Fawad Khan

Fawad Afzal Khan (born 29 November 1981) is a Pakistani actor and singer. As a singer, he was one of the members of the band Entity Paradigm, an alternative rock band based in Lahore, Pakistan. Their debut album Irtiqa was released in 2003, but the band was dissolved in 2007.

Khan made his film debut with a supporting role in the 2007 Pakistani movie Khuda Kay Liye. He went on to garner popularity with lead roles in the television shows Dastaan (2010), Humsafar (2011) and Zindagi Gulzar Hai (2012). Khan made his Bollywood debut with the leading role of a prince in the 2014 romantic comedy Khoobsurat, for which he won the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. In 2016, he received unanimous praise for his portrayal of a troubled writer in the family drama Kapoor & Sons, which also emerged as a major critical and commercial success. His upcoming works include Albela Rahi and Maula Jutt 2. He announced that he would also be returning to music soon.

Khan was born on 29 November 1981 in Karachi. He originates from the city of Lahore in Punjab, Pakistan. Khan, as his father's job required, spent the earlier years of his life living abroad with his family in Athens, Dubai, Riyadh and then Manchester during the Gulf War, before moving back to Lahore when he was aged 13. His father was born in Patiala, British India (now in Punjab, India) and moved to Pakistan at a young age following the 1947 partition, while his mother's family originated from Lucknow, British India (now in Uttar Pradesh, India). Khan has two sisters, the elder one named Aaliya and younger to him is Sana. According to Khan, he is a Punjabi of Pathan ancestry. By age 20, Khan could play the guitar, bass and drums. He put his voice to use as the lead singer of the band Entity Paradigm. Khan obtained his A-levels from the Lahore Grammar School (LGS) and went on to complete his bachelor's degree in computer engineering from the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NUCES) in Lahore. His first performance was amateur acting in a theater play called Spartacus during A-level in 1999.

Music (2000–2012)

Khan(right) performing with Ahmed Ali Butt, 2009.

Initially two separate rock bands, Ahmed Ali Butt's Entity and Khan's Paradigm were both active in the Lahore music scene since 1994 and 2000, respectively. During the early 2000s, the two bands collaborated with each other on the title track for Khan's and Butt's popular television sitcom, Jutt and Bond, when the show's director suggested that they do the title song together. Entity Paradigm's debut album, Irtiqa, released in October 2003 and received wide critical appreciation, especially the popular romantic track "Rahguzar". The band performed "Bolo Bolo" in the third season of Coke Studio. Khan left the band in 2012 to focus on his acting career.

Acting debut, breakthrough and establishment (2000–present)

Khan's first television appearance was in a TV series called Jutt and Bond. His cinematic debut was in 2007 from the movie Khuda Kay Liye, which was the highest-grossing Pakistani film of 2007. He later appeared in Anjum Shehzad's travel adventure drama series Satrangi.

In 2010, he played the role of Hassan in period drama Dastaan, for which he earned critical acclaim. Khan worked in Kuch Pyar Ka Pagalpan and Akbari Asghari after Dastaan. In 2011, Khan played the role of Asher Hussain in a popular drama Humsafar, for which he won the Lux Style Award for Best Actor in 2012. Khan next appeared in the drama Ashk which received a negative review from The Express Tribune critic.

In 2012, Khan played the role of Zaroon Junaid, a member from an affluent family opposite Sanam Saeed in Zindagi Gulzar Hai. For this role, he won Best Actor award for his role at Best Actor-Popular award at the Hum Awards and Best Actor satellite at Lux Style Awards. Sanam Saeed and Khan won the Best Onscreen Couple award in both popular and jury categories at the Hum Awards. His last drama was Numm, broadcast in 2013. He later went on to work in telefilms, Behadd, and Armaan.

Khan's has walked for Munib Nawaz in 2010, Umar Sayeed in 2012, and for Republic by Omar Farooq in 2015. Recently, Khan was made brand ambassador of the Indian brand Giovanni. Khan co-hosted 14th Lux Style Awards with Mahira Khan, held on 30 September 2015 in Karachi. He has also been voted among the sexiest males in Asia.

Bollywood, debut and recognition (2014–2016)

Khan with Sonam Kapoor at the promotional event of Khoobsurat, 2015

Khan was supposed to make his Bollywood debut in India, after Khuda Kay Liye was released in 2008. But due to unstable political situation between India and Pakistan after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, things could not materialize.

In 2014, Khan made his debut in Bollywood with Shashanka Ghosh's comedy-drama film Khoobsurat opposite Sonam Kapoor. Khan plays Vikram Singh Rathore, Mili's love interest and the son of her patient. His performance was praised by the critics and noted as one of the highlights of the film. Moreover, the film emerged as a box office success, being declared as a "hit" by various media outlets. The film was particularly well received in the UK, UAE and Pakistan owing to Khan's following in these countries, for his previous television work. In early 2016, Khan was seen in a supporting role in Shakun Batra's family drama Kapoor & Sons. The film, which featured Khan alongside an ensemble cast including Rishi Kapoor, Ratna Pathak Shah, Rajat Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, and Alia Bhatt, became a commercial success upon its release, and Khan received almost unanimously positive reviews from critics for his portrayal of a writer who is revealed to be a closeted homosexual. Later in 2016, he appeared in a small role in Karan Johar's Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.

He has raised money for Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, Islamic Relief. He has shown his support to SOS Children's Villages by participating in the children carnivals that were organized in 2012 and 2014. In 2012, he was appointed as a brand ambassador of the WWF Earth Hour campaign. Commenting on his role, he shared that it was an honor to be associated with the cause and he hoped he would be able to convince people to adopt a safer strategy for energy conservation in future.

Khan with his wife Sadaf at the 61st Filmfare Awards in 2016

Khan married Sadaf Khan in 2005 after a courtship of 5 years. They have a son Aayaan and a daughter Elayna. Khan, in collaboration with his wife, established a clothing brand called SILK by Fawad Khan, the debut collection was launched in August 2012 at Lahore. Khan developed Diabetes mellitus type 1 at the age of 17 after he met with an accident that damaged his pancreas.

Fawad Khan started his film career with Khuda Kay Liye and for his very first film he won 'Best Film Actor' Award at 7th Lux Style Awards, 2008. Khan went on to receive many awards for television. For Dastaan, he won 'Best Actor Satellite' award at Pakistan Media Awards. For Humsafar, he won 'Hum Honorary Phenomenal Serial Award' and 'Best Onscreen Couple' award along with Mahira Khan at Hum Awards and 'Best Actor Satellite' Award at Lux Style Awards. For Zindagi Gulzar Hai, he won 'Best Actor Satellite' award for third time at Lux Style Awards. After winning several awards for television, Khan stepped in Bollywood with Khoobsurat and for his debut Bollywood film, he won Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut and became first ever Pakistani to win Filmfare Award of acting and till now he is the only Pakistani to do so. Khoobsurat also made Khan's Bollywood career for which he won Honourable award of 'International Icon of the Year' at Hum Awards and ARY Film Awards in 2015 and 2016 respectively. Fawad Khan have won 17 awards out of 26 nominations.

Other honors and recognition

• Sep 2014: He became the first ever Pakistani to be featured on the cover of Indian Magazine Filmfare.
• Nov 2014: Became 5th Most Popular Actor of the month by Times Celebex
• Dec 2014: He was ranked as 37th Most Popular Bollywood celebrities of 2014 by MensXp
• Nov 2014: Won Fresh Face of the Year at HELLO! Hall of Fame Awards, India
• Dec 2014: He was ranked at 7th in The World's Sexiest Asian Men of 2014 by The Eastern Eye Weekly
• Apr 2015: Ranked as the 3rd Most Desirable Men of 2014 by The Times of India
• Apr 2015: Voted as the Best Male Debut at IBNLive Movie Awards.
• July 2015: Named as The Most Beautiful Man of the year at Vogue Beauty Awards
• Oct 2015: Featured on the cover of Filmfare Magazine for the second time.
• Dec 2015: Ranked at 4th in The World's Sexiest Asian Men of 2015 by The Eastern Eye Weekly
• Mar 2016: Featured on the cover of Filmfare Magazine for the third time.
• Mar 2016: Ranked at 1st by Times Celebex
• May 2016: Ranked as the 3rd Most Desirable Men of 2015 by The Times of India
• Apr 2016: Won Crush of the year award at Grazia Young Fashion Awards 2016.
• Dec 2016: Ranked at 3rd in The World's Sexiest Asian Men of 2016 by The Eastern Eye Weekly.