Third Third time time is is a a charm! charm!

Nephew of Shabana Azmi, filmmaker Faraz Ahsan from Hyderabad admits how failure played a huge role in his career in Mumbai

Faraz Ahsan, an aspiring filmmaker from Hyderabad who moved to Mumbai in 2013, had every right to be on edge during the Mijwan fashion show. Not only was he directing and documenting his aunt Shabana Azmi’s annual show in aid of the Mijwan weavers, but he was backstage standing right next to Amitabh Bachchan and Shatrughan Sinha and waiting for his cue to walk down the ramp.

“I had walked the ramp even last year when the theme was ‘Men for Mijwan’. But this time I was nervous as I was involved in so many activities,” says Faraz.

There were last minute changes by Manish Malhotra and he had to make sure everything went smoothly. “Right before I stepped on to the ramp, Farhan Akhtar wished me luck and said ‘just kill it’. Once I got on the stage, I was quite relaxed,” says 28-year-old Faraz, who belongs to the Salar Jung family on his mother’s side.

Born and brought up in Hyderabad, he wanted to become an actor. “I have always been passionate about films and cinema. My father was a director of photography in Mumbai and we would visit him quite often. Tabu is my first cousin and Javed and Farhan Akhtar are like my family,” says Faraz, who started writing scripts when he was 14.

“I went to Mumbai in 2003 to become an actor. I was 18 and too young to be cast as a hero or even a filmmaker. I did an acting course for six months but when things didn’t work out, I came back to finish my education,” says Faraz, who completed high school from St Mary’s College, Yousufguda.

After his education, Faraz put his dreams aside and tried his hand at business. “My businesses (City Tracker and Madventure) floundered after sometime… it was the darkest period of my life. After a month, I went to Mumbai to live with my uncle Baba Azmi and since then I haven’t looked back.”

Starting work just a day after he landed in Mumbai, Faraz was offered work as an assistant director in his uncle and mentor Baba Azmi’s TV show. After working there for four months, he got an opportunity to work with Aamir Khan for Season 2 and 3 of the hit show Satyamev Jayate. He is also a part of Mango Dreams, a Hollywood production, which he co-directs. “When you work in the film industry, there are no Sundays, holidays and no fixed timings. Your day might start at 7 am or even earlier and you wrap up by 10 or 11 pm. I was intimidated in the beginning because I was working alongside people who had years of experience or who had done courses from the New York Film Academy. Whereas whatever I have learnt was from my experience on sets,” says Faraz.

Taking time from his busy schedule, Faraz tries to come to the city to spend time with his family.