Afzal Ahmed Khan is an Indian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and producer.

Early life

Afzal Ahmed Khan is a graduate from

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

who was born and brought up in a literary environment. His major influences came from his grandfather, who he was very close to. Afzal had always dream of making it big in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

since the age of 5 years. Though, no one in his family believed him then. It was only after his graduation that his family members took him seriously.

Initial Struggle

Afzal Ahmed Khan reached

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

– the city of dreams and landed at

Dilip Kumar Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from lat ...

's bungalow. Kumar's brother Ehsaan Khan mentored Afzal Ahmed Khan during his initial struggle period. Afzal stayed with Ehsaan Khan for a year, and it was during this period that Afzal was introduced to many celebrated filmmakers (

K. Asif K. Asif (born Asif Karim; 14 June 1922 – 9 March 1971) was an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who is known for his epic film, ''Mughal-e-Azam'' (1960). Early life Asif was born in Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India to paren ...

was one of them) and got trained in all departments of film-making.

Film career

Afzal Ahmed Khan was introduced to Sultan Ahmed by K. Asif with whom he started his career. Afzal Ahmed Khan assisted Sultan Ahmed on his 1984 release – ''Daata''. Later on, he went on to assist filmmaker

Chandra Barot Chandra Barot is an Indian film director, working primarily in the Hindi film industry based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. He is best known for having directed the 1978 film ''Don'' which has attained cult status in India. The film has been inspira ...

of ''Don'' fame on his still unreleased film – ''Boss'' starring

Vinod Khanna Vinod Khanna (6 October 1946 – 27 April 2017) was an Indian actor, film producer and politician who is best known for his work in Hindi films; while also being a notable spiritual seeker. In Bollywood, he was the recipient of two Filmfare awa ...

and

Jaya Prada Jaya Prada Nahata (born Lalitha Rani; 3 April 1962) is an Indian actress and politician. She is hailed as one of the most iconic and influential actresses in both Telugu and Hindi film industries in late '70s, '80s and early '90s. Jayaprada i ...

. Afzal Ahmed Khan was also the associate director of Sultan Ahmed's 1990 release ''Jai Vikranta''. Afzal Ahmed Khan turned writer with

Akshay Kumar Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), known professionally as Akshay Kumar (), is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian Quote: "(Former prime minister Stephen) Harper campaigned in 2011 alongside one of Modi's biggest celebrity backer ...

’s 1991 film ''Dancer''. But his big break as a director came in the form of '' Ekka Raja Rani'' starring

Govinda Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...

Ayesha Jhulka Ayesha Jhulka (born 28 July 1972) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Hindi films. She has also worked in Odia, Kannada and Telugu languages films. Career She has starred in films including '' Kurbaan'' (1991), ''Jo Jeeta Wohi ...

in the year 1994. He was also the writer of the film and it did good business at the box office. In the year 2005, Afzal Ahmed Khan was back to his first love – cinema. He directed ''Mashooka'' starring

Meghna Naidu Meghna Naidu (born 19 September 1980) is an Indian actress who primarily starred in Hindi films. She has also appeared in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi and Bengali films. Biography Meghna Naidu is an Indian actress and dancer. He ...

, Vidya Malavade, Aditya Bal. Since 2010, Afzal Ahmed Khan has been working on his most ambitious animated projects – ''The Adventures of Sinbad'' and ''Hatim Tai''. Afzal Ahmed Khan owns a recording/editing/animation studio in the heart of Mumbai called Lodi Studios.

Television career

After movies, it was the turn of television and Afzal Ahmed Khan also debuted as a television producer/director for ''Daastan-e-Hatimtai'' in 1995 on

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

, starring

Shammi Kapoor Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; (pronounced �ʌmːi kʌpuːɾ 21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards, winning in the categories of Best Actor f ...

in his television debut. It was one of the most expensive shows and also registered high

TRPs Tunable Resistive Pulse Sensing (TRPS) is a single-particle technique used to measure the size, concentration and zeta potential of particles as they pass through a size-tunable nanopore. The technique adapts the principle of resistive pulse se ...

. He has also worked on TV serials like Doordarshan’s ''Bhabhi Maa'',

Zee TV Zee TV (stylised as ZEE TV) is a Hindi general entertainment pay television channel in India. It was launched on 2 October 1992, as the first privately owned TV channel in the country. It is owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Zee TV also ...

’s horror show

X Zone ''X Zone'' is an Indian television series aired on Zee TV from 8 June 1998 to 30 October 2000. It was the Indian version of X-Files Directors like Anurag Basu, Tulsi Ramsay, Shyam Ramsay, Kushan Nandy, Vivek Agnihotri, Imtiaz Ali, Anil ...

and Rishtey which introduced

Juhi Parmar Juhi Parmar (born 14 December 1980) is an Indian anchor, actress, presenter, singer and dancer predominantly known for her work in Hindi television industry. She gained recognition for her portrayal as Kumkum in the long-running soap opera ''K ...

and

NDTV Imagine Imagine TV was a Hindi general entertainment channel owned by Turner Broadcasting System, and based in New Delhi. The channel was known for shows such as '' Ramayan (2008), Chandragupta Maurya, '' Swayamvar'', ''Baba Aiso Varr Dhoondo'', ''M ...

’s ''Chutti Time'' as a director/producer.

Advertising career

Afzal Ahmed Khan has also created several memorable TV commercials for brands like

Raymond Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...

Hindustan Petroleum Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) is an Indian oil and gas refining company headquartered in Mumbai. Since 2018, ONGC has owned a majority stake in the company. The company is ranked 367th on the ''Fortune Global 500'' list of t ...

, Shipping Corporation, LIC,

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

since 1996. Afzal has been awarded with numerous awards at various ad film festivals. Afzal Ahmed Khan is the creative brain behind public interest ads like ‘ Jaago Grahak Jaago’ on Doordarshan.

Producer

* ''Daastan-e-Hatimtai'' – TV Series (1995) * ''Bhabhi Maa'' – TV Series * ''

'' – TV Series * ''Rishtey'' * ''Chutti Time'' * ''The Adventure of Sinbad'' (2013) * ''Hatim Tai'' (2013)

Director

* '' Ekka Raja Rani'' (1994) * ''Daastan-e-Hatimtai'' – TV Series (1995) * ''Bhabhi Maa'' – TV Series * ''

'' – TV Series * ''Rishtey'' – TV Series * ''Chutti Time'' – TV Series * ''Mashooka'' (2005)

Writer

* ''Dancer'' (1991) * '' Ekka Raja Rani'' (1994)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Afzal Ahmed Indian television directors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Aligarh Muslim University alumni Indian television producers Hindi-language film directors Indian animated film directors Indian animated film producers