I am waiting for a good script, says Zayed Khan in Kolkata after app launch

Excerpts.

Tell me a little about the app.

Well, IMKnotShy is basically an app designed as an icebreaker for people to virtually approach the person they like in real life, and want to have a friendship/relationship/ even marriage with. In most cases, it usually takes six months for a person just to say hi, and the best thing about the app is, even if the person says no, you can still walk away with your self-respect intact. That’s the basic idea, and obviously there are various verticals like sharing of gifts and having discussion groups etc. Right now, we’re just here on a soft launch to understand the various likes and dislikes of various cities, and what we could do to make this experience better for the user. 10% of all apps succeed, so we want to accumulate as much positive feedback as possible from everyone. I do feel that it serves a purpose in society and I think it can do very well if its idea is understood completely. Just like you have Uber and you don’t want to wait for a cab, IMKnotShy helps you to approach a person you don’t want to wait for to say hi and perhaps even have coffee with. So I do hope that the idea clicks with the people.

So, what made you come up with the idea in the first place?

So basically, a friend of mine who I was working with had this experience. He was sitting in the car at the traffic signal, and he saw this girl who he immediately liked. And not being the bold kinda person, he was really confused as to how he should simply approach her, and say Hi. And in the process, the light turned green, and she disappeared, and Whatsapp and Facebook were of no use obviously. He was quite angry and frustrated, and I guess this app simply came from a very real scenario of not wanting the same situation to happen to anybody else.

Have you ever faced such a situation in your younger days?

Haven’t we all (laughs)? We’ve all been teenagers, and had those awkward years and we’ve all had those moments about approaching the other person, especially when there’s school the next day. So yeah..It’s happened a couple of times..can’t say no.

So, other than films, is this a fundamental part of your life right now?

See, nothing is fundamental in life. It’s all about diversifying, see the playing field, do lots of things. At the end of the day I am not fixing the nuts and bolts, my coders and the team does that. I simply show the vision, and get the team to rally behind it. I do not sit behind the computer and punch in code, but I do know a lot of people who are good at that, but they don’t have a good idea to implement it. Thus I am doing a lot of things, films and real estate and digital platforms. The world’s your oyster.

How long did it take to implement this idea and what were the challenges that you faced?

I guess the biggest challenge was human resource capital. To get good people, good social media marketers, good coders, administrators, and to constantly back it up, was very challenging. It’s a very people intensive concept and especially today the digital world is so evolved, people switch jobs instantly. So to get a good team to rally behind is the hard part. This idea is a year and a half long, and it does take time to get it right. There was version 1, version 2 and 3, and there might be a version 4.

So other than this, what is a normal day for you?

So my day usually starts at 7am being woken up by my dogs licking me, after which I go to take care of their business. Then I have breakfast with my kids and drop them off to school and hit the gym. Then I come back, go to office, and perhaps play a sport post 4/4 30 pm. Then I wait for my kids to come back, and have a nice wrestling time with them, after which its homework time for them. Then it’s internet browsing time for me, and get more licks with my dogs. Usually, this is how it goes.

And how is the Kolkata experience working out for you this time?

Kolkata has progressed a lot I feel. I came here four five years ago, and there are some drastic changes here. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the roads and building are all so organised and progressed.

Have you had a chance to sample the food yet, be it the legendary biriyani or even the sweets?

Not yet to be honest, and among sweets, except gulab jamun and rasmalai, I am not too fond of anything else. For me rasgullas have to be just the right texture and not too chewy, otherwise I just cannot have it. Out of the ten times that I’ve had it, eight times was not the right kind.

But you cannot leave without tasting the biriyani here, from Arsalan, or even Zeeshan.

They both sound mouth wateringly good, so that’s definitely on the cards then. I’ll have my boys pick up some (smiles).

Coming back to movies, when can your fans see you in action?

So a lot of people have been asking me this, that when can they see me in action, so now I’ve decided that I want to do something big, something entertaining and action packed. I’m waiting for a good script, and at the end of the day it’s about working with the right kind of people, the ones who won’t have any ulterior motive and want to create something good and bring out the best. The former category simply drains me. I’m putting together a good team, and hopefully by early next year, there should be something.