Alamdar Khan is an actor, singer, songwriter and fitness enthusiast.

As a student at the PAF Cadet College in Sargodha, he dreamed of being a fighter pilot and eventually joined the air force. Mr Khan recently starred in Dance Kahani, which premiered earlier this month.

Dawn caught up with Mr Khan in Islamabad to discuss his experience in the cinematic industry.

Q: What got you interested in cinema? Was it difficult to break into the industry?

A: I have always had the passion for singing and wanted to pursue that as a career, but during my journey I got the chance to be in front of the camera as a television host, and acted in a television drama. With time I learnt and experienced various ways to act and perfected it for future endeavours.

Omar Hassan, the director and producer of Dance Kahani was very keen to have a few English tracks in the film and he was very interested in a track I had released called Thoughts of You. When I met him for the first time we ended up having a discussion that lasted three hours. He offered me a lead role after narrating the whole story. I knew there would be challenges but we have pulled it off. We all worked together as a team to ensure we put in the very best to execute Dance Kahani.

Q: Since this is sporadic work, do you have a fulltime job outside the film industry?

A: I own a professional salon in Islamabad and I’m a fitness trainer, and I’m selective when it comes to my students. I used to work in the corporate sector once upon a time but I soon realised that they are there just to buy your dreams.

Being an entrepreneur has made me realise how amazing life can be. At the same time, it was difficult to quit the corporate sector – there is risk in entrepreneurship - and to start one’s own brand of self-grooming, but knowing there was a big margin in the services industry, I rolled the dice.

Q: What is the ambition - acting, directing or production?

A: I have been a dreamer from the day I was born and will continue to dream big until my last breath. My ambition is to go a long way in the field of acting along with my musical ventures, like Jared Leto. In fact, I do plan to target Hollywood as my ultimate playground. I may also step into the directorial side after I have enough experience.

I recently composed a song #HumAikHain for August 1, and I have officially been selected as the brand ambassador for Topcity-1. That video was shot in seven days across the country, and I only slept while travelling from one city to another. The idea behind the song is to promote peace and harmony.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2016