In the world of Indian entertainment, Iqbal Khan is a well-known figure, especially in the mediums of television, films and OTT. But few would be aware that Khan hails from the Kashmir Valley and that his life is a story that inspires.
In a recent interview given to the Directorate of Information, Jammu and Kashmir Government, Iqbal spoke on a range of issues, including excerpts from his youth, small beginnings as a model and actor, his views on Kashmiri youth, the drugs menace in J&K, the UT government's new film policy, life lessons, etc. Brighter Kashmir reproduces this interview verbatim.
Q: Iqbal you were born and brought up in Kashmir, so tell us how was your life there before you moved to Mumbai?
Iqbal: Till the beginning of the sixth standard, I lived and studied in Srinagar. Thereafter, I was sent to a boarding school, to the Pine Roof School and Lawrence School, Sanawar. Both of these schools are located in Himachal Pradesh. After that I went to Delhi to pursue my graduate studies in the Delhi College of Arts and Commerce (DCAC), and then I took up modelling assignments in Delhi. Thereafter, logically, the next move naturally was to Mumbai.
Q: Tell us more about your life in Srinagar?
Iqbal: Whenever anybody asks me about my early years, my youth, and the first thing I remember is the celebrations around the festival of Eid. The colony in which my family lived, there were lots of friends, we used to get together, collect our Eidi, we would go to the Nehru Park, take Shikara rides, and at times visit the Kotar Khana (Pigeon Shelter) in Rainawari, play on the swings and then return home. This was something we told no one at home. It was a secret mission of sorts.
Q: Your move to Mumbai? How did that come about? What was that journey like?
Iqbal: To be honest with you, while I was in Srinagar, I was a very fat kid, very, very fat. I remember in the fifth standard, my waist used to be 38 (inches) and the length of my trousers used to be 31 (inches). It was very difficult. Then when I went to boarding school, there I suddenly lost a lot of weight. Since Kashmiris are big on rice and meat, I think rice completely vanished from my life because I was in the north, in terms of Punjab and Himachal being close by, so there was more of chapatti, which in Kashmir, as we had discussed earlier, in Kashmir, only those people ate chapatti who had heart problems or diabetes, etc. So that's how I lost weight. Then I moved to Delhi for college. In Delhi, I used to model; I developed an interest in it. In Delhi, there were ramp shows, but when you talk of motion, talkies, etc. that you had to move to Bombay, you had no choice.
Q: So how was your start in Bombay? You started from music videos basically?
Iqbal: Bombay is an interesting story altogether. I came with a mindset that I am a star and I couldn't visualise myself being other than that, and therefore, projected myself as that. There was an incident which I remember with my friend Anuj, who was in business. We went to Bandstand, near Shahrukh's (Khan's) house. There was a building that was being constructed nearby and both of us were engaged in this talk, wherein we said that we will build or buy our homes here. Cut to, there is suddenly no work; you realise life has hit you, this was in the early days of our stay in Bombay, there was no work for us, we realised that we would not be able to build our homes. We understood that we have to work hard, we have to be consistent. So that is what I have tried to do and slowly, but steadily, we moved ahead on our professional journey. I started off with performing in music videos, and then graduated to movies. My first movie was "Fantoosh". Then television happened to me. My first show on television "Kaise ye Pyar Hai", it was for Balaji on Sony TV, it really worked for me. You'll be surprised to know that the whole idea behind me doing that show was, "ki agle mahine rent pay karna hai", (I have to pay next month's rent) because I was not interested in kiska hai, kya show hai, (whose show is it, what show is it) etc., agle mahine ka rent aana chahiye (my only thought was I have to pay next month's rent) and it just worked. God is the best screen play writer ever, sometimes jo darwaze band ho jaate hai (sometimes one door closes), it is meant to be so, for a bigger door to open.
Q: Iqbal, you are from a non-entertainment background, how supportive was your family when you took this decision to join the entertainment industry and when they see you in your present position, what is their reaction?
Iqbal: My parents have always been proud of me. I come from a working class family, my father has been a government servant. For him, education was important, a priority. But at the same time there was a realisation in me that in Kashmir, going into the entertainment field was not easy. But still they were supportive. I remember incidents from my childhood like if someone, or I was seen playing a guitar, my parent (s) would admonish, demotivate the youngster. But things changed, in fact my brother, my older brother, who is ten years older than me, told me that he is really surprised that I am acting, he could not believe it. You know God has his own ways, when certain things happen, they have to happen.
Q: Do you remember the moment when you faced the camera for the first time? What was that feeling like?
Iqbal: I faced the camera for the first time in college. Toyota as a brand was getting launched in India. Shantanu Shorey was a big ad film maker in those days, he was making that ad. That ad I did in Delhi when I was in college. That was the first time I faced the camera. He made that in the form of a film. So that was my first. I have to be very honest; I wasn't that afraid, I wouldn't say really confident, but not bad, 6 on 10.
Q: You have mentioned Fantoosh. It was in 2003 I guess. So from Fantoosh to so many serials and to your OTT appearances recently, where do you see yourself as an actor now?
Iqbal: You know, this a very interesting question that you have asked? Life really depends on when you acquire the wisdom to lead it properly. It doesn't become better by eating badam, though badam is a good thing to eat. Life is about experiences, ups and downs. I have been very fortunate in this regard, not that I have achieved greatness and respect as an actor, but that I have learnt my lessons well from my ups and downs. I am thankful to God that I gained from my ups and downs, and now at this point of time in life, I want to be able to lead it in a carefree manner. I have two kids, I try to teach, guide them on what is right, I want to make them good human beings. There is a very old saying -- "There is nothing wrong in owning a Ferrari, but the Ferrari should not own you". So that is a mindset that I want to keep in my mind.
Q: So you don't want to end up being a money making machine?
Iqbal: When you meet somebody who is dying, 90 percent of those people will never talk about money and property. You will always think that I should have spent more time with them. Things that touch the soul, that's what I would like to do more of.
Q: You have worked in Bollywood, you have worked in the film industry, in the TV industry, you have also worked on the OTT platform, can you tell us how each one of these platforms is different from the other, and secondly, can you tell us in your view which is the platform that is going emerge as the most attractive?
Iqbal: As an actor, the kind of freedom that is visible and available on OTT does not exist anywhere else. Whether you are a director, writer, actor, there is a lot to do. I have been in the industry for more than two decades, about 20-21 years, so when I do television, I do it the way I like to do it, I have the freedom to do it. There is no one size fits all. In my view, an actor's job is to act and he or she does that. There is a view that if you are acting on TV, you should be loud, I don't agree. The TV watching audience is educated enough to determine what is good acting or bad acting. You don't have to abuse when you are acting naturally. I am doing a television show - "Na Umre ka Seema Ho" -- in that I am trying to be as natural as I can be.
Q: You are doing this popular television serial, "Na Umre ka Seema Ho", so tell us something interesting about this show?
Iqbal: It's a show on the STAR Network. They wanted to put up something different on STAR Bharat. That was a bold step. Second, you can watch the show on Disney Hot Star at any time, third, our producer; Atul Ketkar is a very passionate individual, Manoj, who is the second producer, is also very passionate about his work. So when it comes to work, their endeavour is to deliver quality stuff for the audience. Do something which they and everybody else enjoys. I am lucky that I have come into a set up where before I was seen as a rebel, now everyone is a rebel. So I enjoy it thoroughly.
Q: In the entertainment industry Iqbal we see lots of ups and downs. So in your career, have you experienced this and how did you deal with it?
Iqbal: I will quote Rumi here, "Only through the crack, the light comes in". When you are on your way up, there is less of an understanding, we learn from our downsides. If you experience only success, you will never know or feel what failure is. If you haven't seen a time when you had no work, or a time when you had no money, when you haven't seen a troubled time, how will you ever know or feel what real success is like?
Q: How did you deal with such times, like not having work, when you had to struggle to get work, tell us something by which today's youth can get motivated?
Iqbal: Truthfully, because I am a Kashmiri, I will tell you what my parents told me when I was starting out. Basically stay connected. That goes for any religion. For instance in our religion, you pray five times a day, you are reminded that you are nothing, five times you are reminded that you have got to keep your calm, five times you are reminded that you have got to be a good person, five times you are reminded that you have to control your anger, five times you are reminded that he is everything, five times you are reminded that everything depends on him. So you have to be connected with God. So this is one of the things that motivated me. Other than that energy that we have, to go to a mandir or a masjid, or a gurdwara, most see it as an exercise, most customise themselves to follow it as a routine, but my view is that you have to be involved in it too to gain something out of it. I cannot say that I have achieved something really big in life, but I believe that following your religion keeps you grounded.
Q: In the new film policy of the Jammu and Kashmir Government, there is now a single window system to make film shooting faster and easier. The J&K Government also provides a subsidy for those people who come to J&K to shoot their films, or serials? How do you see this film policy, what are its benefits, its advantages, etc?
Iqbal: This is a mind blowing development. Firstly, I believe this will provide jobs, employment. Any unit that comes, for example if you come onto my unit, on our sets there are 100 people, the person who is coming to Kashmir will not bring 100 people with him, he will not get more than 25 to 30 people, the balance 70 or 80, he will hire from Kashmir or Jammu. There is a certain kind of employment that you are going to get and this suddenly becomes a different employment line. This must be done. I would also like to say that you will always invite big film makers, big banners, place all the facilities at their disposal, but you also need to give encouragement to smaller filmmakers, those who have fewer budgets, but good scripts. They must also be given a chance.
Q: So you are saying that this new film policy can possibly revive the culture of Jammu and Kashmir?
Iqbal: 100 percent. Kashmir has huge talent, whether it is in music, or acting, you just have to go to YouTube to see how many people from J&K are showcasing their talent, there are so many.
Q: In the coming days, can we see you performing in Kashmir?
Iqbal: I have just shot, taken part in a web series in February that is going to appear on Voot. It's called "Crackdown". I did the shoot in Kashmir.
Q: Our government has started a "Nasha Mukht" campaign. On the issue of drugs, drug addiction, etc., what is your message for the youth of Kashmir?
Iqbal: I have been fortunate not to have seen that period of drugs addiction, but having said that, if there is such an environment that prevails here, and indeed in other parts of the world, my message to the youth would be that this isn't something to feel cool about, and as a youth that belongs to Jammu and Kashmir, we must be an example that we have to keep this menace away from Jammu and Kashmir, whatever it takes, because when we go out of here, we should be in a position where no one points a finger at us and says this guy or girl is from Jammu and Kashmir, we should not consider him or her. That should not happen.
Q: Any particular role that you think you would have liked to have performed?
Iqbal: I am a person who sees a script and a role, and if I like it, I want to do it. I liked the Ram Gopal Varma movie "Company" very much. Both Ajay Devgan and Vivek Oberoi performed brilliantly in it.
Q: If not acting, what then?
Iqbal: Farmer.
Q: An actor you love the most?
Iqbal: I love Irfan Khan. He is no more with us, but there is nobody like Irfan bhai, nobody.
Q: What does communal harmony mean to you?
Iqbal: Communal harmony is something that I have seen and experienced growing up, be it weddings or celebrations of different communities. Connecting with each other through language and food, and we all have big noses, whether we are Hindus, Muslims or Sikhs, as long as we are Kashmiris, we have big noses and red cheeks.
Q: Any advice for the youth of Kashmir?
Iqbal: Two things that I am very particular about. Lead your life with absolute honesty, whether it is work, relationships, with your mother or father, in your business, with your friends, bring honesty in the way you speak. If you acquire this trait, it is mind blowing. The second quality that comes to mind is leading your life with kindness and compassion. We are very forgiving people, we are very hard working people, we are people who don't lie, we are people who work with honesty, we are people who identify talent and skill and say give this or that person the opportunity. We are those kinds of people. We have to bring that feeling back. We must lead our lives without ego, with honesty, and be god fearing.