Faysal Quraishi

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.[8] Now, his mother appears mostly on the small 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.[9][10]

Quraishi began his career as a child artist and appeared in the plays Emergency Ward and Andhera Ujala for PTV.[9] 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 TV One. 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 critically and commercially acclaimed drama serial Bashar Momin, which was the first Pakistani drama to air on Indian television.[11]

In 2015, Daily Pakistan reported that Faysal has become one of the highest-paid artists of television, charging Rs. 3 million per episode and continues to be one of the most sought after and highest paid actors in Pakistan today.[4]

From 2016 to 2019, Faysal hosted the morning show Salam Zindagi which aired on ARY Zindagi.[12] Qureshi was appointed as a CLF Goodwill Ambassador by the Children's Literature Festival on 30 July 2019.[13]