He`s probably shooting at a drama set as I write this.

For the past few months, Shuja Asad has perpetually been bouncing between drama sets, squeezing in a fashion shoot or a TV ad in between. I know this for a fact his manager and I have both collectively shrugged our shoulders and laughed with resignation as we peered over his chocka-block schedule, while we attempted relentlessly to coordinate a time to meet. The one day that Shuja does get free, we finally get the chance.

There is so much that I want to ask Shuja, this golden boy who has been proving his mettle again and again over the span of a single year. He came into the spotlight as the romantic Barlas Khan in the drama Khaie and followed it up with a diverse mix of characters he stalked and sneered as the malevolent Shahroz in Ae Ishq-i-Junoon (AIJ) and played the lovable dancer Sonu in Tann Mann Neel-o-Neel (TMNN). In Yasir Hussain`s drama Paradise, he`s taking on the romcom arc, alongside actress Iqra Aziz, and he`s only just started shooting a drama directed by Mehreen Jabbar, with actress Kubra Khan as the female lead.

The work that he is doing veers into so many different directions that it is obvious that, even at this very initial stage of his career, Shuja is being selective.

It`s also obvious that quite an assortment of scripts is coming his way, allowing him the luxury to pick and choose. And even though Shuja is very good-looking the drop-dead kind, the kind that has the female audience swooning and has fashion brands making a beeline to feature him in their shoots it would beunfair to credit his career highs just to his good looks.

He nods, when I mention this. `If looks made such a big difference, then so many others who are far more good looking than me would have gotten far ahead in their careers. If you don`t understand the character that you`re playing, good looks won`t make much of a difference. I think I am just alright.` He shrugs.

`Just alright` Shuja, sitting across from me, wearing a basic black tee and looking like he`s stepped right off a glossy billboard, grins and elaborates. `For instance, looks weren`t important for my character Sonu in the drama Tann Mann Neel-o-Neel. Yes, Shahroz in Ae Ishq-i-Junoon had to look suave and sophisticated, so he wore rings and chains, and had a mullet.

He has had the opportunity to play so many interesting, challenging roles. Is he generally a lucky person? He smiles, clearly choosing his words: `I am very lucky but, to be able to have this luck, I had to work my way to get here.

He is, of course, hinting at struggles that he may have faced in the initial years of his career. At this point, though, Shuja is just excited about the opportunities that are coming his way. Why dwell in the murky waters of the past when you could look ahead towards a bright future? PICKING AND CHOOSING But first, we focus on the present: is he selecting scripts very carefully? `Yes, obviously,` he says. `I want to do as much different work as possible and I have consciously tried not to rush into roles that I may regret playing later. At the same time, I know it`s important to not be over-careful.You never know what will be a hit and what won`t be, and I don`t want to end up missing out on good opportunities.

So, he generally has a knack for recognising scripts that will probably work well? `I think a lot of credit for my script selection goes to my team,` Shuja nods at his manager, sitting with us.

`Back when I was completely on my own, I would think that I would do this or that. Now, I realise that there is a lot of content being made that is repetitive and if I opt to be part of it, I risk not being able to do roles that are different. I don`t just want to be the hero wearing a dress shirt and pants, sitting in a family dining room and embroiled in family politics.

Oh, you mean the typical TV drama hero, the one who cheats on his wife? Who cries? Who is an essential linchpin in the saas-bahu power games? `Yes,` he laughs. `A lot of those roles have come my way.

What about the hero who is the brooding wadera [feudal lord], possessing the superpower of being able to beat up dozens of bad guys, perpetually angry except when he becomes a pussycat around his lady love? Shuja clutches his head, smiling.

`Yes, some of those have been offered to me too and, while I haven`t acted in them yet, I might do so in the future. If I like the message in the script or if I feel that the story has entertainment value, I might do it. What I really want to do right now, though, is experiment.

But if he leans more towards experimental stories rather than the cookie-cutter, commercially `safe` ones, won`t it mean that less work will come his way? It might also mean that he will earn less. `Not at all,` he tells me, evidently having thought this through. `I think quality has a way of reaching out to people and more work, more ads, more money, just follows.

His characters in his past three dramas Khaie, TMNN and AIJ may have gotten a lot of attention but they ultimately all die. That`s such a strange coincidence, isn`t it? `Yes, and it wasn`t my decision!` he laughs. `And I did do a rom-com telefilm right after Khaie, called Achari Mohabbat, in which my character stays alive.

And then, the next script he signed on to was AIJ, in which he plays the manipulative, immoral Shahroz. Did he worry that by playing a negative character at such an early point in his career, he might get typecast? `I wasn`t afraid of getting typecast but I did have some apprehensions, especially when enacting certain scenes with Ushna Shah,` he says. `My character wasn`t depicted as completely evil right from the beginning. It was only later that he became really creepy. Ultimately, the story was good and the message that was being given out through it was a good one.

He continues, `Shahroz was a heavy character to enact. He was over-the-top, psychotic, bipolar and I had to hype myself up before a scene. Sometimes I would slap myself just to get into character! I would improvise here and there and when the director Qasim Ali Mureed would laugh from behind the monitor, I would feel encouraged that I was doing something right. I did notice that I would be exhausted after shooting.

He adds: `There was also the fact that, at one point, I was shooting Ae Ishq-iJunoon and Paradise in Karachi, and Tann Mann Neel-o-Neel in Rawalpindi, simultaneously. I would be rushing from one set to the other, losing my voice sometimes. It was all so hectic that all I could do was eat, to keep my energy up, things such as biryani, burgers, so much junk food! I have to stop now,` he says, partly to himself.

I tell him that the careless eating doesn`t show at all Shuja obviously has the fast metabolism that nature bestows particularly on the young.

We move on to TMNN that was an intense drama. Was shooting it just as tough? `Not always,` says Shuja.

`The dancing parts were difficult because we would only get most of the sequence on the day on which we were supposed to film it. I remember only getting to practise my steps right before the shoot.

`Playing Sonu was easy in some ways. The script by Mustafa Afridi was absolutely on-point. During the initial filming, I did improvise and the director, Saife Hassan Sir,told me that there was no need, that I just needed to say the dialogues as they were and if he felt that I needed to do more, he would tell me.

He adds, `In the case of Tann Mann, there was the pressure of handling a topic that was so sensitive. The scenes and the dialogues were very long and I had to make sure that I did justice to them. The final scene was an intense one. I did not know at first that my character was going to die in the end but when I found out, I understood that this was how it should be, for the story to truly make an impact.

He recalls the shooting of TMNN`s much-talked-about tragic final scene.

`My co-actress Sehar Khan shot her segment first and she returned with bruises, completely exhausted. I asked her what had happened and she said that it was a very difficult scene. Then, Ali Ammar went to shoot his part and even he returned dishevelled. By the time it was time for me to shoot, I was scared already.

`First, I did a survey of the narrow alleys in which we were supposed to run.

We were shooting in a neighbourhood in Rawalpindi and, just a day earlier, Sehar`s assistant had got a gash on his neck from a kite string hanging there.

So, I did a careful survey of the streets before the camera rolled and I had to sprint down it. Luckily, I didn`t get hurt! Shuja continues: `It was such a moving scene and my sisters told me that they cried for two, three days after watching it. The characters were all so relatable and the storytelling was so natural that the audience was really moved.

The drama also got a lot of acclaim internationally. I ask Shuja which drama of his does he feel really got noticed by audiences living beyond Pakistan? `All of them,` he says. `People loved Khale, then Ae Ishq-i-Junoon, then Tann Mann Neel-o-Neel. My siblings and half of my in-laws live abroad and so I get to hear from them how desi families in different parts of the world are avidly following Pakistani dramas.

MR POPULAR Have his peers in the industry also applauded him for his recent roles where he has unarguably performed really well? `A lot of them are very encouraging, says Shuja. `Behroze Sabzwari often reaches out to me, appreciating my performances. Then, Faysal Quraishi, who I worked with in Khale, tells me when he really likes my work.

`There are a lot of people in the industry who have been very helpful.

I am a big fan of Faysal Quraishi, and I felt a bit intimidated when I first worked with him in Khale. But then, he was so helpful that I became at ease. I would ask him how he managed to make his voice have a heavy base. And then, Ahad Raza Mir recently gave me a two-and-a-half hour-long masterclass in acting. He loves teaching and I love to learn and I really enjoyed myself.

It generally does seem that Shuja is very well-liked in the entertainment industry. What`s the secret to his popularity? `I am just very focused on my work, he says. `Sometimes, I`ll be on set with the script in my hand, pacing back and forth all day long, learning my lines! I just want to do my work really well and I don`t have any personal agendas.

He continues, `I also consider myself to be very lucky to be working in the industry at a time when there are so many other young actors and actresses who are all working very hard and doing amazing work. There is no rivalry amongst us. Even when one of us does really well, it strengthens the industry and is beneficial for all of us.

Does he feel that TV drama content is changing for the better? `Absolutely, ever since the pandemic,` he says.

`A new channel came in and started bringing out different content and it prompted other production houses and channels to also do the same. It is my privilege to be acting at such a time and to be part of some of these projects.

`I was in College Gate, a drama for the youth, in Khale, an action-packed drama, and in Tann Mann Neel-o-Neel, which followed an indie format with just 11 episodes! All these dramas dabbled with new narratives.

SHUJA AND HIS GIRL GANG Has his social media fan following increased over the past year, as he`s churned out one hit after the other? `Yes, of course. I usually don`t read messages sent to me on Instagram usually I just upload a post and log off, but I am happy that so many people like my work,` he says.

Most of these people must be girls, I observe. Shuja laughs, turning beetroot red. `Yes, that happens.

I get a bit intrusive here: does the increasing female attention make his wife uncomfortable? `No, why should it?` he asks. `I do my work and go home. People who are secure in their relationships don`t let such things bother them.

Shuja got married to Maheen Saeed five odd years ago. Can we hear their love story? He recounts: `She and I were childhood friends and, back in 2019, her father passed away and, about 10 days later, so did mine. During this difficult phase, we were both visiting each other`s homes and looking out for each other.

My mother and I really appreciated her support and my mother told me that she was going to get me married to her. I said, okay, that`s a good thing.

He smiles. `It was such a beautiful decision. A lot of the blessings in my life right now have come after my marriage to Maheen. I can`t praise her enough.

She is very supportive and always there for me. That`s all I can say I don`t want to talk about our marriage too much because I am scared of nazar [the evil eye].

The discussion moves on to all the women in Shuja`s life: `I grew up surrounded by women. My brother moved abroad a long time ago and I spent a lot of time with my sisters and my mother.

These women around me my mother, sisters, wife, manager are not ordinary women. They have all achieved so much on their own, without any mentor or support, and they keep me grounded.

So, he isn`t floating on air? His feet are firmly on the ground? `Yes, and that`s how it should be, right?` he says.

`My family doesn`t let me get pompous and it`s also not in my nature to be that way. Ultimately, I am leaving my house everyday and going on set because I want to do good work. There is no time for my ego to get inflated! Marriage must be like a safety net, I tease and joke with him a bit, allowing him to be at ease with female co-stars without fearing that someone might get the wrong idea or a rumour may start off. And there he goes, laughing and turning beetroot red again. `They are all just co-actors,` he points out to me.

`Most of the time on set, all of us are just talking about our characters, going over our lines, practising.

Does his career at this point with all the attention, the drama offers and rave reviews coming in seem surreal to him sometimes? `Yes, very.

Sometimes, when I am talking to my wife, my mum, my manager, I can`t believe that I am at this point in my life, doing something that has always been my passion, and getting interesting offers. A few years ago, just achieving this much seemed so farfetched to me that I had stopped dreaming.

With the aid of hard work, talent and very intuitive script selection, Shuja`s dreams have started to come true. I am glad that I got to capture this initial, promising beginning to his career in our conversation. With the way Shuja`s trajectory is on the rise, I think and hope that there will be many more interviews in the future.