Pakistani actors Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan enjoy huge popularity in several parts of the world, including India. The two had even worked in Bollywood before Pakistani artists were banned from working in the Indian entertainment industry in the wake of the Uri attacks in 2016. Much before the ban, Fawad and Mahira won Indian audiences’ hearts with their show Humsafar, which was aired in India on the Zindagi channel.
Shailja Kejriwal, who is the chief creative officer– Special Projects, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, has been given the additional responsibility of spearheading the much-loved brand, Zindagi.
In an interview when Kejriwal was asked how many times have people told her to just get Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan together for a project, she said, “Every day! But I should have a story for them. I love Mahira, and of course who doesn’t love Fawad.”
Kejriwal is presently in news for her new show Barzakh, which marks the reunion of Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed, a decade after Zindagi Gulzar Hai. The Pakistani show is produced by Kejriwal and Waqas Hassan.
She said, “In Barzakh (Fawad), he didn’t want to do another Zindagi Gulzar Hai. It is so boring beyond a point. If I make another Zindagi Gulzar Hai, for me personally, it is a cop-out because for me it is important to bring Fawad in a role that he will enjoy, I will enjoy, and which will probably be something that would otherwise be supremely alien to people to at least come and sample it. I would rather use Fawad for something like that! There is no fun if we make something for the sake of it. That, ‘Here’s the money, go and make something.’ Those who had to make the show, have made it beautifully.”
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Shai Guy
