Faysal Quraishi

Faysal Quraishi ( ur, ; born October 26, 1978) is a Pakistani actor, producer and television host. He appears in Pakistani television dramas, reality shows and films, and is one of Pakistan's highest-paid actors. He is the recipient of more than 20 nationally recognised awards. He first gained recognition for playing the leading role of Boota in television series ''Boota from Toba Tek Singh'' (1999) and has now been a part of more than 200 projects.

He hosted a morning show "Muskurati Mornings with Faisal Qureshi" from 2010 to 2014 on TVOne. From 2016 to 2019, he hosted the morning show ''Salam Zindagi'' on ARY Zindagi. He was also the host of a game show "Jeet Ka Dum" on HUM TV and is currently hosting another game show "Khush Raho Pakistan" on BOL TV. He also turned producer in 2017 with the production house ''Connect Studios'' and also owns a film production house "Faysal Quraishi Films".

Early life

Quraishi was born in Lahore, Pakistan. His father belonged to Urdu Speaking community, hailing from Hyderabad Deccan but settled in Lahore, while his mother is a Sindhi speaking Memon. His mother Afshan Qureshi and aunt Rozina Qureshi were famous film actresses of their times. Now his mother appears mostly on the smaller screen. His father, Abid Qureshi was an actor too, and wanted to see his son achieve great heights as an actor and to prepare him, he enrolled Qureshi into every sport, skill and activity imaginable - horse-riding, classical dancing, swimming, cricket and the list goes on. Faysal was just over 17 years old when his father got diagnosed with brain haemorrhage. All their wealth and property was spent on his treatment and that's when Qureshi decided to appear into films, to support his family. Unfortunately, just a month before his movie released, his father died, leaving his wish of seeing his son as a movie star unfulfilled. To this day, this remains Faysal's biggest regret that his father could not witness his success.

Career

Quraishi began his career as a child artist and appeared in the plays ''Emergency Ward'' and Andhera Ujala for PTV. He made his film debut as an actor in the 1992 film ''Saza''. He starred in 19 movies over the span of 4 years, but could not create a concrete place for himself, and switched to the smaller screen. He first played minor roles in television serials before landing his first lead role as "Boota" in ''Boota from Toba Tek Singh'' in 1999 which made him an overnight star, then there was no looking back''.'' Faysal has also appeared as a judge on competition shows ''Dum Hai To Entertain Kar'' and ''Nachle.'' He also hosted the reality show ''Hero Banney Ki Tarang'' and the morning show '' Muskurati Morning'' on TVOne Global. He also played a variety of characters in many critically acclaimed dramas, including ''Meri Zaat Zarra-e-Benishan'' (2009), '' Meri Ansuni Kahani'' (2009), '' Masuri'' (2005), ''Roag'' (2014), ''Main Abdul Qadir Hoon'' (2010), ''Qaid-e-Tanhai'' (2010), and ''Kis Din Mera Viyah Howay Ga'' (2011–2018), ''Rang Laaga'' (2015), '' Muqaddar'' (2020), and many others.. In 2018, he was seen in a revenge based drama series ''Khalish.''Faysal also played the leading role in the 2014's meha-hit critically and commercially acclaimed drama serial ''Bashar Momin'' which was the 1st ever Pakistani drama to air on Indian television.

In 2015, ''Daily Pakistan