Mahira Khan responds after Riz Ahmed says he is ready to collaborate

Islamabad: Actor Mahira Khan has indicated interest in working with British Pakistani actor Riz Ahmed after his recent remarks during an interview on the BBC Asian Network prompted widespread discussion online.

The exchange began during Ahmed’s appearance on the BBC Asian Network with Haroon Rashid, where the conversation turned to the possibility of him sharing the screen with a Pakistani star. Rashid said, "Why haven't you done anything with Mahira Khan? I think you'd look great together. Ahmed replied, I'm ready, I'm here, let's make it happen."

His response quickly drew attention on social media and generated excitement among fans in Pakistan and Britain. Mahira later added to the speculation by posting on Instagram,

I am ready too!

Her response further raised expectations of a possible collaboration between the two actors, although no official project has been announced.

Mahira is one of Pakistan’s best-known film and television actors and has previously appeared in major productions, including opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Raees. She began her career as a video jockey before making her acting debut in Shoaib Mansoor’s social drama Bol in 2011. The same year, she played a troubled wife in the television drama Humsafar, a performance that earned her the Lux Style Award for Best Television Actress.

She later received wider recognition for roles in television serials including Shehr-e-Zaat (2012), Sadqay Tumhare (2014), and Bin Roye (2016), collecting multiple best actress awards and nominations. In cinema, she starred in two of Pakistan’s highest-grossing productions, Bin Roye (2015) and Ho Mann Jahan (2016). Her first Hindi film was the 2017 crime thriller Raees, which ranked among the highest-grossing Indian films of that year.

She also drew critical praise for her performances in Verna (2017) and Superstar (2019). After a brief break, she returned in the 2022 action films Quaid-e-Azam Zindabad and The Legend of Maula Jatt, both of which became major box-office successes. She also produced the sports-based web series Baarwan Khiladi in 2022.

Outside acting, Mahira has supported causes related to women’s rights and the refugee crisis. She has worked with UNICEF since 2019 and was appointed national and global UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Afghan refugees in Pakistan the same year.

Ahmed, who studied acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, started out in independent films including The Road to Guantanamo (2006), Shifty (2008), Four Lions (2010), Trishna (2011), and The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012). His breakthrough came with Nightcrawler (2014), which was followed by roles in Jason Bourne and Rogue One in 2016.

For his role in the HBO miniseries The Night Of (2016), Ahmed won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series. He also received an Emmy nomination that year for a guest role in Girls. He later appeared in Venom (2018) and Sound of Metal (2019), with the latter earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Ahmed also produced, co-wrote and starred in Mogul Mowgli (2020), which received a BAFTA nomination for Outstanding British Film. In music, he is part of the Swet Shop Boys and has earned acclaim for the hip hop albums Microscope and Cashmere. He also featured on the Hamilton Mixtape, which topped the Billboard 200 chart, and his song Immigrants (We Get the Job Done) won an MTV Video Music Award.

For now, the possibility of a Mahira Khan-Riz Ahmed project remains unconfirmed, but the public exchange between the two actors has sparked anticipation among fans for a future cross-industry collaboration.