After breakfast with Khalid

My first impression of Khalid Malik turned out to be the polar opposite of what I had expected. Not quite your average example of a glib-talking, gabby RJ, obsessed with keeping up appearances as well as a stream of superficial banter, Malik is surprisingly calm and mellow for someone who is bursting with energy on CityFM89’s The Breakfast Show every morning.

I take that as my cue to grill him relentlessly on every conceivable subject in an early afternoon tête-à-tête at his sea-facing residence in Clifton, and soon discover that although patience is a virtue that is hard to find these days, Malik has plenty to spare.

Yet, if truth be told, what with my taping device conking out every now and then and my having to tap it hard to bring it back to life throughout our two-hour discussion, he had reason enough to feel impatient. However, being Malik, he merely laughed and was gracious enough to pause every time he noticed the device had stopped working. Perhaps it is this inherent quality of being able to react positively to any situation that helps Malik survive in a challenging environment like Pakistan.

“How we react to situations is a reflection of how we perceive life. We are so good at creating hell for ourselves, but if we just changed our perception a little, we can turn that hell into heaven and be at peace with ourselves as well as the circumstances that we are faced with.”

A trained actor-cum-producer-cum-radio and television host in his early 30s, Malik was born in Pakistan and was barely six months old when his family moved to Kuala Lumpur, where he received his early education. In 1989, Malik’s family moved again and it was in Melbourne that he completed high school and acquired a Bachelor’s degree in science, followed by a Master’s degree in business management. In tandem with his college education, Malik pursued a diploma in acting and radio presenting at the Suzan Johnston Training Organisation and the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Melbourne (NIDA) because, as he says, it finally dawned on him that it was acting “where my true calling lay”.

According to Malik, “I was eight years old when I first felt the urge to become an actor. It happened while I was watching the movie, The Ten Commandments. Soon, I was out in the backyard impersonating Charlton Heston and trying to be Moses.”

However, since his parents wanted him to qualify as a doctor, Malik tried his “darnedest” to get into medical school; yet, for all his efforts, it was just not destined to happen.

And so, shortly after receiving formal training in acting, Malik found himself exploring avenues in radio and television in Australia with the help of a casting agent. His warm, easygoing personality and talent soon landed him professional work, and he was offered various hosting spots on television and radio and was cast in a number of side roles on shows and sitcoms featured on mainstream Aussie TV channels, such as Foxtel and SBS TV. He also appeared in TV commercials for brands like Sony, Toyota and Vodafone.

However, finding the scope for actors in mainstream private productions “rather limiting” in Australia, Malik decided to explore the entertainment industry in Pakistan instead. And so, he arrived at his birthplace in 2007 with high hopes and a burning (if not naïve) desire to “make it big” as an actor. Yet, for someone who had never lived in Pakistan before, Malik’s decision to enter a relatively unknown territory to make a living can only be deemed as a bold if not risky move. Nonetheless, Malik insists that he has absolutely no regrets about being in Pakistan.

“You have to be a risk taker to be able to make a difference. This is an opportune time to be in Pakistan. A lot is happening and the industry is growing. I believe that with my skill sets in radio, television and production, I can make a positive contribution to entertainment here.”

At the same time, he also feels that while the industry is expanding, it lacks competent, trained people. “Most of the people that are hired are not trained, and while acting talent can be developed, technical skills like lighting, sound and production management can only be acquired with proper training.

In Australia, if you haven’t received formal training in acting, production or hosting, you will not be hired. Yet, nobody wants to invest in training here, which is why most people end up learning by trial and error while on the job.”

In two-and-a-half years, Malik has managed to make his presence felt as a successful radio and television host and has worked with practically every major entertainment channel in Pakistan, including Aag, ARY Digital, MTV Pakistan and Style 360. However, he is yet to make a breakthrough in acting despite being a trained actor. Why is that?

“It’s strange. I have had positive meetings with almost all the producers, drama heads and TV channel owners in Pakistan. I have given them my showreels time and again and they have always promised to cast me in their productions. Yet, every time I follow up, nothing seems to materialise and it’s just a case of me getting the run-around.”

Being forthright and honest, what baffles Malik most is the fact that “nobody wants to say no, but they don’t mind giving false hopes that just leave you hanging!”

Undeterred by setbacks and not one to give up, Malik continues to persist, and his days are busy following up on acting leads, freelance hosting projects and commercials.

His mornings, however, start off on a cheery note at CityFM89, hosting The Breakfast Show – a popular morning show featuring lots of quirky, fun-filled segments along with a daily dose of Malik’s charismatic positivity that he also tries to inject into his listeners, reminding them that “no matter what might be happening around us, there is still more good than bad in the world.”

Malik remains an incurable idealist who prefers to focus on the good that might come out of his endeavours, rather than the bleaker moments of the present, which he views as a temporary phase. “The next ‘no’ leads to the next ‘yes’. I can’t put a time frame as to when it will happen, but I believe that as long as I carry on doing what is required of me, I will be able to make headway as an actor. And so I’m not going anywhere.”

Aaliya Bondrey is Senior Business Development Executive, DAWN. aaliya.bondrey@dawn.com