Meet The ‘FilmMigrants’

George Clooney, SRK, and Nadeem all began their careers on TV before making it huge!

Think of the most successful actors and you will be amazed that nine out of ten actors that come to mind are usually film actors because they work on bigger projects, their movies have a recall value and they are paid more than their TV counterparts. However, from Hollywood to Bollywood, most of the big names began their careers on TV, and owe their success to the lesser-paid medium, which is now giving the ‘elder brother’ a tough time. Be it Clint Eastwood, Nadeem Baig, or Shah Rukh Khan, most of the big names in films started small but peaked when it was time to raise the bar.

Pakistani actors who owe their success to TV

Working in a film is nothing less than a dream for actors, especially in this part of the world. It was the first audio-visual medium in the country until TV made its appearance in the 1960s. It was through TV that actor Nadeem began his career as a singer and was offered his first film role in Chakori, becoming the first person to crossover to films from the smaller platform. Veteran actor Talat Hussain followed him next and appeared in films alongside leading actors such as Waheed Murad, Mohammad Ali as well as Nadeem, and later was part of international films like Sautan Ki Beti in India, and Jinnah & Import Export in Europe. He even played the main antagonist in the British TV show Traffik which was later adapted by Hollywood.

In the golden era of Waheed Murad, Mohammad Ali, and Nadeem, the arrival of a lanky Ghulam Mohiuddin opened the doors for TV actors who managed to make it big in films. Before him, many TV artists like Zahoor Ahmed and Subhani Ba Yunus appeared in films but never as the main lead, something that ‘Gullu Bhai’ changed with his power-packed performances, most notably in Mera Naam Hai Mohabbat. Although he hadn’t done much TV before his film debut, actors like Izhar Qazi, and Ismail Shah followed suit and managed to do well in films with only Izhar returning to TV for Zakham as Ismail Shah chose to make a name for himself as the dancing hero on the big screen.

If you compile the list of highest-grossing films in Pakistan, the names of Humayun Saeed and Fahad Mustafa will appear in most of the films. The two actors are products of TV and are should also be credited for the revival of the current Pakistani cinema. Had Humayun Saeed not used his experience of acting on TV to produce Main Hoon Shahid Afridi or Fahad Mustafa not accepted the lead role in Na Maloom Afraad, the cinema industry in Pakistan might not have seen the rise that touched its peak in 2022.

Film’s gain is TV’s loss here because Fahad Mustafa hasn’t acted on TV in over eight years while Humayun Saeed’s last two acting projects on TV came in 2016 and 2019. His portrayal of Hasnat Khan in Netflix’s The Crown may be counted as a TV project than a film, but by acing it, he made Pakistan proud. The two, however, are constantly producing quality TV dramas and are amongst the top producers in the country today.

Not many remember but the two stars of The Legend of Maula Jatt – Fawad Khan and Hamza Ali Abbasi – also owe their success to TV. While Fawad Khan played the legendary Bond in Jutt and Bond two decades back, Hamza appeared in Meray Dard Ko Jo Zuban Miley before entering filmdom with Mian Hoon Shahid Afridi and Waar. Had they not been groomed by TV, they might not have been able to raise the bar and give Pakistan its biggest blockbuster of all time.

The case of Javed Sheikh is different in many ways because he started his acting career with Dhamaka in 1974 but the film bombed so badly at the box office that he had to switch to TV where he did well as a romantic hero. It was only after the success of Unkahi that he returned to films and began his second innings which saw him do so well that he even acted in a handful of Bollywood films including Namaste London, Om Shanti Om, and Sadiyan.

As for actresses, the most successful film star from the 1970s and the 1980s Babra Sharif appeared in a TV commercial, an episode of a TV show, and a serial before making it big in films. When she was surpassed by younger actresses in the 1990s, she returned to TV with Nadan Nadia and ensured her career ended with a full circle. One must also mention comedy kings Umer Sharif and Moin Akhtar here who ventured into films but they were more stage artists than TV actors, and even though Umer Sharif found success in the early 1990s, he wasn’t able to sustain that success later.

Bollywood biggies who were household names before films

Undoubtedly the Indian film industry is bigger in every way than that in Pakistan, however many of their leading film actors had to use TV as a springboard to jump into the film world. Leading film actor Shah Rukh Khan’s example is the most quoted one in this case who appeared in two TV dramas – Fauji and Circus in the late 1980s and the early 1990s respectively before taking the giant leap and becoming the King Khan of Bollywood.

The late Irrfan Khan who went on to make a name for himself in Hollywood also started his career on Indian TV and before Salaam Bombay! was part of popular TV shows such as Bharat Ek Khoj, Ssshhhh…Koi Hai, and Mano Ya Na Mano to name a few. Ayushman Khurrana of Vicky Donor fame, the late Sushant Singh Rajput, comedian Rajpal Yadav and even one of the 3 Idiots R. Madhavan were TV actors before following SRK’s lead and ended up in Bollywood, carving a separate identity for themselves.

The Bollywood beauties like Vidya Balan and Yami Gautam aren’t far behind their male counterparts; while Vidya Balan was a known face through the popular TV show Hum Paanch, Yami appeared in Chand Ke Paar Chalo, as well as CID and Yeh Pyar Na Hoga Kam. Others like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Deepika Padukone, and Anushka Sharma were noticed through TV commercials and owe their discovery to the ‘idiot box’.

American TV gave Hollywood its biggest stars

It might be surprising for some but many of Hollywood’s elite started on the small screen. Some were part of popular sitcoms; some made their presence felt in medical dramas while others rose to the challenge in cowboy westerns. In fact, if you pick ten names from Hollywood then seven of them would be actors who used TV to make it big in films and were part of huge hits later in their careers.

It all began when an unsuccessful film actor named Clint Eastwood decided to switch to TV back in the 1950s to give his career the stability his small supporting roles were unable to provide. In less than a decade he was amongst the top actors in Hollywood and the Rawhide experience gave his career a new lease of life. He went on to act and direct some of the best films of the last fifty years and despite being in his 90s hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down.

Similarly, two of the biggest Bond actors Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan were stars of The Saint and Remington Steele respectively before they portrayed 007 on the big screen. Be it Die Hard’s Bruce Willis or Back to the Future’s Michael J Fox, without Moonlighting and Family Ties, they might not have become the stars they eventually did. Whenever the name of Robin Williams (Mork and Mindy), Tom Hanks (Bosom Buddies), Morgan Freeman (The Electric Company), Johnny Depp (21 Jump Street), and John Travolta (Welcome Back, Kotter) will be mentioned, their exploits on TV would also come to fore because it gave them the platform to succeed without wanting anything in return.

Matinee idols George Clooney (ER), Bradley Cooper (Alias), Chris Hemsworth (Home and Away), Heath Ledger (Sweat), and Will Smith (Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) might be bigger film stars today but they were once future prospects thanks to Television. Not many remember that Chris Pratt was actually the goofball in Parks and Recreation, mostly because he went on to make a name for himself as an action star courtesy Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World franchise.

Even the star of Titanic, Shutter Island, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Leonardo DiCaprio (Growing Pains) began small as did Michael Douglas (The Streets of San Francisco), Denzel Washington (St. Elsewhere), Jared Leto (My So-Called Life), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (3rd Rock from the Sun), Idris Elba and Michael B. Jordan (The Wire), Benedict Cumberbatch (Fortysomething), Alec Baldwin (Knots Landing), Chris Evans (Opposite Sex), Michael Fassbender and Tom Hardy (Band of Brothers).

On one hand, Woody Harrelson was famous long before his film debut due to super successful sitcom Cheers, on the other, the currently most successful film actor in the world Samuel L Jackson had to be content with his career on TV and had to wait till the 1990s to make others note of his talent. Interestingly, Jim Carrey, Jamie Foxx, Steve Carell, Adam Sandler, and Eddie Murphy used their gigs in leading TV shows to make inroads in films, Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake, and Britney Spears were part of The Mickey Mouse Club reboot back in 1990.

Amongst leading Hollywood actresses, Jennifer Aniston leads the way because she used her success from Friends intelligently to succeed where not many female actors fared well – in cinema. Others like Sally Field (Gidget), and Halle Berry (Living Dolls) might have been there, done that before her but Jennifer Lawrence (The Bill Engvall Show), Amy Adams (The Office), and Melissa McCarthy (Gilmore Girls) did follow the Rachel pattern and even today credit TV for their success in films.

And then there were those who adopted the change easily

Once upon a time, it was considered degrading for film stars to appear on TV, as it was seen as a step backward. However, many actors across the world have used TV as a second option while doing well in films, including the legendary Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, and even Meryl Streep. If these Oscar winners can make the switch comfortably, then so can the rest and they have.

Gone are the days when actors with no successful films like Shakeel, Rahat Kazmi, and Faysal Quraishi had to fall back on TV to survive because now TV is becoming as huge as films. Even the legendary film actor Mohammad Ali who once said ‘whoever doesn’t succeed in films, does well on TV’ had to act in a TV drama after retiring from films. Not only it means that there is still hope for TV stars Sami Khan and Mikaal Zulfiqar, but also for those film actors who have looked down on TV for so many years.

Renowned film actor Shan Shahid is certainly not one of them because unknown to many, he acted in a TV drama Kachchay Dhaagay during the 1990s where film stars Mohsin Khan and Deeba Begum were also part of the cast. While his co-stars managed to do well on TV, Shan used the opportunity to make a comeback in films and hasn’t looked back since.

Deeba Begum’s frequent co-stars in films – Agha Talish and Sabiha Khanum – also appeared on TV as did film actor Hameed Wyne who in his second innings was more popular with the younger generation. While Agha Talish’s only TV appearance happened a few years before his death, it is said that the character played by Subhani Ba Yunus in Tanhaiyyan was written for the veteran film actor and he even showed his interest to play it. Before Dhoop Kinaray and Ehsaas, Hameed Wyne and Sabiha Khanum were film veterans and TV gave them the chance to explore character acting like never before.

On the other hand, not many Bollywood actors have transitioned well to TV and that has more to do with the popularity of Indian films. Even though Rohit Roy, Alok Nath, Shivaji Satam, and Aasif Sheikh are still doing well on TV, except for Rohit Roy, none are getting central roles in films.

It’s different in Hollywood where the dynamics are changing, thanks to OTT platforms like Netflix, HBO Max, and others. Be it The Streets of San Francisco Karl Malden, everyone’s favorite detectives Telly Savalas aka Kojak and Peter Falk aka Columbo, the A-Team leader George Peppard, or more recently, the NCIS alumni Mark Harmon, they all appeared in films before entertaining the TV audience with their performances. In fact, Ernest Borgnine who played Dominic Santini in Airwolf had won an Oscar for Best Actor in the 1950s before switching allegiance and making McHale’s Navy popular on the smaller platform.

The act of migration of these actors was followed by film actors Jude Law, who was nominated twice for an Academy Award, Orlando Bloom who appeared in The Lord of the Rings franchise, in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, as well as the legendary Sir Anthony Hopkins who returned to the TV when Westworld was brought to the ‘idiot box’.

Former child star turned actress Dakota Fanning is amongst the many actresses who have managed to carve a separate identity for themselves in both films and TV. If you thought her performance in I Am Sam was good, then think again for she has transitioned into TV perfectly, through The Alienist. Academy Award winner Meryl Streep who appeared in the miniseries Angels in America, as well as the massively successful Big Little Lies opposite leading ladies Nicole Kidman, and Reese Witherspoon, are also there in the list.

The heartthrob of the 1990s Winona Ryder is now popular among the newer generation as the mother in Stranger Things. Penélope Cruz (American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace) and Jessica Lange (American Horror Story) aren’t far behind while Julia Roberts who had a famous guest appearance in Friends back in the 1990s ruled the airwaves when she starred in Homecoming in 2018.