Hasan Rizvi – choreographer, family man, multi-tasking expert

Hasan Rizvi has energy. And that’s quite an understatement.

His first venture was the BodyBeat dance class, which eventually led to the establishment of the BodyBeat Recreational Center, leading to the BodyBeat Group which now serves as an umbrella for a number of various companies. Today, Hasan runs a dance studio, an event management company, a PR firm, and a content developing agency, amongst many other things. “My life is so scheduled, even the time I go to the bathroom is scheduled!” he tells us with a laugh.

As if all those things weren’t enough, Rizvi also made a cameo appearance in Lahore Se Agay last year, leading us to believe that acting is probably the next big step for him. “I was actually offered a small role in the film initially,” he admitted, “but I thought about it and decided that my debut should be big, and not a small role. So I told Wajahat I can do a performance or a song, but not a lead role. Eventually maybe yes, I might get into acting.” Hasan also mentioned how his company won’t be doing PR for movies anytime soon. “We’re waiting for films to become more structured. From release dates to the cast to stories, everything keeps changing; keeping the financial aspects aside I can’t make a fantastic enough PR plan for something like that.”

Speaking of his close links with the film and entertainment fraternity, we asked Rizvi about his involvement in the grand Lux Style Awards this year, “I actually declined to do it at first, then HSY asked me to come talk to him and I told him you only give me stars who can’t dance! I asked him to either give me Atif or Fawad, and I think Atif did a superb job. He’s not a star because of how big he’s become now, he was born to be a star.”

Hasan Rizvi, along with Ayesha Omar and Qurram Hussain, in the video of Cornetto Pop Rock’s ‘Turn up the music, Mr. DJ’

We were curious about Hasan’s involvement in his dance studio and  were told that he has stopped giving classes at his studio, which he calls his real passion, because of time constraints in his daily life and only does choreography that excites him. “I wouldn’t say I’m done with dance, but I’ve met my major goals…I’ve done all the big shows.” Despite his now minimal role in the BodyBeat Dance Studio, the classes are still packed, and most of them have a waiting list for registrations.

We asked Hasan if the new multitasking route is the only way to make it big these days, seeing numerous singers turn into actors, actors turn into directors and so on. “Well, what I believe is that one can’t be the Jack of all trades, but I do believe one can be the king of hearts and spades. We can focus on one or two things, but obviously can’t try to do everything.”

Having spoken about his various work related activities and roles, the most important question remained – how and when did Hasan manage time with his family? “It sounds sad, but I have a one hour time slot with my children everyday. I go home from work, we play, we go crazy and then I come back after putting them to bed.” Hasan also mentioned inventing various games and activities for his autistic son to enhance his various learning abilities and motor skills. “I am really, really blessed, yes God has given us autism but at the end of the day he has also given us so much more to be able to deal with it,” Hasan graciously admitted.

Next in line for the multi-tasker is expanding his flourishing company to UAE.

“The plan is to aim small now, I have done the biggest of everything already!”