Shy and reticent Pakistani actor Fawad Khan is not having an easy time promoting his debut Bollywood film 'Khoobsurat' as it requires him to be talkative, which he says is out of his character.
Fawad, 32, says he was not aware that publicity for a film in India is done at a huge level, which needs him to give radio, print and television interviews, promotional visits to functions and reality shows, all in a single day and had he known about this earlier, he would have thought twice before signing 'Khoobsurat'.
"This is not me, talking so much about myself. I find it boring. I am a quiet person. In Pakistan, I had consciously stayed away from promoting my shows. When things used to get crazy at times, I would do some interviews because my producers would ask me to do but otherwise I never felt the need to do that.
"Here it is the norm of the industry. You have to go out and promote yourself. It is an exercise for me. Frankly, I am testing myself, though I believe testing oneself is not fair always. But I had to become an extrovert for this," Fawad told PTI.
A popular face of Pakistani TV, Fawad has charmed the Indian audience with his show 'Zindagi Gulzar Hai' but the actor says he had to change his working style for his Bollywood journey.
"Back home, I would come on sets, be quiet and do my work. I was used to that and even people around me were fine with it. But here I come and suddenly everything is so different, I had to come out of my character totally and I would say initially it was difficult," the actor said.
Fawad says he had no plans of foraying into Bollywood and was quite content with his work in Pakistan, until 'Khoobsurat' came his way, which excited him.
"I always maintained that if I get something interesting, which I think I can do justice to, I would do but until then I was happy with things in Pakistan. There was no plan or strategy. Though I believe everything happens for a reason, there was no conscious effort to go and work in India," said the actor, who is testing waters with 'Khoobsurat', which hits theatres on September 19.
