There is never a dull moment when you are around Khawar Riaz (KR). Having known him for the last 15 years or so, meeting him has always been invigorating and entertaining as he regales those who know him with his catty one-liners and feisty frolicking, accompanied by his patented knee-slapping guffaw.

Sharp-edged, witty, candid and colour-saturated, KR's graphically composed images are offbeat, sexy and subversive. But below the gloss of seductiveness lies another layer which is variously ironic, funny... and even sinister! With a keen eye for spotting raw talent, KR has become the master of creating out of very public, dare I say even very pedestrian, figures a flamboyant world of his own imagination. Here is a lensman who can truly be called the people's photographer... for unlike his peers he does not need modish persons with beautiful faces to produce fabulously captivating images. He's like the new millennium Professor Henry Higgins from the film My Fair Lady, taking on his own Eliza Doolittles and totally changing them into larger-than-life style swans.

While this change is what Khawar thrives on professionally, on the personal front he keeps it very unchanged and real... a celebrity who genuinely dismisses and disowns the iconic star status he has attained over the years.
Q Let's start at the very beginning — can you trace your interest in fashion, beauty and styling?

Well, they say talent is something that is imbibed in you when you are in the womb and I believe this. My earliest memories are of my mother who had a lot of aesthetic sense. She was always changing the décor of the rooms...trying to come up with something different and unique every time. There was this ajeeb si baychayni in her and I guess I got it from her.

As a child I had a keen interest in the composition of things, black and white photographs, symmetry, clothes, designs, winters and even Walt Disney cartoons. We shifted from Saudi Arabia to Lahore after my mother's death and it was a totally new life for us. My dad wanted to send me to England for higher studies but I had an inclination towards make-up and pictures.

Q You are known to be highly critical of the educational system in Pakistan which, you say, kills the creative streak in schoolchildren.

I realised very early on that the Pakistani educational system is highly mismanaged. Kids from poor families in villages and remote areas go to deeni madressahs while the children hailing from poor and middle-class families in the cities attend government schools. Those from affluent backgrounds study in elite private schools where the system and syllabi is drastically different from what is being taught to a majority of school-going children. We have three generations that are being bred and that are totally detached and alienated from each other. And amid all this, we talk of one nation, national integration and growth.

Not every child has the temperament and tendency to learn science, law, business and other academic disciplines. A problem child is called that because he/ she is more interested in non-traditional subjects. We seem to be bent upon producing a nation of graduates and that's all. Where is the desire to produce creative individuals — people who are daring and want to do something different? We need to promote children and people who have a talent for skills. When I was young, I used to teach kids and it really opened my mind to the flaws of our academic system. All that parents and teachers and others are interested is to produce A-Plus students who will do white collar babu jobs. Education is about opening up minds, broadening mental horizons, etc. I was quite disappointed by the system and so I quit teaching and picked up the camera instead.

When I ventured into photography, there were few options and avenues...and I didn't even have that much equipment. So I started taking portraits of family, friends, etc. Since I had the eye and mind for it, I picked up very quickly.

Q And what pushed you into make-up and styling?

It too was in reaction to the failure of the beauticians and make-up artistes to understand what I wanted.

I would put in so much energy and effort into explaining the look to them but even then the end look would not even be close to what I wanted, so I decided to do it myself. I didn't get into photography and make-up to make beautiful faces, I wanted to make men and women look different — not deadpan and deathly looking. I wanted to go to the moon and those who didn't want to get there could catch a rickshaw and go home.

There are people who go through their entire careers wearing the same make-up, hairstyle and clothes. I look for diversity and want to change things.
Q You must be happy that your make-up and style philosophy has finally received countrywide recognition as you've just won the LSA for the best hair and make-up artiste?

I was not really pushed about or pinning to get those awards. Awards or no awards, I am happy about the fact that such positive ceremonies are happening in my country and that too in such difficult times. I only attend them to support them. I never felt jealous of others who got the trophy before me.

Q What is your take on award ceremonies? A lot of people criticise these awards and some so-called fashionistas have even boycotted them this year.

These are hard times and we should appreciate the fact that at least some people make an effort to hold the ceremony despite the tense situation in the country. There are some who boycotted the awards but they are the same people who have not only attended the ceremony religiously for many years, but have also won awards. And now they call for its boycott. If they have issues then they should talk to the organisers on how to represent the fashion world.

As I said, these are difficult times and we should appreciate that at least something is happening. Agar yeh awards bhi nahin hoon gay toh phir kiya ho ga? It is the LSA that has made people who were sitting in garages into celebrities ... aur unko kahan se kahan pohncha diya. Awards should continue and more good will emerge out of them. As they say about democracy that whether good or bad it should be allowed to continue and ultimately it will flourish and evolve into its true form.

Q What about the much-bandied talk of camp systems in the fashion world? Your views on this charge.
There is no camp system, but yes everyone makes their group of people they are comfortable working with. If a person has worked really hard on a product or protégé, they have all the right to reap the maximum benefits. After investing so much time, effort and energy why should they give away their prized possession?

What I am against is ke koi empire khara kar le. It's all about having a comfort zone...camp or group bana kay kisi ko disturb toh nahin kar rahe? All this talk is done by people who have no talent. I strongly feel that no matter what, talent cannot be blocked as it will find its own way. Otherwise new talent like Guddu & Shani, Maram & Abroo, Deevees, Rizwanul Haq and many more would not have come up. I am not a stuck-up or conceited person as I strongly believe that jo rozi naseeb mein hai woh mil ke rahe gi. I have no qualms about guiding others ... sikhanay se rizq ziyada barhta hai!

Q It is said that the more success one gains the less tolerant one becomes of criticism.

I am not intolerant of criticism. But if people talk about you and criticise your work, it means you are doing something that is being noticed, observed and talked about. The people who helped and guided me at the start of my career were highly critical of my work at the time. But I never disputed their views or got upset. I would focus on what they were saying and tried to learn from the criticism.

Sheikh Amer Hassan was one of the first persons who guided me...and more than that he taught me to speak my own mind. Mussarrat Misbah and Tani of Depilex gave me the chance to work on a big canvas. Tony (Navaid Rasheed) gave me the opportunity to penetrate Bollywood. I did a shoot of Madeeha Shah for Images and it came out really nice after which all the other film actresses agreed to work with me. Ather Hafez is another person from whom I learnt a lot. Stylist Nabila was the first person from Karachi to pick me. Her style was similar to what I wanted and so we produced some great work. Shahzad Gul gave me the chance to work in films. None of these people actually taught me anything formally, but I learnt from them. I was like a sponge, I observed and I absorbed.
The film girls that I worked with such as Reema, Gia Ali, Zara Sheikh, I tried to present them in a new avatar through different make-up, hair and styling. I tried to banish the trademark film loudness from them. But I felt that I could not continue working in the film industry. I have seen the film world up close and they don't work with the right kind of spirit ... there is no process, progress or depth, everything has to be quick with them.

Q. As a single person do you feel alone at times?

I'm alone but I am not lonely. I have my work which keeps me busy — the desire and the yearning to keep on doing something better and more different next time. I have fame and money now but for me the real success is that I have managed to achieve what I wanted to — to explore new horizons and grow. I don't think I could have achieved all this and gotten where I am today if I were married with kids ... I simply wouldn't have come this far. But this does not meaning I am against marriage or family life. If it works for some people, all power to them. It is all about personal choice isn't it? And I have made mine...and there's no regret or remorse.

Q. I feel it is because of denial of right to personal choice that the world in general and Pakistan in particular is caught up in the mess it is in today.... Yes, it is because people are not being able to make personal choices that the world is becoming such a tense place. Parents should read their children's minds early on and let them do what they want — whether s/he wants to become an Einstein, Eisenhower or Elton John. I don't believe in restrictions or borders... the world should be one. There should be religious freedom... our religion does not preach forcing others to accept its teachings. There is a conspiracy behind it all — it's a very complicated issue. Everyone has to make their own heaven and hell, and in the end we all have to die.