Actor Zayed Khan is a proud man with a generous amount of jitters. One, his wife, Mallaika, is expecting their second child and two, his first film as producer, Love, Breakups, Zindagi, which he has co-produced with actor Dia Mirza, is due for release.
“I’m very excited and proud that this baby (referring to LBZ) has had such a successful journey. Nothing comes easy and without hard work and it’s been an interesting process,” he states.
Making a foray into production with friend Dia was a very hassle-free decision. “Sahil (Sangha, director), Dia and I think similarly and now, we realise that production is actually not as taxing as it’s made out to be,” he explains, adding, “At Born Free (their production company), we wanted to give everyone a reason to keep smiling — it’s as much the entire crew’s film as it’s ours.”
Quiz Zayed what made them (Dia and he) decide to cast themselves and he explains, “As producers we wanted to lead from the front and felt it wouldn’t give out the right signals not to venture into our debut home production.” The actor feels that after a long time, he finally has landed with a role that explored his potentials to the fullest.
“Farah (Khan) spotted something in me that I nobody did when she cast me in Main Hu Na. And now, Sahil has,” he informs.
After eight years in the industry, Zayed thinks he should have treaded cautiously. “When I was younger and passionately aggressive, I wanted to be involved in every aspect of film-making.
Some of it paid off, some didn’t,” he ponders, adding, “On hindsight, I feel I didn’t take my career as seriously as I should have. I compromised often and had to take some very strong decisions but I’ve also built great bridges, none of which I’ve used though.”
Now, it’s time to start afresh, he feels. “I’ve matured and I can’t afford to take any whimsical decisions anymore. I want to do what I do best. I always wondered why unlike other fathers, Dad (actor Sanjay Khan) wasn’t more actively involved in shaping my career. But now, I know what he meant when he said, ‘If your journey is hard, the victory tastes sweeter’,” he signs off.
