Showing posts with label Gul Khan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gul Khan. Show all posts
I didn’t want to use my famous surname for work-Shehzad Shaikh
11:11 AM
Jaspreet Nijher (BOMBAY TIMES; May 9, 2026)
Actor Shehzad, popularly known by his surname Shaikh, is in fact a Babi by lineage. Yesteryears’ star Parveen Babi is his step-grandmother—a detail he calls “incidental” rather than defining, insisting his journey is shaped by persistence, not privilege. “I am a nepo kid, but that’s not how I wanted to be known,” says the actor, currently shooting for Ganga Mai Ki Betiyan in Chandigarh, in a conversation with us. Excerpts:
You started in hospitality, and then you moved into acting. How did that transition happen?
I grew up in Saudi Arabia and moved to India for higher studies, graduating in hospitality with a top-paying job. Though I always wanted to act, coming from a family of lawyers, I never expressed it openly. After a stint at a five-star hotel in Mumbai, I moved to Gujarat to start an energy-saving business, but it shut down. I then worked as a stockbroker until the market crash, followed by a brief stint as cabin crew when the airline also shut down—forcing me to rethink my path.
Amid all this, when did you get into acting?
My neighbour, actor Nawab Shah, once challenged me to prove my interest in acting by giving me a contact number. I took it seriously, dressed in a suit, introduced myself as offering “acting services,” and began auditioning. Eventually, I got a call from a casting director to play lead in an episodic in Savdhaan India. I started from the bottom — no contacts, no connections and did episodic like Savdhaan India, Adaalat, Gumrah, and similar formats.
I got my first big break with the Qubool Hai. After that, I did a film which was a great learning experience, but I ended up spending two years on that project, which slowed my career. That’s when I realized that films and web series weren’t always viable from a business perspective for me at that stage. So, I decided to return to TV and came back with Bepannaah, followed by Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai.
Around the same time, Vikram Bhatt cast me in a web series Anamika, with Sunny Leone. He offered me another film, 1920: Horrors Of The Heart, but my first producer, Gul Khan felt I was ready for a full-fledged lead role on TV. I respected that, apologized to Vikram sir, and quit the film shoot to do Sindoor Ki Keemat as lead.
After that, I did Mehndi Hai Rachne Waali, which also performed very well, especially in North India. Then last year, I experimented with a limited-series format—Zyada Mat Udd.
No one quits films for TV, but you did...
See, I realized early that television is my bread and butter. It gives you daily visibility, you enter people’s homes every night, which no other medium offers at this scale. By doing films, my visibility is once or twice a year. But through TV, I am in your homes every day, you can’t ignore me (laughs).
Restrictions in budget are going to be the reality, at least in the coming year, says Gul Khan as Nazar goes off air
8:25 AM
Pandemic forces producers, channels to terminate costly and unprofitable shows
Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 12, 2020)
On Saturday, actress Monalisa and producer Gul Khan took to Instagram to announce that their supernatural show, Nazar, is going off air after a two-year run on Star Plus. The last fresh episode aired on March 20 before shooting stopped following Coronavirus outbreak.
When Mirror reached out to Gul, she clarified that it’s because of the budget that the show was cancelled midway. “In the post COVID-19 world, advertisement budgets will be limited and it will be difficult to keep expensive shows going. Nazar was mounted on a lavish scale, with plenty of visual effects and action sequences. Restrictions in budget are going to be the reality, at least in the coming year,” she predicts.
Nazar is not the only show to be axed. In April, Sony terminated three of its shows— Beyhadh 2, Ishaaron Ishaaron Mein and Patiala Babes. An industry source informs that after Nazar, Dil Jaise Dhadke... Dhadakne Do is the next show that will be going off the air. “The channel is yet to announce it but the decision has been taken. They are even contemplating the future of Sooraj Barjatya’s Dadi Amma... Dadi Amma Maan Jaao! which started towards the end of January this year,” the source added.
Buzz is, even Zee is planning to pull the plug on some of its ongoing shows, among them Dil Yeh Ziddi Hai and Manmohini, are the names currently doing the rounds.
The latter was to air its last episode in April but got an extension. However, the channel is now thinking it over. These shows are looking at premature exits as both producers and channels are unable to handle the mounting costs. “The channels are going through huge losses with no fresh content, so, are trying to shorten their line-up by axing shows that are not profitable, low on TRPs or exceed the budget of the channel,” the source signed off.
Still from Manmohini, Beyhadh 2 and Sooraj Barjatya’s Dadi Amma... Dadi Amma Maan Jaao!
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