If you’ve been following Tamasha this season, chances are Zayb Khan has been one of those contestants you’ve found yourself watching a little more closely. We certainly have. What started off as a reality show with the usual alliances, arguments and unpredictable twists somehow turned into a whole social experiment inside Tamasha Ghar, where everyone was watching everyone — and Zayb was right in the middle of it.
So, naturally, when we got the chance to sit down with him, we had quite a few things to ask. From his equation with Esra and his take on Babrik Shah’s game to the little psychological games happening inside the house and his experience working on Dar-e-Nijaat, Zayb gave us a glimpse into what we didn’t get to see on screen.
Inside Tamasha Ghar: When Everything Became A Signal
One of the funniest things about Tamasha Ghar, according to Zayb, was how quickly the contestants became hyper-aware of absolutely everything around them. Even something as simple as the music playing in the morning could feel like an event.
The contestants were told from the beginning that once the music started, there was no lying around in bed. They had to get up, wrap their sheets, come downstairs and dance — whether they were ready for it or not. And while the routine itself became fun, the contestants eventually started treating the smallest details as clues. A sad song? Surely something emotional was about to happen. Someone arriving early? That must mean something. Someone dressed particularly well? Clearly, they were getting footage for a reason.
It sounds funny now, but Zayb says the constant observation eventually became part of life inside the house. Everyone was watching everyone, analysing reactions and trying to figure out what was coming next. Even guests’ behaviour could suddenly feel significant if they made eye contact or reacted in a certain way.
That hyper-awareness also extended to the games being played between contestants. Zayb recalls watching Babrik closely during one particularly long task, where the contestants had to remain on rotating platforms for hours. While others were simply trying to survive the task, Babrik started yawning repeatedly and acting sleepy. Soon, the yawning became contagious and people began changing their posture and reacting to him.
Looking back, Zayb admits that by that point, everyone had started judging and analysing the people around them. In a house where cameras were constantly rolling and everyone knew their actions could affect the game, perhaps becoming suspicious was inevitable.
Zayb Khan On Isra: From “I’d Never Talk To Her” To A Real Connection
Zayb’s relationship with Esra is another one of those Tamasha dynamics that changed quite a bit from where it started. His first impression of her, by his own admission, was not exactly promising. He thought she was loud, unintelligent and someone he would probably never speak to.
But spending more time together changed that perception completely.
What stood out to him was Esra’s heart. Zayb says that underneath the arguments and shouting, he saw someone who genuinely cared about people and did not want anyone to get hurt. He also noticed that after getting angry, she would eventually cool down and sit with everyone normally rather than continuing to stir things up.
For Zayb, that distinction mattered. He felt that there was a certain purity to the way Isra dealt with people, even when her emotions got the better of her.
“She had a good heart, she was pure, she cared about people and didn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
His initial perception of her may have been completely different, but their time in Tamasha Ghar allowed him to see the person behind the louder moments — and that eventually became the foundation of their connection.
His take on Samia, meanwhile, was somewhat different. He initially thought she was extremely smart and understood that she was playing a game. After Babrik, he felt she was among the smartest players because of the way she could read emotions and strategically present them. For Zayb, that made her someone he could appreciate as a player, but not necessarily someone with whom he wanted the same kind of personal connection.
Babrik Shah: The Mind Games, The Strategy And The Intelligence
If there was one contestant whose approach to Tamasha fascinated Zayb, it was Babrik Shah.
The admiration, interestingly, has very little to do with Babrik’s appearance or the way he presents himself. Zayb is drawn to his intelligence and the way he thinks. During their conversations, Babrik once explained four different kinds of intelligence to him, something that stayed with Zayb and added to his respect for him.
For Zayb, intelligence is something he naturally values in friendships and would consider a plus in a partner too. But when it comes to love, he says things become much less logical.
“When it comes to love, love is absolutely blind.”
That difference between Zayb and Babrik was also visible in the way they approached Tamasha. Zayb walked into the house without much of a strategy. He thought being honest, selfless and straightforward would naturally make people like him. In the early tasks, he often prioritised his friends instead of thinking only about his own safety.
Babrik, on the other hand, entered with a plan. Zayb says Babrik had worked with a psychologist before the show and prepared a character for himself, along with a weekly strategy and a fallback plan in case the first one did not work.
That contrast became even more obvious during the tasks. While Zayb naturally thought about the people around him, Babrik was much more comfortable playing as an individual. Zayb remembers him openly saying that he could not play for others — and, watching him from inside the house, Zayb came to understand exactly what that meant.
He also brushes off the rumours that he spent tens of thousands on PR during or after Tamasha. According to him, people did help him after the shoot, including Ahmed Rafiq and others who worked on the content and editing side, but the idea that he spent a huge amount of money on PR was not something he agreed with.
In Dar-e-Nijaat
Zayb’s work outside Tamasha has also given audiences another side of him, particularly through Dar-e-Nijaat. When he was first approached for the project, he was actually sceptical. He was told it was a mega project, but his role did not initially seem to have a huge number of scenes or a major presence.
What changed his mind was being told that producers specifically wanted him for the role. That was enough for Zayb to say yes, especially because it also meant getting the chance to work with director Saqib Khan, someone whose work he already admired. He speaks particularly highly of Saqib’s detailed direction and the collaborative environment on set.
There was one scene where Zayb had prepared himself to really showcase his acting. Instead, makers told him to stop thinking about what he wanted to show and focus on what the character would actually do. It was a lesson in stepping back from yourself as an actor and looking at the bigger picture. Zayb took their advice, and the eventual scene became a combination of what he had prepared and what both Saqib and Shehryar brought to it.
As for Shuja, the character he plays, Zayb describes him as someone who is largely nonchalant and simply wants peace. He does not want unnecessary problems and eventually becomes tired of Faryal’s constant need for attention and validation. And if you were wondering whether there was an affair or another woman involved in Shuja’s story, Zayb says, as far as he remembers, there wasn’t.
Whether you watched Zayb for the friendships, the arguments, the unexpected alliances or simply because you were trying to figure out what was going on inside that house, Tamasha clearly gave him plenty to take away from the experience. And after sitting down with him, one thing is particularly clear: there was a lot more happening inside Tamasha Ghar than what made it to our screens.