A tale of optimism, determination and pulling oneself

East Europe Special
People
Silver lining
A tale of optimism, determination and pulling oneself out of the
By Shivani Joon
worst to emerge as the best!
NEVER give up, stay positive and fight till your last breath. A
lot of people in jail spent their time complaining and yes I can
understand why they would, its a horrible situation to be in.
However complaining doesn't help you, it just frustrates you. I
tried to use my misfortune
as a time of self reflection. To think about the decisions I have
made in the past and where I want to be in the future. I set
goals for myself, wrote song lyrics, read inspiring books and
tried to keep myself as busy as possible. I was thinking well,
I'm here now, at least lets use the
time in the best and most productive way I can. This is what
got me through…..
T
his is the story of Farzan Athari,
an international model who rose
to fame in a very short period,
worked in over 20 countries with
over 100 brands. He was also the first to sign
an International modeling contract in his
native country, Iran. The international model
with a Persian background has enjoyed a life
full of colours, lived in the Burj Khalifa tower
in Dubai, a city full of opportunities and
taken his modeling career to another level by
starting his own Media and Production house
called Attitude, with two other partners.
Athari has always been ambitious as a person
and thrived in entrepreneurial environment,
hence starting his own company was a natural
progression after his extensive experience in
the industry. “No matter in what field of work
you are, you should always set higher goals for
yourself and see how you can expand in your
field and take your experience and work to
the next level,” he says.
Unfortunately in May 2013, the highly positive
and ambitious international model’s downfall
started when he was caught in Dubai, with
21 gm of cocaine outside his home in the
Burj Khalifa tower. He was sentenced to life
in prison, which under UAE law amounts to
25 years but the sentence was later reduced
to 10 years after he set up a petition online,
which attracted more than 65,000 signatures
to promote his plea, as Athari still holds a very
strong fan following around the world.
Athari did not lose hope and went on to
record a song from prison called Save My Life,
addressed to the ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin
Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai, for a pardon.
A move that even many of his close friends
thought wasn’t wise enough, but he still went
ahead and the tribute song succeeded and the
Sheikh ordered a special pardon for Farzan
Athari. He was released from the central Jail
in Dubai in December 2015 after three hard
26 TLF Magazine  March-april 2016
www.tlfmagazine.com
years, of having faith and keeping his focus on
his release and his future.The talented model
plans to explore and develop his passion
for music through the song lyrics that he
wrote while in prison, he has already started
working in the studio and reading various
scripts from movie offers that he has been
getting. Athari says, “I am in the process of
writing my book and I am in talks with several
organisations for motivational speaking
seminars. I also plan to do some modeling, as
it has given me so many opportunities and I
will always embrace that.” Athari has worked
in India also and holds the experience close
to his heart. He feels it is a country filled with
creative and hard working people who are
down to earth, “There is a positive energy in
the air, people appreciate whatever they have,
even if some don’t have a lot you will still see
the smile on their face, which I find beautiful,”
he says. Athari plans to come back to India if
the right project or opportunity comes along,
as the Indian fashion industry is big and
there is a lot of work for all the people in the
industry. When asked about the spicy food in
india and his favourite destination, he quickly
mentioned about not enjoying the food so
much but loving Mumbai for its energy and
people. Like most, Athari is also interested in
Bollywood and looks forward to experiencing
it in not to distant future.
We talked a little more about the modeling
industry with him and much as people may
envy the models for the kind of life they lead,
we can’t ignore the various other facets that
show the dark side of the fashion industry,
body shaming being one of the many. As we
know in the past, the successful International
27 TLF Magazine  March-april 2016
People
Culinary Journeys
model Gigi Hadid also found herself the
target of body shaming on social media,
about which Athari wisely said, “I honestly
believe that beauty comes in many shapes
and sizes. Models do experience pressure
to be extremely thin and this is unfortunate
because it's not healthy or realistic. Gigi Hadid
is a beautiful girl and the fact that someone
like her was being body shamed shows how
ridiculous the standards are.”
When asked If he were to go back to the year
2013, what would he do differently to change
the three hard years he had to live later, what’s
that one thing that helped him survive it and
what would he suggest his fans around the
world, if they were ever caught in a situation
like his? Athari effortlessly answered, “I
would definitely be more careful about my
surroundings and the people I let into my life.
When you are doing well in life and you get a
“No matter in what
field of work you are, you
should always set higher
goals for yourself and see
how you can expand in
your field and take your
experience and work to
the next level”.
lot of attention for different reasons, everyone
wants to be your friend and everybody is nice
to you. But I have realised that many of my
so called friends had superficial intentions
and their motives were not pure. I guess you
live and learn and it is all an essential part of
growing and learning the difficult lessons of
life which in the end make you stronger.”
NEVER give up, stay positive and fight
till your last breath. A lot of people in jail
spent their time complaining and yes I can
understand why they would, its a horrible
situation to be in. However complaining
doesn't help you, it just frustrates you. I
tried to use my misfortune as a time of self
reflection. To think about the decisions I have
made in the past and where I want to be in the
future. I set goals for myself, wrote song lyrics,
read inspiring books and tried to keep myself
as busy as possible. I was thinking well, I'm
here now, at least lets use the time in the best
and most productive way I can. This is what
got me through,” he explains.
These are the words of someone who has been
through a very tough time, but could only see
the silver lining. And that is what made him
get past it. You can find him on Instagram @
OfficialFarzanAthari, www.FarzanAthari.com
28 TLF Magazine  March-april 2016
www.tlfmagazine.com