He moved between 7-8 schools and colleges during his younger days, but it was right since childhood that he envisioned a future in the acting space. Born and brought up in Dubai, he had his first experience of a live play while he was still in primary school, with Hunchback of Notre Dame being brought to The Millennium School in Dubai.
He remembers getting a seat right at the back with his friends, and the play just blew him away. After watching that play came the realization and the calling at a really young age that he wanted to act. Today 27 years old, he’s gone on to become famous across the globe after his lead role in The Lift Boy, which premiered on Netflix on 27th April 2020 and was trending in several countries as well.
In case you’re still wondering who we’re talking about, it’s Moin Khan who impressed one and all with his debut major performance as a lead actor. He first appeared in a film at the age of 17, doing a tiny role in Isi Life Mein…! – a 2010 film that was also the launch of Akshay Oberoi. Numerous advertisements followed in Moin’s journey, but The Lift Boy was his first real break as an actor.
Read Scoops spoke to him about how he got into acting, about this major breakthrough in his career, and all of the efforts that went into making this film. He recollected how Kevin Oliver brought that play to his school so many years back that sparked the idea of acting within him, and everything else is history. Read reading for our exclusive interview with Moin Khan…
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Hi Moin, tell us about the initial journey towards becoming an actor.
“I first felt the calling when I watched Kevin Oliver’s play in my school when I was a kid, but it was only later when I shifted to Mumbai that my acting career actually began. I wasn’t good at studying but my parents were very supportive of me, always. My mom gave me the go ahead. Initially, I made a friend whose father worked for Subhash Ghai for many years, and he’d always take me to movie sets where I started studying films. I didn’t want to just get into it without being ready, so I started taking acting tips, attending workshops, making friends who were into acting, and finally started auditioning when I felt I was slightly ready.”
“I made a lot of friends and my journey kept going along, doing a lot of ads and assisting as a casting director for a month until I got ‘fired’ from the job. However, it was that experience that led to getting this role in The Lift Boy. Everything was connected. Everything was a journey.”
How did you end up bagging the role of Raju?
“When I was Assistant Casting Director, I made a friend who ended up auditioning for The Lift Boy. She dropped me a text about the auditions, connected me to them, and they called me for a very tiny role, where I played only one scene in the movie. This character of Rishi was eventually cut off from the movie. I tested for that and luckily that day, John (Jonathan Augustin) had to be at a recce that got cancelled at the very last minute. He showed up at the office, I said hi to him and I left after my audition. I got a call back later where he asked me to come back the next day for another test for a character called ‘Raju’. I checked my email and got this 2-page long monologue and I said to myself, ‘Oh Damn! I’ve got to prepare a lot tonight’.”
ALSO READ: Behind the Lens: Jonathan Augustin on making ‘The Lift Boy’
“The casting director Ankita Bajaj called me the next day, and I made it 2 hours late because I knew it needed work and I didn’t want to mess that audition up. I was connected with John right from the start and while there is a usual shortlisting process in films, they confirmed my part immediately which was amazing. There was that initial phase of excitement after I got the part, but that lasted just about 2 hours. The excitement died down and panic rose as I realized the entire movie was about me. I was going to be judged on this, big time. I decided I had to give it my 100%, work on it day and night and till we finished shooting, my life was all about Raju and this role. The scooter ‘Rani’ was given to me for a few months during pre-production. I took her for rides by myself at nights, and I literally lived as Raju until shooting wrapped up.”
“There was a funny miscommunication that happened too. When I got the confirmation call a day after the audition, I was actually heading out for another audition and there was a lot of wind which was a major interference on the call. As a result, I didn’t hear the part where Ankita said ‘Welcome on board’, and I just heard her saying she’s sending over a script to read. I told her I was heading for an audition and would read it when I’m back home later than night. With complete excitement, I read the script as soon as I got home and immediately called Ankita but she had fallen asleep. Knowing I had the chance to play such a massive role in a film, I wouldn’t get sleep that night. Luckily, I had John’s number and I texted him saying I’d go all-in and give it my best if he gave me this film. The ‘typing’ message on WhatsApp went on for 2-3 minutes and I expected a long message, but he backspaced and decided to call me instead. He told me that the film is mine but I had to do him a favour and act surprised when Ankita broke the news to me the next day. I danced in excitement and there was no one to share it with at home except my younger brother, so I told him and tried to calm myself and get some sleep later that night.”
Your favourite co-star during the film?
“It has to be Nyla Masood 110%, primarily because I’ve spent so much of time with her during pre-production and production. However, I have a second favourite and that was my scooter, Rani. I loved her. The relationship flow was me listening to Mrs.D’Souza but Rani listening to me. It was special.”
READ ALSO: “The film has a Heart, a Soul” – Nyla Masood on The Lift Boy
…And your thoughts on Nyla’s performance in the movie?
“I honestly think she’s the best in the movie. She’s a really busy lady. She’s got her family, works for Amole Gupte in his movies, runs her own NGO called Dhai Akshar, and she was also adjusting me into her schedule now. She would give me all her time. She’d wake up, ask me to be there by 9am – I would always try to be on time but I’ll be honest, I may have not always been successful – and our relationship during the rehearsals was also very much like Raju and Maureen. We even reached a point where both didn’t have to open the script and go scene by scene. We ran through the entire movie without looking at the book because we rehearsed so much together. We did every scene literally 500 times, and I’m not even exaggerating.”
Favourite moment of the entire Lift Boy experience?
“I’ve not thought much about this one. The entire shoot was so special, but I think what I enjoyed the most were the scenes in the lift. The entire crew couldn’t come around the lift because the area was so confined. It would mostly be me alone or with another actor, so the camera would be set and the crew would all be behind. It was just me in there. I enjoyed that time and even after a take was done, they’d ask me if I wanted to come out but I preferred to stay in, because I knew I probably wouldn’t get to do such a shoot in my life again. In a lift. Funnily enough, I used to be very scared of lifts earlier in my life, but I overcame that fear and in fact, had so much of love for the lift here. I’ve always preferred to take the stairs if available and I’ve even been stuck in a lift before. In fact, Nyla got stuck in Jonathan’s office lift during the shoot, which was scary but it was also hilarious how every was running around to make sure she was okay.”
Tell us about Moin Khan’s life away from acting.
“If I’m not acting, I watch a lot of movies and TV shows, I read and practice the guitar right now too. So basically, everything around acting that would help me for future roles. I’m trying to do stuff I’ve never done before but I’m not a big fan of weight training and lifting dumbbells. While I’d love to do it for a role, I’d never do that in my personal life. Just the minimum to be fit like your functional training and cardio basics. My life more or less revolves around acting while I also look forward to travelling as far as possible. I just pack my bags and leave whenever I get the chance.”
The Lift Boy had a revival, a second chance with it being bought by Netflix. Did you see this happening?
“It’s like Phase 2 for the film. My personal expectations are always low because I believe you need to work hard and put in your best, and let the world figure out the rest. I put in my 100% and after that, everything that came in including the Dubai release was a bonus for me. When it came out on Netflix, I told some of my friends who missed it earlier to watch it. I had no idea of it being trending and stuff. So, they were excited but the next thing I know is I’m getting random messages, but like I said, everything was just a perk. I didn’t see any of this coming. What can I say, life is very surprising.”
“I’ve been getting the love and receiving messages from various countries, with UAE being one of them, where it was trending too. It was amazing and I’m very excited to go back to Dubai whenever possible. The film was also trending in Singapore, Pakistan, UK, Qatar, and I was very excited and happy to be getting texts from so many places inducing countries like USA, Switzerland and others.”
“I would like to specially thank the owner of Carter’s Blue, Mr. Mehboob Khan. He hasn’t been spoken about much but he has really supported the movie right from the start, coming in as a partner. He sent the entire unit food every day for those 23 days of shooting, and he deserves to be thanked big time,” he added as we wrapped up our conversation.
From being fired from a job as assistant casting director to being cast as the lead role in this film that has touched thousands of people across the globe, Moin’s story is an inspiring one. Will he be a one-time wonder? Or could he join a long list of successful Khans in the Bollywood fraternity? We believe it’s the latter and we wish him the best of luck for his acting career!
– Dwayne Fernandes, Read Scoops
(Twitter – @dwayneeeboy, Instagram – @dwayneeeboy)
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