New Delhi: We all know Mahira Khan as the patient, loving and proud 'Khirad' from the recently concluded television show 'Humsafar'. But just as Ashar, Khirad's on screen husband- upon discovering her many profound qualities- falls deeper in love with her; one is captivated by the actor's various dimensions off screen as well.
Though this Karachi born girl always wanted to be an actor, she started out as MTV VJ in Pakistan on a show called 'MTV's most wanted' in 2008 and then did the popular talk show called 'Weekends with Mahira'. Her first T.V. drama 'Neeyat' came in 2011 and then came the TV drama 'Humsafar' which in her words was the "game changer" for Pakistani television.
"'Humsafar' changed the way the people watched television in Pakistan. It went beyond anything that had ever been made. What it did was that it brought overnight fame to everyone attached to it. Now news channels weren't getting the highest ratings, but TV shows were. The advertisement agencies didn't want to bank on news channels but on TV shows," she said remembering the effect the show made on Pakistani audience when it was first aired there in 2011 on Hum TV. The popularity of 'Humsafar' resulted in its actors getting offers for endorsing brands which first would have been offered to the cricketers of Pakistani team.
While working on the popular show, Mahira was, in fact, going through a personal crisis and the set was an escape for her as the cast had become close to each other and they were all very familiar. "All the scenes where we are crying, actually we are laughing; they would say cut and we would laugh," she said. "There was no method acting; it was all very new for me. The other actors were what you call "manjhe hue kalakar". For me it was so new and then to get a character like Khirad who is so different from me; I went in to hiding in a way," she added and stated that it was still hard for to remember that time.
Mahira only understood 'Khirad' by the fifth episode. "It was a strange experience for me, the language, the long monologues and all these serious actors and I would be rattled by someone's stomach rumbling or the smallest thing and then would giggle away," the actress said when asked how her time onset was. She added that it was a happy set and it showed on the screen.
Since her costar from the show, Fawad Khan has made his Bollywood debut, was she also planning to do the same? Denying all the rumors attached to her being in conversation with filmmakers here in India, Mahira did mention whom she would like to work with. "I would love to work Mani Ratnam, Vishal Bhardwaj and Imtiaz Ali, as I loved 'Highway' and I have liked all of Zoya Akhtar's movies. But the script is key. I would do a movie if there is a good script." Mahira mentioned that she loves the technique of filming in India and is excited to listen to scripts here.
Mahira Khan was also seen in the movie 'Bol' (2011), a film about a family of six daughters who suffered under a chauvinist father. Her roles though have been of strong women, she denies that it is one of her pet reasons to take on a project. "No, no not at all, 'Sadqay tumhare' which I have just done is really about this man and his thoughts, but what great dialogues and script! It's almost like reading a book where this one page gets you, or this one line or one scene gets you and if I can get that, then I can spend sixty days of my life in character, day in day out and give it my hundred percent. That is the reason I do things for. It can't be anything else like a co-actor or because it's India or because it's the next big thing in Pakistan," explained the actress.
Khan had earlier admitted on a Pakistani talk show that she came across the script of 'Bol' just after she had just given birth to her son Aslan. "It was a tiny role and everyone said that why would you want to do such a tiny role? I told my husband and my parents that I want to be a part of this film. But the main worry was that I had just had a baby and how would I manage. But I wanted to do the part but I also did not want to miss on anything with my baby," she confessed.
The Pakistani actress calls herself an old soul. "I am what you call a 'bodhi ruh'; my friends have decided not to use my phone for music. I love old Bollywood movies, my phone is full of Rafi and Lata songs and I love them. I love everything that's old."
The characters of the dramas on 'Zindagi' are mostly liberated empowered women or the ones fighting for liberty. Mahira was asked how far the dramas correspond to reality in Pakistan. "The dramas are a mix of both. The reality is shown to a large extant and also what and where we wish to see the women of our society in the future." The serials from across the border have been praised for their novelty and originality. When the actress was asked what makes a story work for her she said that it was the moral that completes a story.
Pakistani television has done better for itself than Pakistani cinema; the actress believed that this was because of a multitude of things. She thought old system of politics between the studios and the politics in the country were the big reasons why the film industry went down. She said that things had lately started to look up for cinema in Pakistan where recently four films were released on Eid, out of which two were from Bollywood. She has signed two films recently and is very excited about the projects.
Would we get to see Mahira and Fawad working together again, soon? She playfully denied the rumors and said that she would love to work with Fawad but would only go by her 'good script' rule. She was asked that as a married actress what kind of roles she expects in Bollywood since there is a taboo of sorts on married actresses in the film industry. "I don't think in those parameters. I think I have good enough talent and that is what I have to offer so these rules are not for me," Mahira clarified. The actress was in India to promote her show 'Humsafar' and the 'Zindagi' channel.
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