It was on the sets of Arzoo that these love birds met. It was purely fate that brought them together on this platform for the project was canned later on.

Little did Qaiser Khan Nizamani know that two years later he would be directing Arzoo himself. It was after some time that fate brought Qaiser and Fazila together a second time. Qaiser decided there and then to come out straight with his feelings for the lady. But at that time it was a one-sided affair. For Qaiser it was the proverbial love at first sight.

"I went up to Fazila and said, I'm interested in you; will you marry me?" Fazila was astounded and retorted, "marry a person like you; are you out of your mind?" And she walked off leaving behind an agitated Qaiser.

It was a blow to his ego. How could a girl just turn his proposal down. He was adamant that Fazila would be his and that is what ultimately happened.

Both hailed from rival political families. Of that neither was aware at that time. Qaiser was under the impression that Fazila was Qazi Wajid's daughter. "I made a lot of dumb calls at Qazi sahab's house." But gradually he found out more, gathering information about Fazila's background.

There was opposition from both the quarters at their decision. But it did not make much of a difference to either of them. "My family was more opposed as compared to Fazila's. Was the intensity the same from both the sides. "For me yes, but not for Fazila."

Life for Qaiser during his younger years remains a mystery. "From the maternal side I come from a political background and from the paternal side it's a gharib aadmi background. This disparity effected me as a child. But gradually I accepted the realities."

The day Qaiser was born he was adopted by his maternal grandparents. "My dad wanted me to be a doctor, the same as him. So it was admission in a medical college that I desired. When that failed to materialize I underwent a period of uncertainty." However, education was important so Qaiser ended up graduating in Microbiology.

After completing his studies, he went to Hyderabad and took up a construction job for some time. Next, he bought a poultry farm, all in vain as none of it thrilled him. It was at this juncture that Qaiser met Shafi Mohammed at a party who introduced him to the tele world."I made my debut in a Sindhi serial which was followed by Sahira Kazmi's Tapish in 1994."

Those were the times when the idea of a Sindhi actor as a hero was not appreciated by the showbiz clan.

"It made no difference to me. Allah says leave everything to me and I'll take care of things. That's exactly what I did."

It has been a decade since Qaiser became part of the scenario. He has now moved on to direction and production. Qaiser feels bad about the fact that so far only the negative side of Sindhis has been portrayed.

"This is to add spice to the otherwise dry stories." And when it comes to his spouse being a part of showbiz he says, "I don't have any qualms about Fazila working on TV as that's where we first met. It's a general belief that Sindhis are conservative. There are liberal and conservative people in all he groups.

But thanks to the electronic media people have a one sided picture of us," he says ruefully. Qaiser is out to change that. "I plan to produce stuff that will bring forth the positive and liberal side of Sindhis. We are the same as anyone else."

The artist firmly believes that to be a director one needs to be a photographer, an editor, an actor, makeup man, with knowledge and a broad vision as well. "I guess I can fit in the slot of a director as I know all of it. I have been trained in makeup and was a student of Nadeem A. Khan in photography. I have also had technical experience before I ventured into direction." He does the camera-work for all his projects.

Qaiser the photographer, started his career doing fashion shoots for magazines but gave it up as time was the one thing he was short of. He did not give up on it altogether and is planning on holding a photography exhibition soon.

His life is ruled by his work which takes up most of his time. But he sees to it that he devotes time to his children as he says, "My father never had time for me, that's not how I want it to be for my kids. If I'm not home they come to me on the set so it's not like we don't get time together." But his kids do not want to follow in their father's footsteps. "They're still too young to decide," he says matter-of-factly.

What's interesting to notice is that during his conversation Qaiser refers time and again to what Islam preaches. It's not difficult to make out that he has a religious streak in him.

"I'm just trying to be a good Muslim. Most of us do not know who we are. We do not know our religion. When I was in America with my co-stars for a recording, during a debate a gora said you're a Muslim. Tell me what the Quran says. It was extremely embarrassing admitting that I did not know. Same was the case with the others.

We were so ashamed at our ignorance towards our own religion that we all got down to studying the Quran. That was the turning point in my life. Since then, life seems to have taken on a whole new meaning. I have now found peace." He states that he had always wanted to be a Muslim by choice and not by birth.

His never venturing into films had nothing to do with his religious beliefs. "Iqbal Kashmiri wanted to cast me in a film and Moin Akhter urged me to take it up, but I declined." Why? "That is a Lahore-based industry and I cannot afford to move there. As it is, the filmi people are coming towards TV, so why should I strive for films?" He adds, "The television crowd is more sophisticated than the filmi clan."

When it comes to an interview Qaiser responds calculatedly as he says, "I have been giving interviews for the last ten years and am aware how careful you have to be when speaking." But once he gets started then he is more than willing to talk. This actor cum director has - even at this stage - not lost touch with Microbiology.

"Microbiology is constantly being updated in my family, my father sees to that. That knowledge is accumulating and comes in handy when the plants on our lands are infected."

That's Qaiser Nizamani who believes in putting all that he has learned over the years, to proper use.

At present his life is trying to juggle between a hectic schedule and a family, wanting to do justice to both. Desirous of having his own house someday, it appears that Qaiser will attain his goal sooner than later with the kind of hours he is devoting to work, work and work!