ZAKIR KHAN, who has recently collaborated with KARAN JOHAR for a campaign film by Britannia Good Day, tells MUSBA HASHMI about the concept, what made him swap his look with KJo and that he misses stage
How was your experience working with Britannia Good Day?
It was beautiful. We were going to start before the second lockdown, but the situations that arose caused a delay. Finally, we were able to come up with this film and I am happy and excited. I love the concept, so I was dying to be a part of it.
How was your experience collaborating with Karan Johar for the campaign film?
It is a beautiful opportunity for me. He is someone I have seen him as a fan. He is an icon for a lot of us, over the years. I remember watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. I remember watching his interview on Doordarshan after the film. In our memory, it is always a magical moment when we meet a person we have seen on TV in real life. So, it is a magical moment for me. Someone I have seen giving interviews as a kid, today I am getting to see them work in real life.
What made you guys come up with the idea of swapping. And how difficult or fun was it for you?
The idea itself is fun. As an artist I would like to say that image is for under confident people who are not sure of themselves. Protecting image is something you do when you are very insecure. I assume Karan as well as me, though we are two distinguished personalities, we have full faith in what we do in our separate fields. Thus, we didn’t refrain from looking like someone else. The experience of swapping was so exciting that there was no second thought about doing it or not.
A trait of Karan Johar that you would like to swap with yours.
I think his access to Shah Rukh Khan and all the actresses in the world. I am a huge Shah Rukh Khan fan and somebody who can be in his first circle is something that I would like to exchange. I can give him my cricket gang from Bombay in exchange for it, or my Anvar Kranti from Chacha Vidhayak Hai Humare. So, he can give me Shah Rukh Khan and I can give him Anvar Kranti.
How do you think your fans will react when you swap your personality?
I think first of all I have no fans, all of them are my friends. And everything is fine in front of friends. Max to max, they will make fun of me and there is no harm in it. And I do not think that my fans see me like that. They know me in many different avatars. They know that I am a musician, I have played sitar for 21 years of my life and I do stand-up comedy. So, I keep doing things which are pole apart, in my life. The people who know me are not affected by it and the people who do not know me, I am not affected by them.
While Karan and you are both writers, you both have very different personalities. Did you take any time to prepare or study each other’s personality to execute this better?
Of course, I saw some of his interviews and tried to understand how he talks. Secondly, as an iconic figure, I somehow knew how he talks to a certain extent. But yes, some days before the shoot I tried to understand how he works. And as an artist, I am not a very good mimic but I can imitate. So, I was just trying to look at the kind of mannerisms I can pick, and what will look nice. There are some things which you pick, but they do not look good on you. So, the idea was to pick things which will look okay on me.
You have been one of the most popular faces in Indian stand-up comedy. Do you think that now we have a wider audience to appreciate your field of art?
I feel even when the audience was less, it was wide for me. Because, the art form is so new that we still do not know what is its full potential. My aim is to explore and to reach to more and more people so that there comes a time when we know exactly the number of people that are there in the audience.
Do you miss the stage? How different is it to perform on a virtual platform?
Stage is different from a virtual platform. It is like meeting someone you love in person and talking to them on video call. They are exactly two very different things. The affection is there of course, but the warmth is definitely missing. That hype, that rush of being on stage is definitely not there, though, the rush of good conversations is always there on an online platform. But not as great as what it is on stage. It is like asking somebody that how do they feel catching the scent of biryani as compared to actually getting to taste it. Of course, having biryani is more satisfying than just getting to smell it.