LAHORE: Zuher Khan is another young talent that the Pakistani film industry needs to welcome.
The young producer and actor has lived all his life in New York and began his career in Hollywood at the age of 16.
He grew up with aspirations to both act and produce on and off for the big screen and television. A young man who started his career as a hobby he was always very keen on making his next project greater than the previous.
Thus, at age of 19, he decided to produce his first film ‘3 Holes And A Smoking Gun’ (2014), from a script by veteran writer Scott Fivelson of ‘Route 666’ after his first talent manager Tobe Gibson passed away, who taught him a lot.
His dedication paid off and the film got good recognition in Hollywood and received 9 awards and 6 nominations.
We, at Pakistan Today, got lucky and landed an email interview with the man himself as we learn about his journey ever since.
“The overall journey has been a great experience and I am humbled by all the love and appreciation that I have received for my work.”
While talking about how difficult it was to cast actors for the first film he said that the difficult part was not about finding the perfect lead but finding an actor that learns to adapt the characteristics of the character written for him/her to perform.
“ The challenging part about being a producer is that it’s very necessary to attain the talent that can really shine on the screen and make the script/story an award-winning venture,” he added.
As the team sets out to give the best to the audience, it is a given that one has to receive criticism for the said project. We asked Zuher how he takes criticism for any project that he works on. He said that it is up to the person how they take criticism, take it positively and you can learn to produce something better for the audience to watch.
“I believe in positive criticism, it helps me enhance my professional skills and grow as a producer,” Zuher said, adding that since he loves both aspects of making a film, he knows that it is very important to do the best one can.
“If I’m acting I’m producing, if I’m not acting I’m still producing,” he expressed.
As we talk to him about a specific genre he would like to work on and his current projects, Zuher said that as for someone who belongs to a generation who grew up watching Marvel and DC Comics it is given that the action genre or a sci-fi thriller genre is something he would really like to explore and produce.
As for current projects, he said, “I’m producing a documentary film which will star an amazing ensemble cast just as my previous film did.” “The documentary is about Hollywood and features actors & actresses that have been around the industry,” he added.
We concluded the interview as we talked to him about Lollywood and his plans of working in Pakistan, to which he responded, “I would definitely like to work in Pakistan, it would be great fun.”
“I absolutely admire the work of Nadeem Baig & Saba Hameed. I think Pakistan is brimming with talented people that need to be given an opportunity to be recognized for their work. Not only that, I am so glad that the film industry has evolved dramatically over the years for the better,” Zuher added.
“Thus, I would like to be that beacon of hope for Pakistan, a light which guides other lights in search for greatness,” he concluded.
With a few projects in the pipeline waiting to get the green signal, Zuher is all set to take over the industry with another great film within the next five years.
