It’s a sunny Karachi afternoon and Ahsan Khan is right on time.

I mention this to him as soon as we meet, impressed and also relieved that I didn’t have to suffer through a long wait. He had just woken up, he tells me, since he had been up half the night, shooting a rain sequence for his currently on-air drama Sukoon.

Is he tired now? No, he assures me, he is quite ready to take on my questions.

Ahsan Khan, in the many years that I have known him, has always been like this: accommodating, very willing to make the other person comfortable, ready to crack a few jokes or make a few secret confessions. There are no airs and graces, no starry tantrums, no unnecessary ego trips. It’s so refreshing and this is what makes him a favourite all across the Pakistani entertainment industry.

However, there is so much more to Ahsan than his commendable people skills.

Steering away from the typical chocolate hero roles towards those that are often grey and di! erent, if not altogether dark, Ahsan Khan has managed to garner much critical acclaim. But remarkably, whether as actor or talk show host, his projects have usually also beencommercial successes. Does he just have a special sense of what works?

His career spans over two decades and has yo-yoed from film to drama to hosting, and from hits to misses and, all the while, his star-power has quadrupled. Moving ahead from the initial days, when he would play the quintessential chocolate hero, Ahsan has astutely steered his career towards roles that are different and that have brought him critical and commercial acclaim. His fan following is massive and, more often than not, his projects are all-out hits.

Hitting gold

Last year, for instance, started off with his talk show Time Out with Ahsan Khan on Express TV trending on the charts and, then, moved on to him expertly playing the cantankerous, memorable Pakhtun ‘Darakhzai’ in the 7th  Sky Entertainment drama Mere Humnasheen. He then morphed, chameleon-like, into different personas as the wheeler-dealer in iDream Entertainment’s drama Fraud.

His movie Chakkar, which also released last year, did not do quite as well at the box office, but Ahsan indubitably hauled in high ratings and praise for his work on TV. Additionally, his drama Sukoon — another iDream Entertainment production — has just begun airing and is also doing well.

Recounting his recent successes is a good way to start our interview. Do you have a golden touch, I joke to him. I can tell that Ahsan likes the phrase — who wouldn’t?

“I don’t know if I have a golden touch,” he smiles. “Maybe I just work with honesty and choose the people I work with carefully — the producer, the director, the whole cast. When everyone is working hard and trying to improve, then the overall project benefits. I am very happy even when my co-actors are part of an impactful scene. If the project does well, we all stand to gain from it.”

So, ratings matter? “To production houses and channels, they really matter,” he says matter-of-factly.

Do they matter to you, I persist. “For me, the character matters much more but, yes, if a project gets high ratings, that means that it’s being seen by a lot of people. We all work very hard and so, of course, we want our work to be seen.”

And does he still get excited about his acting projects or is it just all in a day’s work for him now?

“Somehow, I am still excited,” he confesses. “Last night, we were shooting a rain scene for Sukoon till 4 in the morning. Usually, our work hours extend from 10 in the morning till 10 in the night, but this was a special scene that required more time. We were standing in fake rain, getting completely wet, and the entire frame that was created on camera looked so beautiful that I was excited.

I have done similar scenes five years ago, 10 years ago, and yet, I don’t tire of them. I think that if what you do truly makes you happy, and you’re passionate about it, then it just becomes a part of who you are. I feel like I come alive when the camera turns on!”

“I have done similar scenes five years ago, 10 years ago, and yet, I don’t tire of them. I think that if what you do truly makes you happy, and you’re passionate about it, then it just becomes a part of who you are. I feel like I come alive when the camera turns on!”

He is playing an all-out do-gooder hero in Sukoon — was this a deliberate choice given that he had enacted grey characters in his last two dramas? “Yes, absolutely,” says Ahsan. “This guy that I am playing is so simple and heroically helps out everyone around him. I wanted to play a character like him at this point.

“Also, I really liked the script, the team, the cast. Director Seraj-ul-Haq is an old friend and we’re working together after a long time. Also, Abdullah Seja as a producer is very open to suggestions. If Seraj wants to shoot a scene on a very lavish set, or if I say that my character should be driving a certain kind of car, he will make it happen. I sometimes wait to see if Abdullah will refuse something and he never does! He is willing to spend more and make extra efforts to ensure that the production quality doesn’t suffer.”

He continues: “In the initial episodes during the wedding sequences, for instance, the outdoor shoot is in a different location and the inside scenes are filmed in a different house altogether. Seraj wanted to create these larger-than-life visuals and Abdullah made them happen.”

But even aside from Sukoon, is it now increasingly important for him to play characters that are different?

“Of course,” he says. “If you keep doing the same kind of role for 10 years, you start feeling ashamed. What have you learnt? How have you evolved? There was a time when I did play the run-of-the-mill typical hero again and again, but I am glad that I realised that I needed to move in new directions. You know, a lot of actors complain that they get stereotyped. I think that, in my case, producers and directors can’t decipher what my ‘type’ is, because I keep moving from positive characters to negative ones to hosting!”

Didn’t he ever fear that he would get hate for playing negative characters? I refer specifically to Udaari, the hit drama from 2016, in which he was very believably detestable as a sleazy harasser.

“Yes, this thought does come to mind but it is never so overpowering that it would lead me to refuse a script,” says Ahsan. “You can’t let your fears stop you from growing. It is very important to move out of your comfort zone in order to gain success. Some people are comfortable doing what they have always been doing but, for me, trying out new things is necessary.”

He must also just sign on to some scripts for money, I observe. “Yes, I would be lying if I said that I didn’t,” he agrees. “Honestly, though, at this point in my career, I know that I won’t be offered a role that is bad. It may not be the best role, but it will be a good enough one. There will be times when I will be offered three different scripts and though none of them will be very unique, I will select the one that seems better. At the end of the day, we do have to earn money.”

And why does he think Chakkar didn’t do well, I ask mentioning his one project in recent times which did not top the charts. Ahsan replies, “It was unfortunate because, on that particular Eid, four films were released simultaneously and there were so many issues with cinema schedules…” He trails off.

Really? That’s it? I am sceptical. Ahsan grins. “You learn from your hits and misses,” he allows himself to say. It could have been more fast-paced, for instance, I observe to him. “Yes,” he nods. I add that the movie was a mystery which is a tricky genre rarely tackled in Pakistani films. “I agree,” he says.

I realise that Ahsan won’t say more on the topic and, so, I let him off the hook, moving on to less tricky territory.  

The hosting game

He has had some very successful trysts as a talk show host, first shooting nearly 100 episodes of the show Bol Nights with Ahsan Khan and then, later, taking centre stage in Time Out with Ahsan Khan for about 100 more episodes. What works for him as a host?

“I think my guests feel comfortable with me,” he muses. “We’re laughing and having a good time even off camera. I am never out to create a scandal or make personal attacks. Even the clips from my show which would go viral on social media would usually be of fun segments rather than of controversies. Of course, if certain guests decided to say something controversial without me asking them, that was their call.”

Are some celebrity guests inclined towards stirring trouble because they know that it will make headlines on social media? “Yes, that has happened,” says Ahsan. “Some people come on the show and purposely say something with the intention of getting a message across to someone or to make a taunt or to take revenge. If they want to use the platform for this, that’s up to them.”

He continues: “There were some questions, where actors would be asked to rate their peers. If someone was intelligent, he or she refrained from being part of the segment. I know that I would never want to answer and take names. Who am I to judge who is a better actor and who isn’t? And if the names of four of my friends are given to me and I am asked who is the worst actor, why would I want to risk my friendship by picking a name?

“Some people are more famous for the controversies that they create rather than the work that they do. If they feel that is fine, that’s good for them. I feel that, more than anything else, your work should shine.”

He is also a regular host in Ramazan transmissions — does he enjoy that?

“I love it,” he says. “I don’t usually work on acting projects at all in Ramazan and, so, my entire focus is on this transmission. As a host, I am supposed to follow a script and converse with guest scholars who are invited to the show. However, I like to learn from them, perhaps do a bit of research, buy books that they recommend or ask them to get me certain books, which they very kindly give to me as gifts.

“Although, ideally, one should try to improve upon one’s faith at all times, there is a certain spirituality to Ramazan. When I was growing up, my mother was always very passionate about observing the rituals of the month by fasting, praying on time, reading the Quran. I have been hosting this show on the Hum TV Network for nine or 10 years now, and it has really helped me in my personal religious journey.”

Awards and rewards

Ahsan is also a regular attendee at awards ceremonies, both local ones and the ones that take place internationally. Usually, he is hosting or performing. In fact, I comment to him that he has possibly set a record as the Pakistani actor to have been part of the most on-stage performances at awards shows! He laughs at this.

“I really enjoy it! Also, I think that there are very few actors who are comfortable dancing on stage. I am, which is probably why I get approached for it so often.”

His most recent on-stage tryst was at the International Pakistan Prestige Awards (IPPA), which took place in Manchester, where he hosted and performed with Humaima Malick to a Punjabi film number. One hears that all the stars who attend an international awards show dedicated to Pakistani entertainment get awarded a trophy. Does he agree?

It’s a tricky question but Ahsan eases his way through it. “I can only talk about my own experience,” he tells me, “and I was once all set to fly out to Norway to attend the IPPAs when I fell sick a day before my flight. I had no option but to back out and they probably endured losses because my ticket and hotel stay were already booked. However, at the show, my award was still announced, even though I wasn’t there. From that point of view, I feel that awards are given to whoever is deserving.”

On local grounds, he is frequently seen at the yearly Lux Style Awards (LSAs), often nominated and taken on-board for a performance or hosting. Did it come as a surprise to him that, even though he had two hit dramas to his credit last year, he did not get nominated at this year’s awards ceremony?

“I was initially surprised, but I was not in the country around the time the nominations came out,” he says. “Perhaps I discussed it at home or with a few friends, but what was done was done. What more could I say?”

So, no hard feelings, I probe. “No,” he asserts. Aside from awards related to his career, Ahsan could easily win a trophy for diplomacy!

I change tack to the IPPAs again: is it a different experience interacting with international fans? “It’s amazing,” he says. “We get a lot of love from our fans in Pakistan but abroad, somehow, people are more eager. Perhaps it’s because they miss home.”

He continues: “Fans are such a blessing. A lot of times when we are visiting crowded places, we have to have guards around us for security and I am very insistent that none of the people approaching me should be shoved in any way, particularly women and children.

“Sometimes, older women come up to me and ruffle my hair. It’s so special — I haven’t ever met them but they see me on their TV screens two or three times in a week. I am in their TV lounges with them when they are with their family, so they perceive me as part of their family. Even if I am out with family and fans approach me, I try my best to take selfies with them. I really value their love and the respect that they give me.”

On the personal front, Ahsan is quite the family man, often posting photographs with his wife and four children. Does he think that marriage is a smoother ride because his wife does not belong to the industry that he works in?

“I think industry marriages can have their benefits,” he says. “Both the husband and wife have the same circle of friends, go to drama sets every day and can share their experiences with each other. In my case, my wife will sometimes not want to go to a work event because it won’t interest her. I understand that. I have to prioritise her comfort just like she prioritises mine.

“Also, I love the fact that I can come home and just disconnect from work. She’s very focused on keeping the children’s lives organised and making sure they study, and I really appreciate all her efforts.”

What’s next for him professionally? “I am reading a few scripts, have agreed to a new drama and probably a movie as well.”

After more than two decades in the industry, can he tell, when reading a script, if it will be a success? “No, I never can!” he confesses.

It often does end up being a success, though. Ahsan Khan’s on a roll, going off in different directions and still managing to zone in on projects that become hits. Perhaps my joke about his ‘golden touch’ is true after all.

Published in Dawn, ICON, November 19th, 2023