Testing new waters

Tele talk

Mohammed Iqbal Khan is a man of few words. Something which is in stark contrast to the dramatic characters he plays on Indian television. It was in 2005 that the Balaji Telefilms-produced series, Kaisa Yeh Pyaar Hai, transformed this hunky model into the man of the masses. And how couldn’t the series work? It had everything going for it: a story of love between a rich, handsome musician and a poor aspiring singer. In fact, Iqbal had everything going for him.

Since then, Iqbal hasn’t looked back. He has managed to remain in the minds of the viewers, in a variety of roles, that ranged from a flight lieutenant to a doctor to a detective. “The role of a detective in Pyaar Ko Ho Jaane Do is my favourite till date. I am a Muslim myself and pained by the notion of Islamophobia. For a very long time, I wanted to do something in this regard and I finally got the opportunity with this serial,” reveals Iqbal. But surprisingly, the show didn’t run for long. “The audience wasn’t ready for this kind of storyline.”

So, does that mean mere good content isn’t enough for Indian television today? Iqbal disagrees, “There has always been good content on TV. But the backdrop matters too. Also, TRPs are a big influencing factor. All stories are created keeping in mind the past successful formulae.”

But now there are stories mirroring society’s issues. Just like the one Iqbal Khan recently starred in — Waaris. Set against the backdrop of Punjab, Waaris is a social drama that traces the journey of a girl who is made to pose like a boy by her mother. “It’s a beautiful show with a strong storyline. I play the character of Charan Pawania, the village head who is a good person at heart. He is known to be a righteous man who loves his family extremely. I hope the social message of the serial touches people’s hearts,” says Iqbal.

It’s clear that doing reality shows like Fear Factor and Khatron Ke Khiladi have brought out the fearlessness in him. “Such shows definitely put you out of your comfort zone. It was a great experience to do something adventurous and also get paid for it. Be it jumping from a 100 feet or sitting amongst 500 scorpions, I was pushed to the extreme,” he says.

If you are an ardent Bollywood fan, you will remember seeing Iqbal in some forgettable movies like Fun2shh…Dudes in the 10th Century and Kuch Dil Ne Kaha. His ambitious gamble of making it big in the movies didn’t pay off. Being honest, Iqbal says, “I am happy being in the television world right now. I get to choose the roles I wish to do, and it’s a good space to be in. Films belong to a completely different world and I wouldn’t want to uproot myself and start afresh. But I never say never.”

Iqbal believes that any role that is popular is because the actor has worked hard to portray it well. “I just pray that I get a well-written character and put in lots of hard work to make it the ‘dream role’ for someone else,” he quips. It’s the same reason why he doesn’t look up to anybody in the industry. “I might like the roles but for me to look up to someone, I have to know the person inside out.”