Playing a villain is always a challenge for any actor, but for Ahsan Khan, his role in the 2016 drama Udaari left a mark so deep that it took him six full months to recover emotionally. In a candid revelation, the actor shared that after completing the drama, he was in a very low state of mind and found it impossible to step into a new character.
Udaari was Ahsan Khan’s first portrayal of a negative role. Khan was cast to portray the role of Imtiaz, a pedophile, a role initially offered to actor Mikaal Zulfiqar, who rejected it due to its grey personality.
Speaking about the difficulty in portraying this role, Khan stated that even while reading the script, he could not digest the scenes, calling it the most difficult character to portray on screen.
Ahsan Khan admitted he initially wondered whether the role would hit his career negatively, as the public can get very judgmental. He read the scenes, and they worried him because the character was such an awful person. But he agreed, and later felt proud that he did.
The drama aired on Hum TV in 2016 and tackled the deeply sensitive issue of child sexual abuse in rural Pakistan. Actors Bushra Ansari and Ahsan Khan earned the most critical acclaim in 2016 for their portrayals.
Ahsan Khan’s honesty about the emotional toll of such a role reflects the responsibility great actors carry, not just performing a character, but living with its weight long after the cameras stop rolling.
