Ahmed Ifnaz Firag (born 12 January 1985) is a Maldivian film actor, director, singer, television host, fitness instructor and photographer.
Early life
After completing his primary education in Jamaluddin school, Firag enrolled in Majeediyya School for his secondary education.[1] During that time, he considered himself as an "introvert" who was too shy to showcase his acting skills, which made him firmly believe that acting would remain his "unfulfilled dream".[1] After graduation, he worked in several small time jobs until he was a forensic photographer at Maldives Police Service.[1] While serving his time at the police department, he had a keen interest in their annual "entertainment night" show, where he performed dance shows in front of big crowd.[1]
Since Firag had no intention to work at police for a lifetime service, he left the industry after five years of service.[2] In 2010, he started working at a photography studio owned by one of his friends, which gave him the opportunity to feature in an advertisement, by his friend, Ahmed Rilwan, a blogger and reporter.[1] However, due to several personal reasons, they were forced to shut down the studio.[2] A year later, Rilwan further paved Firag's way into the industry by providing him a chance to host a talk show Chill Out with Coke from DhiTV, which was perceived by the audience as a "cool time pass" from the hardcore political contents.[1] After working at DhiTV, he next joined another local TV channel VTV.[1]
Career
While working at VTV, he was featured in director Ilyas Waheed's mini video drama series, Kushuge Hafaraaiy by playing a negative role.[1] Impressed by his performance, Waheed offered him to play the lead role in his debut feature film Bavathi (2019). Apart from playing the role of a fitness instructor, he worked as the project's assistant director.[1] Upon release, the film received positive reviews from critics where Ifraz Ali from Dho? applauded Firaq for playing his role to perfection and challenging all recent newcomers.[3] Aminath Luba reviewing from Sun echoed similar sentiments, picking Firag as the "surprising element" from the crew where "he left no room to challenge his acting ability".[4] Following the success, he next collaborated with Waheed for a four-part anthology web series Mazloom which was considered another "recent benchmark project" in the industry.[5] Ahmed Rasheed from MuniAvas praised the performance of Firag who was seen in a "shady role later trying to prove his innocence".[5]
^ abcRasheed, Ahmed (28 July 2021). ""Mazloom" a benchmark project". MuniAvas (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 10 September 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
^Rasheed, Ahmed (20 June 2022). "Nisha's murderer revealed". MuniAvas (in Divehi). Archived from the original on 12 August 2022. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
