Neighbour’s Envy

It has been an unusually hectic day for Abbas in Mumbai, who is used to juggling four shoots a day in Pakistan but here he seems out of his depth with the sheer extent of promotional activities for the launch of the new channel Zindagi, which will beam content from Pakistan into Indian households. Next month he will be touring India to promote Vikram Bhatt’s Creature, his first film in Bollywood, which releases in two-month’s time. “If you look at acting in this part of the subcontinent, the ultimate destination for an actor is Bollywood. It’s a natural progression,” says the 32-year-old actor who is currently focussing on his career in India.

Acting happened by chance to Abbas. He studied architecture at the iconic National College of Arts, Lahore. It was here that he was exposed to different art forms — he was the head of a music society, and dabbled in sculpture, mime, photography and graphic design. “I didn’t even think I was good looking. Someone suggested that I should try modelling and soon I was spotted by the director of Umrao Jaan,” says the model-turned-actor, who was approached by Indian filmmakers such as Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Mohit Suri and Rajkumar Santoshi after they saw his work on YouTube. He missed out on Guzaarish and Aashiqui 2 since he was contract bound to other projects.

About his compatriots, such as actor Shaan Shahid, who recently called Pakistani artistes working in India, “unpatriotic sellouts,” he says, “It’s a case of sour grapes. He should broaden his mind.”

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