Zayn Malik pays tribute to One Direction at award ceremony <br /> <br />Zayn Malik has paid tribute to his former bandmates at an award ceremony, where he made his first solo appearance since leaving One Direction. <br /> <br />The 22-year-old, sporting a new shaved hairstyle, was presented with the award for Outstanding Contribution to Music at the fifth annual Asian Awards, held at London's Grosvenor House Hotel. <br /> <br />The awards celebrate excellence across the global Pan-Asian community. <br /> <br />Malik said he had an "amazing" time as a member of the pop band. <br /> <br />He also said he was "not really a guy of many words". <br /> <br />He added: "I'd also like to take this moment to thank four of the best guys that I ever met whilst being in the band and doing all the amazing things that I did. <br /> <br />"Some of the things that we did will stay with me for the rest of my life." <br /> <br />Malik ended his speech by saying: "Here's to the future." <br /> <br />He left One Direction last month after returning to the UK from the boyband's tour having been "signed off with stress". <br /> <br />In a statement at the time of his departure, he said wanted to spend time as a "normal 22-year-old" away from the spotlight. <br /> <br />Bollywood's top actor, Shah Rukh Khan, also said he had a "fan moment" and took a selfie with the former One Direction star whom he described as "cool". He added his children would have a "new-found respect" for him for doing so. <br /> <br />Meanwhile, Zayn's mum and sister had selfies taken with the Indian actor. <br /> <br />There were big cheers for Zayn from the predominantly Asian crowd as he collected his award, which was presented to him by his friend Naughty Boy.
