Immensely talented ''Hasan Rizvi'' all set for a Silver Screen Debut

Karachi, January 29: Dance visionary, musical director, stage actor and choreographer Hasan Rizvi is all set to wear yet another hat. After countless masalaydaar performances at award shows and fashion shows the young and talented dancer will be featuring for the first time in not one, not two, but three Pakistani films, all being produced this year. For this larger than life screen presence Hasan Rizvi had to undergo heavy weight-loss. When asked about the drastic change in his avatar Hasan Rizvi comments, “There is no secret or short cut to weight loss. You have got to lock up those lips and throw away the key. It took me five months to loose six inches from my waistline and I still have a long way to go before I hit the six-pack.”

Rizvi’s latest music venture ‘Pepsi Unplugged’ has risen in popularity all over the nation. Rizvi is also launching a bigger and better plan for Unplugged this year with artistes from all over the country. The platform is also opening its doors to rising talent with new gigs in Karachi, Lahore and Dubai. The line up will also include some international artistes so keep a lookout for the 11 scheduled Unplugged events for this year.

Immensely talented ''Hasan Rizvi'' all set for a Silver Screen Debut

ABOUT HASAN RIZVI

Hasan Rizvi is a dance visionary; musical director, actor and choreographer. He shot to instant fame by organizing the first Hip-Hop, Bhangra and Bollywood dance tableau of Pakistan – Cinema Live – in which he displayed his directorial, acting and choreography skills. Hasan Rizvi’s recent work includes television commercials for Lipton, Warid Glow, Soul, Nestle, Samsung, Tapal Tea amongst others. His credit listings also include performances in, and choreography of, Chahiye Komal Rizvi’s Comeback Video (June 2010), Samar Mehdi Fashion Show (April 2008), HUM Tele Film Awards (December 2008), Nestle TVC (2009), Dance Couture (2008), Imaginations Unwrapped for LG & ElectroLux (2009), Pakistan Media Awards (2014), Bridal Couture Week (2011, 2012, 2013 * 2014), Pantene Hair-Mob, as well as a dance for television serial ‘Ishq Junoon Dewangi’. However, he is also known for establishing and running the first Health & Fitness studio of Pakistan – BBRC. Hasan, was elected ‘Hip Hop Ambassador’ by the US department of State to represent Pakistan in 2010 which included state state performances in the United States.

Early Life

Born in London, UK to business entrepreneur, S. Tariq Fuad Rizvi, and Rana Tariq in the spring of 1984, Rizvi spent his childhood in Lagos, Nigeria, where his family had moved for a few years. Rizvi did his high schooling from Karachi, Pakistan and later moved to Canada for his Honors degree in economics. While there, he also availed the opportunity to be formally trained in different dance genres, having been interested in dance since the age of seven. His exposure to different cultures allowed him to explore dance forms like Bollywood, hip hop, contemporary, rain dance, salsa, classical, bhangra and break dancing. But, the dance genres that Rizvi found most fascinating were hip-hop, Bollywood and bhangra, and he dedicated his free time to mastering these forms by formally receiving training from several reputed choreographers.

Career

Rizvi’s first live public performance was in a South Asian Alliance competition held at Hershey’s Center, Toronto, Canada in March 2007 in which several universities all over North America participated. Over 7000 auditions were held nation-wide from which 15 universities were selected as finalists. Needless to say, Rizvi’s team of 30 students came home with the first prize. On his return to Pakistan Rizvi accepted an offer to choreograph and perform for Samar Mehdi Fashion Show where he had the opportunity to work with Pakistan’s top models – Iraj Manzoor, Sunita Marshal, and Nadya Hussain — for the very first time.

Not content to rest on his laurels, Rizvi was determined to make dancing a respectable and sought-after medium of expression among the elite. Hence, he introduced the first Bollywood and hip-hop Dance Studio in Pakistan – BodyBeat Productions – in May 2008. The Studio was an instant success with a waiting list that stretched for several months. Soon news of its popularity spread across the Wagah border, and the Press Trust of India approached BodyBeat for a hot-seat interview of Hasan Rizvi.

Later the same year, Hasan was offered to perform at one of the few award ceremonies in Pakistan recognizing talent from across Pakistan – HUM Tele Film Festival Awards. In addition to choreographing Meera’s dances for the show, he performed alongside actor and model, Humaima Mallick.

Rizvi reached out to an even larger audience by launching the first Bollywood and hip-hop dance tableau in Pakistan, Cinema Live. He brought together Shahid Sharif (model), Sana Jafri (VJ), Jibran Zuberi (TV host and producer), Maya Khan Rind (television host/actor), Faisal Kapadia (singer-Strings) and Komal Rizvi (television host/actor) for this one-of-a-kind event. Rizvi put up a five-day show that was widely appreciated by the electronic and print media alike.

Rizvi’s has also performed and choreographed for a drama serial, ‘Ishq Junoon Dewangi’, in June 2009 during which he worked with some of Pakistan’s biggest TV actors – Adnan Siddiqui, Humayun Sayeed and Humaima Abbasi – and award-winning producer, Momina Duraid.

Personal Life

Rizvi was exposed to the television industry at a very young age with his sister Komal Rizvi launching her first pop album in Pakistan; later re-launching it in India and the rest of Asia. Rizvi married his childhood sweetheart, a talented footwear designer, Hina Ramzi, in July 2007. Hina is not only the co-founder of BodyBeat but was also the producer of Cinema Live. The couple are parents to a pair of delightful twins.