Last month, Sounds of Light, a charity musical event, was held in Auckland. The tour continued in Australia to raise funds for the less-fortunate and orphans across the world. Celebrated artistes from the Islamic music genre performed at the shows and one of them was American actor, director, and comedian Omar Regan. Starting off as a musician, Omar later moved into acting and stand-up comedy. He began performing at Detroit Comedy Clubs and has been moving forward since then. At the age of 19, he left for Hollywood.

Omar hosted the shows in six cities across two countries and has been promoting his directorial debut American Sharia under the banner Halalywood Entertainment. His fans have increased in number and his popularity has grown in both countries during the Oceania tour.

In a conversation with Indian Weekender, the comedian shared his life experiences, his journey so far and the whimsically-named production house 'Halalywood'.

Tell us about Halalywood Productions.

Omar: There is an African proverb, “Until the lion tells his own story, the hunter will always be the hero”. It’s time for Muslims to tell our own stories because the media for long has associated the religion with terrorism. This is what I realised being in Hollywood that we can make our own films and we don’t have to put any profanity in the film. We tell our own stories in a fun way and keep it clean, and people will watch it.

What’s your first film under Halalywood?

Omar: We have made our first film American Sharia and we are still doing the promo screening tour. We have screened it in Canada, Atlanta and other places in the United States, the UK and Australia, and I hope to get a chance to screen it in New Zealand too. I believe there is quite a Muslim population in New Zealand and apart from that the Kiwis over here will love it too.

What is American Sharia about?

Omar: American Sharia is a comedy film about two Muslim police officers trying to break the stereotypes of the religion and fighting Islamophobia.

When is the film releasing?

Omar: It’s hard to put the film out without a distribution deal. That’s why I am doing the promo screening, making a fan base and showing that Muslims will watch and support such films. That is the goal—to build our numbers and then get a distribution deal eventually. I have five scripts, the first one is complete and I will work on the rest.

Tell us a little about your Rush Hour episode.

Omar: Rush Hour was a blessing in disguise and kind of a turning point too. I was offered to be the body double for Chris Tucker in 2001 in Rush Hour 2 but somehow that went down at the last moment, which actually made me refocus on stand-up comedy.

How many shows have you done so far?

Omar: Ohh, it’s like uncountable. I have performed in almost every city in the United States and in Canada, Australia and many other countries around the globe.

What’s your genre of comedy?

Omar: I have been doing Halal comedy for a while, just keeping everything pure—no swearing or obscenity, and using humour to spread religious tolerance, peace, and diversity.

How was your New Zealand tour?

Omar: The New Zealand tour has been fantastic. It is so beautiful and so green. I went to the Sky Tower, met fans, went to the bay area and did some fun activities too. Also, it is very multicultural. I met so many people from different countries and ethnicities.

The best part of New Zealand is that the police do not carry guns. I was fascinated and it shows the place is so peaceful and so magnificent to live in.