Fawad Khan, born Fawad Afzal Khan, is a household name from the film/TV industry of the Indo-Pak subcontinent. Having worked alongside some of the most well-known faces in not just Lollywood, but Bollywood, and even Hollywood, and with multiple awards and accolades under his name — Khan has amassed a massive fanbase both at home and abroad. With abundant experience in not just TV and film but also music, Fawad has come to define the standards for versatility and range in the realm of showbiz.
He is hands-down one of the most well-known Pakistani faces of all time and has made waves across the globe with his brief appearance in Bisha K. Ali’s immensely popular miniseries for MCU Ms. Marvel, starring Iman Vellani as the titular character Kamala Khan. So it’s like his portfolio never ceases to grow, and there’s certainly a lot more to this man than meets the eye. This all-inclusive feature aims to delve into the life and times of Fawad Khan — where he started and how he became the celebrated artist that he is today. So, without wasting any more time, let’s get to it!
Fawad Khan Hails From Pakistan and Started Out as a Musician
Born on November 29, 1981, in Karachi, Pakistan — Khan was the middle brother to two sisters. Growing up, his family had to move a lot due to the nature of his father’s job, who worked in pharmaceutical sales. He had lived in Athens, Dubai, Riyadh, and then during the Gulf War, briefly moved to Manchester. When Khan was 13, the family moved back to Lahore, Pakistan — where he made his permanent abode. After his A-levels from Lahore Grammar School, he did his undergraduate in Software Engineering at FAST University Lahore, which is where he became a part of the underground band which was later known as EP and also included Zulfiqar Jabbar Khan, the present producer at Coke Studio.
Khan had been battling with unemployment post-graduation, this ultimately spurred him to pursue a career in acting. While working on his first television role in an offbeat sitcom called Jutt and Bond in 2001, Khan met his future crewmate Ahmed Ali Butt. So while acting remained a side gig, Khan along with his friends from FAST, created EP and became the lead singer for the alternative-rock band, fully known as Entity Paradigm (EP) which redefined rock music in Pakistan. His band went on to win second place at 2002’s Pepsi Battle of the Bands, competing with thousands of other bands from the underground music scene.
Entity Paradigm gained a lot of popularity in the following years but Khan eventually left the band to focus on his acting career. He made his film debut with a supporting role in Shoaib Mansoor’s critically acclaimed socio-drama Khuda Kay Liye and earned TV fame with the 2010 period drama Dastaan. After this point, Khan seemed to consistently deliver one television hit after the other, starring in Humsafar (2011) and Zindagi Gulzar Hai (2012) — earning him widespread recognition in both Pakistan and India. His stellar performances in these shows earned him two Lux Style Awards for Best Actor.
He Did Three Bollywood Movies Between 2014 and 2016
Fawad’s immense popularity in India led to his Bollywood debut in 2014, opposite Sonam Kapoor in the comedy-drama Khoobsurat. Khan received extensive acclaim for his on-screen demeanor, also receiving a Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. This performance added to his hype and catapulted him to starring alongside some of the biggest names in Bollywood such as Rishi Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Siddarth Malhotra in Karan Johar’s high-budget 2016 rom-com Kapoor and Sons, for which he received widespread critical praise. He was nominated for the Filmfare Award for the Best Supporting Actor in Bollywood for his outstanding execution of his role.
In the same year, he also worked in another star-studded Karan Johar romance feature called Ae Dil Hai Mushkil alongside the likes of Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachan, and Anushka Sharma. Khan’s popularity in India seemed to have no bounds but unfortunately, due to mounting political and military tensions between the two countries, Pakistani artists were permanently banned from working in India in late 2016. This regulation put a sudden halt on the renowned Pakistani actor’s exponential career trajectory in Bollywood. Nonetheless, Khan still boasts one of the most memorable and explosive spells in Bollywood to date and was loved by all!
Fawad Khan’s ‘The Legend of Maula Jatt’ is the Highest Grossing Pakistani Film of All Time
Khan’s surprise role in Ms. Marvel brought the star to global limelight in 2022 alongside a decorated cast ensemble of three industries (Hollywood, Bollywood, and Lollywood). However, his role as Hassan in Ms. Marvel was a supporting one and he only starred in two episodes. Bilal Lashari’s The Legend of Maula Jatt had him portraying the cult-favorite Punjabi hero Maula Jatt, making it the highest-grossing Pakistani film of all time — capping at around $13.8 million worldwide. Khan’s hit became the first Pakistani film ever to surpass the 150 crore PKR ($5.4 million) mark and in addition to Khan, starred actors including Hamza Ali Abbasi, Mahira Khan, and Humaima Malick, among others.
Khan chooses his projects carefully and tries not to get consumed with the need to be seen. In his own words “I am very lazy. I’d rather do one good project and reap the benefits of it”, he said in an interview with DAWN just before the release of The Legend of Maula Jatt. Besides his endeavors in film and media, Khan has served as Giovanni’s brand ambassador in Pakistan, while also being in collaboration with Pepsi, Samsung, Telenor, LUX, and a plethora of other major brands. As for what the future holds, Khan recently revealed in a podcast with his old friend Ahmad Ali Butt, that his eventual goal is to gain enough experience to produce something of his own. Also, here are 10 reasons to watch The Legend of Maula Jatt, Pakistan’s greatest cinematic offering to date.
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