Kaisa ye pyar hai MOHAMMAD IQBAL KHAN: Newfound love for television. Photo: Anu Pushkarna

Kaisa ye pyar hai

MOHAMMAD IQBAL KHAN: Newfound love for television. Photo: Anu Pushkarna

YOU MIGHT be seeing Mohammad Iqbal Khan, as a pop icon Angad on Sony TV's newly launched serial Kaisa Ye Pyar Hai, singing, dancing and making merry with wine, women and music.

But inside, this new Khan, whom some must have seen in Fun2shh! and Bullet - Ek Dhamaka, is a hurt soul and far from the image he projects on screen.

"I was sure I would be a much-known name after working in Bullet. But to my dismay, I was nowhere in their promotional scheme. During the making of the film I saw that neither the director (Irfan Khan) nor writers (Faaiz Salim and Shahid) had any vision about the film. Sheer stupidity was going on on the sets. Everyone was trying to act in the film because everyone had invested some money. I was the hero of the film. Shooting was on when the producer came and said, `Maine bhi film me paisa lagaya hai, chal villain ko main maar leta hoon.' The story was going haywire. No one was bothered about the film, only how to come on screen. That's why the film has gone bonkers. They didn't even pay me properly. If I see anyone of them now, I will go mad... "

Fun with `Fun2shh!'

Khan is infuriated, his fists go tight and eyes show signs of disgust.

Mention Fun2shh! And see the creases on his forehead vanish. A smile replaces his anger. "It was great fun. Jab bhi Mumbai ki galioyon me jata hoon to buzurg aur bacche indicate karte hain, dekho Fun2shh wala... It gives me a high."

With Kaisa Ye... he knows the smile will remain for quite a while. "The promotion I am getting through this serial is much more than I could have got through working in small films. I believe it is better to work in a serial where you play a central character than films in which you are just one among many unnoticeable characters," he says wisely. But why did he work in small-time films anyway?

"Because I needed money. Since standard XII I did not take even a single penny from my father. He is a retired Government officer. I am the only son and realised my duties towards the family," says Khan, whose deep baritone gives him an edge over other actors.

This may sound responsible. And he is, he assures. Responsible and well mannered too. He might be seen wearing rings in his ears and fingers, sporting tight fitting, glamorous costumes, but in real life, he reveals he is totally different. He even refuses to take off his jacket for a photo shoot because "it is too tight, and will look cheap." On request he agrees though. "I don't like wearing rings and chains like a girl. You will never see me sporting these, even when I become a big star. A man should look like a man only," says this Kashmiri boy who has done his graduation from Delhi College of Art and Commerce TV superstar Iqbal Khan discovered this when he headed for the American Embassy for a visa to attend a celeb-presence event in the US and Canada between 20 September and 2 October.

Iqbal's request for a visa was turned down.

"Why me?! I've been asking myself this since I was turned down. There were fourteen of us from television, a majority were ladies including Kanchi Kaul and Sakshi Tanwar. I was the first one to reach the Embassy early in the morning. I was the only Muslim. I was the only one denied a visa. Only because my name is Mohammed Iqbal Khan?"

Iqbal tries hard to suppress his emotions. "The lady at the Embassy said there're three bad people (suspected terrorists) with that name and that they'd have to put me through a fingerprint-scan in Washington. She then made took my fingerprint test. My hands were blackened like any suspected criminal."

Iqbal says for the first time he felt isolated as a Muslim. "This event in the US and Canada was supposed to pay for the house that I am buying for me and my fiancée before our marriage. Now I can't afford it.

Why was I treated this way? It's not as if I'm an unknown. In fact when the lady at the embassy asked me if I was a known face I was too embarrassed to say who I was. Some Indians in the room told her who I was. I still had to go through the finger print test, still had to be treated like a suspect."

He says this is his second experience at visa discrimination in two months. "Earlier I was denied a visa to the UK. But I didn't connect it with the situation of terrorism. Now when I think back there were two Muslims in that team to UK and we were both denied visas."

Iqbal admits he's scared. "We're living in troubled times anything can happen. Earlier I used to hear it was difficult for Gujaratis to get visas to the US. I've never had this experience before. Now I wonder when I'd be allowed out of the country! I'm getting married in January. I had big plans for my fiancée and I for a honeymoon abroad. Would we be allowed to go?"