Fawad Khan eyes Hollywood
Her famous father might have composed music for films even before she was born, but Anoushka Shankar took her time. The Grammy-nominated musician and global icon is in India to showcase her debut film as a film composer. And the film she has chosen to do is the restored version of Frank Oztin’s Shiraz (1928) starring Himanshu Rai and Seeta Devi. The 61st British Film Institute London Film Festival world saw the premiere of the restored Shiraz: A Romance of India at the Barbican earlier this month and now the film will tour four Indian cities — Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai, where its screening will be accompanied by live performance by the noted sitar player and an orchestral ensemble. But the timing seems intriguing as the film tells the love story of the 17th century princess who inspired the construction of the Taj Mahal — a monument that is in news these days because of the political slugfest surrounding it. “It is a complete coincidence that we are in India with this film at this time (when the controversy is on) but I am glad to be here and celebrate the iconic Taj Mahal. Both the monument and the film are beautiful pieces of work and hopefully the music as well. It’s important for me to celebrate art from across borders and fostering cultures and people who appear very different from each other through dialogue and empathy,” she explains.
She says that she never saw her father Ravi Shankar compose for films but she have grown up watching The whole film needed to be filled with music as there are no dialogues. Love, power and destiny are the big themes of the film and wrote I melodies that symbolised those emotions
Fawad Khan, who has been winning hearts in Pakistan and India, now has his eyes on Hollywood. To make a breakthrough in the West, Fawad is being helped by none other than Karan Johar.
According to sources, it was Karan who advised Fawad to seek his fortune in the West.
“Although Fawad was initially skeptical about the idea, Karan told Fawad the cultural stereotypes of Asians playing cab drivers and terrorists had changed after Priyanka Chopra’s Hollywood innings. That’s when Fawad got interested,” says the source.
Priyanka, we believe, will be showing Fawad around in Hollywood. “This is all new to Fawad. He never wanted to step out of his comfort zone. But with nothing happening to his career in Bollywood and Pakistan, he will now move ahead to explore options in the West,” says a close friend of his.
And he isn’t only one from the region to consider a career in Hollywood. Fawad’s colleague Mahira Khan is also exploring her options in the West.