His debut Bollywood film Khubsoorat features quite a few fudged kissing scenes and for good reason: Fawad Khan, the Hindi film industry’s new entrant from across the border, says he refuses to do intimate scenes as he doesn’t want to hurt the sentiments of his core audience.
He is seen as one of the most romantic heroes in Pakistan, and has earned the reputation without getting intimate in front of the camera.
In Khoobsurat he is seen romancing Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor.
Did he refuse to kiss in Khoobsurat because of the cultural and moral embargo in Pakistan?
“I didn’t want to hurt the sentiments of my core audience. [It is] the audience that has got me where I am. I think I need to respect their feelings.
“A lot of my audience would be quite offended if I suddenly started losing all my inhibitions. I just want to prepare the audience for a gradual change,”
Does that mean he’ll kiss in the future?
“You never know. I never say never. I’d rather walk the unpredictable path. Besides, I’d never like to throw in something titillating just to spike and spice up a film,” said the actor, who became a sensation back home in TV shows Humsafar and Zindagi Gulzar Hai.
Tell him that a kiss in Khubsoorat, where two people in love express their feelings, is quite natural, he said: “I agree. But what I learnt from doing the two popular Pakistani serials Zindagi Gulzar Hai and Humsafar is that audiences appreciate a romantic moment without physical intimacy.
“There was not a touch or a hug anywhere in either series. And yet audiences loved my chemistry with my co-stars [Mahira Khan and Sanam Saeed]. I kind of like the idea of virgin romance to just show the couple’s feelings through words and gestures and then leave the rest to the audiences’ imagination,” he said.
