Yasir Nawaz opens up on showbiz longevity, royalties and return to acting

Actor, director and producer Yasir Nawaz got candid in an interview with Vasay Chaudhry, touching on everything from the realities of building a long career in Pakistani showbiz to the industry’s unresolved royalties debate, his decision to return to acting after losing weight, and life alongside his wife, Nida Yasir. For Nawaz, getting into the industry was never the difficult part. The real challenge, he said, was staying relevant and building a career that lasted. “Coming into showbiz was easy, and even today it isn't very difficult to enter. But staying and surviving in showbiz, and lasting a long time, is the real challenge,” he said, adding that longevity ultimately depended on talent and the ability to continually prove oneself across acting, directing and production. His own career also benefited from a practical division of genres with his brother, actor-comedian Danish Nawaz. Rather than competing for the same roles, the two carved out different spaces for themselves. “Danish is totally on the comedy side, but I remained on the serious side. It was a blessing that Danish stayed on comedy and I stayed on serious roles; both of us managed to make our way,” Nawaz said. The conversation then turned to one of the industry's longest-running unresolved issues: royalties for Pakistani artists. Nawaz said the debate had surfaced repeatedly over the decades without translating into meaningful policy change. “The talk of royalties goes back a long way, to the PTV era, and then again in 2021. Our actors don't talk about it much, nor do they protest for it the way they protest over other people's issues; they don't do it for their own cause,” he said. Nawaz attributed the reluctance to push the issue more forcefully to the industry's dependence on production houses, which he said made it difficult for artists to advocate for their own rights. His return to acting was prompted by a different kind of consideration. After spending years largely behind the camera, Nawaz said he had begun to feel the pull of performance again, while also recognising that his physical appearance could affect the roles available to him. “I wanted to shift a bit back towards acting; I had grown a little bored of direction. I decided to lose weight, because with a heavier build, the choices for characters become limited,” he said, describing the weight-loss process as an ongoing journey as he looked to broaden the range of characters he could play. The lighter side of the conversation emerged when Nawaz was asked about the frequent memes surrounding his wife, Nida. After years of seeing their circulation online, he said he had largely grown accustomed to them. “The memes that circulate on social media are the filtered ones; the ones made at home are far worse. I have become used to it,” he said, adding that Nida often helped him understand the context behind viral clips that had been edited or shared without their full context. Nawaz also looked back on a serial he filmed in Kashmir opposite Nida early in his career, after being cast in the lead role shortly after the couple’s engagement. The project was directed by Kazim Pasha, Nawaz’s father-in-law, whose strict, no-nonsense approach on set left him visibly rattled throughout the shoot. Nawaz described the experience as one of the most difficult of his career. “I couldn't remember my lines; I would go completely blank whenever he called out. He had an aura, a huge intimidation factor,” he recalled, adding that the two later agreed not to work together again.