AgeThirty-three.Married?Very much so. Besides being a very loving husband, Khalid Sayed is presently playing the role an expectant father. "My wife is my real soulmate, but I need someone to fight with." And he fervently hopes this someone is a boy. "I really need someone with whom I can play football and also occasionally bash up. If it's a girl, I will end up being a doting and loving father."What does he do besides thinking about his baby?Well, Khalid is the think-tank of Star TV. As the creative director of Star TV, he designed a promo for Rendezvous with Simi Garewal and ended up winning an award like the Promox Gold for his efforts.And where was he before winning the award?Khalid worked as an assistant director for the movie Patthar Ke Phool, and directed around 30 commercials like Seema bulbs and Nerolac paints. He cut promos for Star Sports, Star Plus and Star Movies. But what made him famous was the first Essel World ad,where he came on screen screaming Essel World mein rahoonga mein, ghar nahin jaoonga mein. Later when he tired of directing BPL Oye which was Oye MTV at that time, "All these veejays shaking and jiggling their bodies and going mumbo-jumbo, was not my cup of tea", Khalid joined the promos department. And the rest, as they say, is history.Coming back to the award, wasn't the prize-winning, tastefully done promo a bit colourless?Yes. In fact, it was in black and white. "Though picture perfect, there was something missing in the spot. And as I slowly wiped out the colours from the screen, the result was dramatic." What with Simi wearing white, the whole effect of a travelling light passing through her image, gave it a sublime and ethereal look.Resulting in the judges getting dazzled by its brilliance.Incidentally, talking about judges is taboo here. "Some are bankers, some from advertising; and all they see is how beautiful the spots look. No one cares aboutcreativity or budget constraints."As for Khalid the art of creating this 30-second spots is as important as accounts.He laughs at the TV channels who pump in millions for big spots. For Khalid an average spot costs around Rs 10,000, which includes the entire off-line, on-line, audio, voice-over, courier and the conveyance charges of his producers. "We produce champagne spots on beer budgets."And this was how Star Plus broke away from its English aura and turned more Indian.They have definitely created a distinct identity for themselves. "Now, when I see other channels like Sony TV, I find all my promos copied there. But then it's great to be a leader, as this assures that we will be always one step ahead, and they will keep picking our leftovers."Again, Khalid has got used to it, as this was not the first time his idea was picked up by others.Earlier Khalid had created some spoofs on Hindi movies, like the lost-and- found brothers and the famous temple sceneof Deewar, for Zee Cinema. "Two years down the line, MTV copied every spot and even won awards for it! I was livid. The judges are real fools - the kind people who might not have seen a television in their lives."That was then, but what does he think of the promo field in India today?"We are treading on a fine line. People should understand that promos are not just fun, we are promoting a product here."Which for Khalid is more of story telling."Designing and making funny remarks is not all. I think of stories as a pattern - they have a beginning and an end. I won't have someone coming and squeaking an alecky line at the end, and make faces at the camera for no reason."And what would he do with a reason?Khalid is planning to make a movie some time in the near future. "I hate anybody who consider women as inferior or treat them as an object. Wait till I make a film. I will make my hero this so-called macho man and make a mockery out of them." But whatKhalid doesn't need a reason for, is to sleep. "I can sleep anywhere - in the bus, the train, a car - at the drop of a hat".So what is this conscientious director most likely to say"Bas kya?"And least likely to say?"I'm busy."
