments was natural conversation at the dinner table during his childhood, when his parents Yasmin and Naeem Tahir were acting and directing. “Whatever they did was my playground. While my parents were performing, I would be in the make-up room or the costume room. I was learning other people’s lines, I was blocking. It was very much a part of who I am today. Although my parents never pushed me into acting, I always felt an affinity for the performing arts, which later blossomed into a career for me. At the dinner table, if not 75 per cent then at least 50pc of the time, the conversation was about theatre and art and books.”

“I had a very different journey. When I was becoming an actor I looked across and I saw that the roles written for a person of my skin colour and background were not that great. Gradually, they got better.”

His parents are one of his biggest inspirations. “They started to carve out a real tradition on television when the country was still young. I draw inspiration from my dad a lot because that man has never shied away from any challenges that came his way, and also my mother who has carved in a quiet way, her own place. I would be inspired by them even if they weren’t my family. However, if I was to take another inspiration from Pakistan, I think that Qavi Khan is one of the most consummate actors that I know. He has created a place of respect in each medium. How wonderful is that!”

Behind the mega-star is this desi boy from Lahore. “I try to come at least once a year and try to find every excuse I can to visit. I was born in Lahore and I need that injection of being able to go to Anarkali and have nihari. I can’t take that boy out of me ... I don’t want to take the boy out of me.”

He has plans for a project in Pakistan but admitted being ‘superstitious about these things’ so refrained from saying who, what and when. “We are in talks right now for me to come to Pakistan and do a film. One should not worry so much about borders and try to learn instead from each other as much as one possibly can. If there is an opportunity in Pakistan that looks good, I’m going to grasp it.”

The onslaught of recent Pakistani films, Faran feels is an exciting time ‘for us’! “As Pakistani artistes, we need to start to create our own niche and be in the international arena. We are at this critical juncture right now where as artists, especially from that part of the world, we cannot afford to be complacent. It is important that we become brave and not shy away from celebrating the positives we have, and also be the first one also to criticise the negatives that we have. We need to be in the forefront of this battle and recognise our ability to bring a new perspective to old things. I am so proud that Pakistan is finally able to shove away the traditional way of filmmaking as a genre and get into producing a variety of films. It is an exciting time for us.”

Is it easier for Indian actors than Pakistani actors to get work in mainstream Hollywood? “I think the Indians have done an amazing job and I am envious that they have succeeded in really pushing their talent out. They have a really great publicity machine that they use,” he said. “To be honest, we are not there yet but I think we will get there, great things are happening and through that we will find our own identity, which in certain ways can be similar to the Indian experience as we share certain cultural denominators. We need to support each other as much as we can and not get into bickering,” he bursts out laughing.

“Sometimes we tend to define success by showing another person’s failures. Let’s not do that because there’s enough room for all of us to succeed and do great things.”

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 25th, 2015

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