What is on your mind?

Umar, family, work, work, work!!

If you had to make an apology, what would it be for and for whom?

For being lazy… to everyone I work with.

Where’s the best place to be?

Home with Umar and crabbing with friends.

Khawar Riaz is known as a star-maker par excellence and has been instrumental in making several careers Zara Sheikh, Farooq Mannan, Ahmed Butt, Arooj, Imran Abbas, Amina Shafat, Danial… the list of stars made by this star makers is endless. Having the Midas touch must make him feel ten feet tall!

“I love unconventional faces - faces that most other people wouldn’t consider exceptional. I sometimes get fascinated by a particular face and imagine how I could go about transforming it. For instance, when Ahmed and Zara came to me, no one would have thought that they had it in them to become models, but I saw their potential right then and there. I immediately knew that they would become the king and queen of the industry. But I had to work on them. I had to give them time, patience, and the right kind of environment. And then they just blossomed and these seemingly ordinary individuals became head-burning beauties. Stars need to be made into stars; there’s always a creator behind them”.

In a place like showbiz where careers are quite short-lived to procure numero uno status is difficult, but what is even more difficult is to sustain it. There is this general impression that Ather Shahzad have managed to keep the fire going, while Khawar’s work, on the other hand, is fast losing its edge.

How would you defend your decline?

“I think I am very successful in my own way. I am still surviving. Success does not lie in people’s praise but in your body of work - what you deliver. If you are satisfied from within, I believe you have achieved it. And this inner satisfaction is far better than keeping others happy, you have to be true to yourself and do what feels right. If you go against your inner being just for some worldly attainment, you will never be happy in the long run. People who play diplomatic games lead very disturbed personal lives. But that’s not the case with me. Thank God!” says Khawar with sheer confidence.

In terms of initiation, the eighties rules. Despite the garish technicolour, the empire sleeves, the culottes and the pantaloons, the decade had a regal bearing, one that crashed in with force and would leave its mark for years to come. With this tsunamic wave swept in the making of an industry in Pakistan and when the tide retreated, it left behind the ultimate diva: ATIYA KHAN. As a model Atiya allowed a free imaginative interaction with the clothes she wore. She was versatile, unorthodox and unpredictable, retiring at an unforgivably young age of 21 to explore more stimulating pastures. As an ad-film maker, Atiya was a disciple, learning on the job, allowing her creative prowess to unleash a freedom, which had been stifled in the world of modeling. But it wasn’t long before film-making too reached a point of saturation and she abandoned the career without a second thought, substituting it with the more challenging role of motherhood. Atiya’s recent comeback as a model, member of the fashion fraternity and as a research analyst on Sufism proves that time has lent her a diversity without diminishing her panache.

Actors bring to mind a degenerate breed, who can do anything that shock you. Because everything about their lifestyle is meant to be shocking, so you kind of get blasé and immunized about it all. But meeting Adnan Siddiqui is like a collapse of all these illusions and preconceived notions about actors as hangin-loose dudes all about wine and women. I was completely thrown off-guard when Adnan took off on a completely different tangent from what actors were supposed to (in my limited knowledge) and revealed his true side to me.

Who is Adnan Siddiqui?

Whether you know her as Nida Pasha or Nida Yasir, there is no denying that this young starlet has made a name for herself not because of her illustrious show biz background but by dint of her own talent and hard work. Fashion Collection chats with her about her transition from a budding TV artiste during her carefree days as a single woman to her present position of celebrity married to a colleague.

Do you feel being Kazim Pasha’s daughter facilitated you in joining the acting profession?

I hardly think so. I had never thought of acting, but my friends were after me that I am photogenic and should try my luck in plays. So, I finally took part in one directed by my father, in which I had just two scenes where all I was expected to do was cry. My father was quite impressed with my crying abilities, but didn’t want me to pursue a career at that point as I was still studying. After I graduated he caste me in another play, ‘Daji’ but after that he gave me no more breaks as he felt people would think he was promoting me. He wanted me to make a name for myself on my own merit, without his support. It did bother me initially, especially because I know he gives other girls such opportunities that they become famous after a serial, where as I had to make it on my own. So it was more a disadvantage having parents in showbiz. It was only after I worked with Yasir Akhter in ‘Mera ghar aik whirlpool’ that I gained recognition and after that got a lot of offers for commercials and dramas. I started comparing and modeling too, after that.