Usman Mukhtar

actor in Pakistani drama and film

Compiled from 1 recorded interview. Every statement below is drawn from the passage cited beside it.

Usman Mukhtar is an actor whose career has run from Kuch Khaas to the Pakistani drama and film industry. He describes himself as an actor who is a director at heart. He has said that acting was not the career he always wanted and that he wanted to become a director.

Early life and education

Mukhtar says he is from Islamabad. He attended a school and college in Murree. He has said that he really wanted to become a cricketer, and that his grandfather felt he should focus on his studies. [1]

He says he was a big horror movie fan. Mukhtar completed a bachelor's degree in mass communication from Punjab. [1]

Career

Mukhtar says he never thought he would become an actor. He also says he was not really interested in theatre and wanted to make his own film. He says the woman who created Kuch Khaas was like a mother figure to all of them. He says he never imagined he would head a production department. He has also said that he once avoided dramas and had said he would not do them. [1]

Television and film

Mukhtar was in the drama Anaa. He says Anaa was his first drama, and it brought him a lot of love and respect. He says that after five episodes, he was being stopped on the road by people wanting to take pictures with him. [1]

He says he has done two films, and that one film took 32 or 33 days to shoot. He says filming for Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay started in March and wrapped on 19 September. He says viewers of Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay message him about his character. [1]

Mukhtar says an ending was shot about seven to eight days before the final episode was due to air. He says actors generally give 45 to 50 days. [1]

Views on the industry

Mukhtar says Turkish dramas are good because they spend heavily and focus on detail. He says actors should be allowed to finish a performance rather than being cut off. He says stories need to change and there should be more experimentation with stories. He says most of the scripts he read last year were about cousins. He also says it is all about what will sell and not about the talent. [1]

He says many editors have moved on to become directors. He says he did a song and is not sure whether it was an item song. He says the biggest problem with item songs is that they objectify women, and that he generally does not agree with the concept. [1]

Approach to work

Mukhtar says he learned the hard way to figure out commercial value first. He says the work he does should bring him happiness and challenge him. He is happy that he did not take every script offered to him. He says he is part of the industry but is not the industry itself, and that he cannot change everything but he has a choice. [1]

Streaming and cinema

Mukhtar says he has not approached Netflix himself. He has heard that Netflix is not giving the green light to Pakistani content. He says it is fairly easy to get content onto Amazon Prime. He says there is an OTT platform that only users of one specific telco can watch. [1]

He says an OTT platform can never replace the experience of cinema, and he still believes cinema has a future. He says there are about 18 or 19 Pakistani films that have been made and are sitting. He says the film industry was still being built when Covid came and has now stalled again. [1]

Social media and public life

Mukhtar left Twitter because he found it toxic. He later rejoined Twitter but is not very active there. Many fake profiles were made in his name. He says he is not on Facebook. He is active on Instagram. [1]

He does not want to be associated with anything political. He says he tries to avoid public events and awards. He says social media has become full of cyber bullying and trolling. He says social media commentary affects him, as it affects everyone. [1]

Views on the future of filmmaking

Mukhtar says Unreal Engine is going to put a screen behind actors through which an environment can be created. He imagines filmmaking could one day be a basement with 20 people sitting. He hopes the media industry evolves in a good way. [1]

Appearances

DateTitleWhere
2021-10-15 Usman Mukhtar: the actor who still wants to be a filmmaker Thought Behind Things

Frequently asked questions

Who is Usman Mukhtar?

Usman Mukhtar is an actor whose career has run from Kuch Khaas to the Pakistani drama and film industry. He describes himself as an actor who is a director at heart.[1]

What does Usman Mukhtar do?

Usman Mukhtar is an actor. He has done two films and was in the drama Anaa. He has said that acting was not the career he always wanted and that he wanted to become a director.[1]

Where is Usman Mukhtar from?

Usman Mukhtar says he is from Islamabad. He attended a school and college in Murree.[1]

Where did Usman Mukhtar study?

Usman Mukhtar completed a bachelor's degree in mass communication from Punjab. He also attended a school and college in Murree.[1]

What was Usman Mukhtar's first drama?

Usman Mukhtar says Anaa was his first drama. He says it brought him a lot of love and respect.[1]

Is Usman Mukhtar on social media?

Usman Mukhtar is active on Instagram and says he is not on Facebook. He left Twitter because he found it toxic, and later rejoined but is not very active there.[1]

What does Usman Mukhtar think about Netflix and Amazon Prime?

Usman Mukhtar says he has not approached Netflix himself. He has heard that Netflix is not giving the green light to Pakistani content. He says it is fairly easy to get content onto Amazon Prime.[1]

Does Usman Mukhtar think cinema has a future?

Usman Mukhtar still believes cinema has a future. He says an OTT platform can never replace the experience of cinema.[1]

References

  1. Usman Mukhtar: the actor who still wants to be a filmmaker . Thought Behind Things , 2021-10-15.
Show the source passages (57 statements)
  1. He says acting was not the career he always wanted, and he wanted to become a director. Acting is not the career I always wanted to have. I wanted to become a filmmaker. I wanted to become a director, specifically.
  2. He describes himself as an actor who is a director at heart. I'm an actor, but dil se I'm a director.
  3. He attended a school and college in Murree. I was in Jinnah Army Public School and College, Murree, Ghora Gali.
  4. He says he really wanted to become a cricketer. I I I really wanted to become a cricketer.
  5. His grandfather felt he should focus on his studies. My my grandfather thought ki you know, nahi, padhai pe dhyan do.
  6. He says he never thought he would become an actor. But yeah, I mean, um, never thought ki actor banunga.
  7. He completed a bachelor's degree in mass communication from Punjab. and then did my bachelors in mass communication from Punjab.
  8. He says he was a big horror movie fan. I was a big horror movie fan so I was really excited.
  9. He says he is from Islamabad. Even though I'm from Islamabad, I've grown up there.
  10. He says he was not really interested in theatre and wanted to make his own film. I actually didn't want I I wasn't really interested in theatre. I wanted to make my film.
  11. He says the woman who created Kuch Khaas was like a mother figure to all of them. a Poppy who created kuch khaas, bless her, she is, I mean, she was like a mother figure to all of us
  12. He says he never imagined he would head a production department. maine kabhi nahi socha tha ki I'd be heading a production department, you know, and I'll have a I'll have a Mac Pro where I'll be editing
  13. He says he has done two films. You've done a film as well. I've done two.
  14. He says one film took 32 or 33 days to shoot. This was Parchi. Right. And it is tarah ke ghanton mein aur itna zyada woh us tarah shoot karna, it took us 32, 33 days.
  15. He says filming for Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay started in March and wrapped on 19 September. for Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay, we started in March, I think 1st of March we started. Right. And I wrapped up on the 19th of September.
  16. He was in the drama Anaa. I did this drama called Ana
  17. He says Anaa was his first drama, and it brought him a lot of love and respect. The amount of love and respect and you know everything that I got when I did Ana, it was just a very very strange thing. That was my first drama.
  18. He says that after five episodes, he was being stopped on the road by people wanting to take pictures with him. after 5 episodes, I'm being stopped on roads, everybody, all the aunties are like, oh Altimash, we want to take a picture with you.
  19. He says he once avoided dramas and had said he would not do them. Main uss waqt bhagta tha dramon se. Maine kaha tha ke main dramay nahi karunga.
  20. He says viewers of Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay message him about his character. with Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay, uh a lot of people message me saying ke dil chahta hai main apne hathon se tumhara gala daba doon, Aswad. And I'm like, that is my character.
  21. He says the ending was shot about seven to eight days before the final episode was due to air. Toh phir we shot the ending I think 7-8 days before the final episode was supposed to air.
  22. He says actors generally give 45 to 50 days. generally actors give 45-50 days.
  23. He says Turkish dramas are good because they spend heavily and focus on detail. Turkish dramas are generally very very good. Why? Because they spend a lot of money and they they focus on every little detail.
  24. He says actors should be allowed to finish a performance rather than being cut off. Yaar respect the artist, respect the actor, let him perform. Yeah. Don't cut him off.
  25. He says stories need to change and there should be more experimentation with stories. I feel we need to change stories. We need to experiment with more stories.
  26. He says most of the scripts he read last year were about cousins. last year, read like four, five scripts, five I like five, six scripts and um most of them were about cousins.
  27. He says the biggest problem with item songs is that they objectify women. Item songs mein sabse bada masla yeh hai ki you objectify women.
  28. He says he generally does not agree with the concept of item songs. I I generally don't agree with the concept of item songs.
  29. He says he did a song and is not sure whether it was an item song. I did I don't know if that was an item song but it was a song called Billo Hai.
  30. He says many editors have moved on to become directors. there are a lot of there are a lot of editors who are now directors
  31. He says he has not approached Netflix himself. I am not again I haven't really approached Netflix.
  32. He has heard that Netflix is not giving the green light to Pakistani content. whatever I've heard is that they're not really giving green light to Pakistani content.
  33. He says it is fairly easy to get content onto Amazon Prime. fairly easy to get uh Amazon uh your content on Amazon Prime.
  34. He says there is an OTT platform that only users of one specific telco can watch. yahan pe koi ek ek OTT hai jispe khali ek specific telco ke hi users dekh sakte hain.
  35. He says an OTT platform can never replace the experience of cinema. You can never replace the experience of a cinema with an OTT.
  36. He still believes cinema has a future. I still feel ke cinema has a future.
  37. He says there are about 18 or 19 Pakistani films that have been made and are sitting. there are like 18 19 movies Pakistani that are made. They are sitting.
  38. He says the film industry was still being built when Covid came and has now stalled again. Yaar, dekhein hamari film industry uh abhi toh ban rahi thi, Covid aa gaya aur ab phir baith gayi hai.
  39. He says he learned the hard way to figure out commercial value first. I have learned the hard way ke commercial value ke upar pehle figure out karein
  40. He says the work he does should bring him happiness and challenge him. for me the work that I do should give me happiness, it should make me want to challenge myself and everything.
  41. He is happy that he did not take every script offered to him. I'm happy with the fact ke maine har jo script aaya woh maine nahi kiya.
  42. He says he is part of the industry but is not the industry itself. At the end of the day, I am part of the industry, I am not the industry.
  43. He says he cannot change everything but he has a choice. I can't I can't change everything but I I mean I I I have I have a choice.
  44. He says it is all about what will sell and not about the talent. It's all about what will sell. It is not about the talent.
  45. He left Twitter because he found it toxic. I was on Twitter pehle and then I left Twitter because Twitter I feel is very toxic.
  46. He later rejoined Twitter but is not very active there. Toh phir I made I I made my I made my uh Twitter account again, but I'm not very active on Twitter.
  47. Many fake profiles were made in his name. they were so many fake profiles made from my name.
  48. He does not want to be associated with anything political. I don't want to be associated with anything political.
  49. He says he is not on Facebook. Facebook I'm not. Uh but I I There was a public page, I think that got hacked or something.
  50. He is active on Instagram. But Instagram I'm there.
  51. He says he tries to avoid public events and awards. I kind of try to not main zyada publicly, you know, events, awards, all of that
  52. He says social media has become full of cyber bullying and trolling. social media I feel generally has become very, you know, bahut cyber bullying aur bahut trolling shuru ho gayi hai.
  53. He says social media commentary affects him, as it affects everyone. it affects everybody. Yeah. It affects me as well.
  54. He says Unreal Engine is going to put a screen behind actors through which an environment can be created. now Unreal Engine is going to be there where you you know, behind you there's going to be a screen where through Unreal Engine you can create environment.
  55. He imagines filmmaking could one day be a basement with 20 people sitting. film making will be like a you know like a basement with 20 people sitting.
  56. He hopes the media industry evolves in a good way. I hope the media industry evolves in a good way.
  57. He is an actor whose career has run from Kuch Khaas to the Pakistani drama and film industry. famed actor, Usman Mukhtar. This episode explores his journey from Kuch Khaas to the Pakistani drama and film industry.