Close X
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
ADVT 
Bollywood

Bollywood Was Never Really The Aim: Mahira Khan

Darpan News Desk, 26 Mar, 2018 02:09 PM
  • Bollywood Was Never Really The Aim: Mahira Khan
Pakistani actress Mahira Khan, who made her Bollywood debut with Shah Rukh Khan-starrer "Raees" last year, says the Hindi film industry was never her aim.
 
 
"Raees" released in January 2017, just a few months after bilateral tensions intensified between India and Pakistan over the September 18, 2016 Uri attack that left 19 Indian soldiers dead and the September 28 surgical strikes by India on Pakistan terror camps.
 
 
Mahira spoke about the impact of the tensions on the countries' film industries on "HARDtalk on BBC World News".
 
 
 
 
"Raees" did not release in Pakistan. And Mahira was not allowed to promote the film in India as the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena gave an ultimatum to Pakistani artistes to leave the country and to keep away from its showbiz.
 
 
"At that time I was angry. I was sad and angry and there were moments of disappointment and just hurt, you know. Now I've come to a place where I believe that anger doesn't really make me a better actor. It doesn't do anything for me as a person, so I've let go of that, because at that time I was in the mix of it," said Mahira.
 
 
 
Didn't it stall her career in a way?
 
"Bollywood was never really the aim actually. I mean sure you could argue that I could have done more films there, for sure I could have. But right after 'Raees' I had already started working on (Pakistani film) ‘Verna', even before all of this happened. My focus was always Pakistan," she said.
 
 
She said people may perceive that it was a "big jolt" to her career -- and it was -- but she has moved on.
 
 
"Currently I just feel it's just something else to be working and be part of this movement of the film industry (in Pakistan) at the moment.
 
 
"Because how I look at it, is that 20 years from now when either my son or kids from today want to become actors, we would have set this industry for them, which they won't have to struggle so much," added the 33-year-old actress, who has a son named Azlaan.
 
 
 
 
Her upcoming film "Verna" which is based on the rape culture and politics in Pakistan, has reportedly rubbed many in Pakistan the wrong way. With a strong problem of freedom to express getting suppressed in Pakistan, has she ever considered shifting base to another country?
 
 
Mahira: "I don't think that I can tell any story better than the story of my own country, than the stories of my own countrymen. I want to be able to bring out stories like 'Verna', as well as stories which are of the modern and new generation like 'Ho Mann Jahaan', which is a film I did of the youth of Pakistan. So I want to be that person. 
 
 
 
"Also, because we are artistes, I think that's a problem we all suffer. We are dreamers, so we are constantly looking at this is going to happen, and this is honestly all I am thinking about all the time, that one day I will go to a cinema house and there just won't be enough space to fill it." 
 
 
Mahira is currently filming for "Saat Din Mohabbat In" and "Maula Jatt 2".
 
 
The "HARDtalk on BBC World News" episode with Mahira will air on Monday.

MORE Bollywood ARTICLES

Shraddha Happy To Play Characters From Small Towns

Shraddha Happy To Play Characters From Small Towns
Actress Shraddha Kapoor, who is juggling between shooting for her upcoming films "Batti Gul Meter Chalu" and "Stree" -- both of which are set in small towns -- says she feels privileged to essay characters from the "heart of the country".

Shraddha Happy To Play Characters From Small Towns

Ravi Kishan To Produce Indo-Thai Film With Guy Ratchanont Suprakob

Ravi Kishan To Produce Indo-Thai Film With Guy Ratchanont Suprakob
Actor Ravi Kishan and Guy Ratchanont Suprakob from Thailand have joined hands for an Indo-Thai project.

Ravi Kishan To Produce Indo-Thai Film With Guy Ratchanont Suprakob

Actress Daisy Irani Reveals She Was Raped At 6 By Man Appointed As Her 'Guardian'

Actress Daisy Irani Reveals She Was Raped At 6 By Man Appointed As Her 'Guardian'
Daisy Irani said that she can only recall flashes of that day "but I do remember the killing pain and the visual of him belting me"

Actress Daisy Irani Reveals She Was Raped At 6 By Man Appointed As Her 'Guardian'

Kapil Sharma Cancels Shoot With Tiger Shroff And Disha Patani, Channel In Damage Control Mode

Kapil Sharma Cancels Shoot With Tiger Shroff And Disha Patani, Channel In Damage Control Mode
Kapil Sharma, who had achieved notoriety for cancelling shoots with popular stars such as Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, has now cancelled a scheduled shoot with the Baaghi 2 team in the wake of his recent spat with Sunil Grover.

Kapil Sharma Cancels Shoot With Tiger Shroff And Disha Patani, Channel In Damage Control Mode

Javed Akhtar Calls Columnist 'Scoundrel' For Questioning Makers to Cast Aamir in 'Mahabharata'

Javed Akhtar Calls Columnist 'Scoundrel' For Questioning Makers to Cast Aamir in 'Mahabharata'
Aamir Khan adapting Mahabharata on the big screen and starring in the film has not gone down well with certain sections of Twitter

Javed Akhtar Calls Columnist 'Scoundrel' For Questioning Makers to Cast Aamir in 'Mahabharata'

Mahira Khan Opens Up On Pictures Of Her Smoking With Ranbir Kapoor, Says I FELT VIOLATED

Mahira Khan Opens Up On Pictures Of Her Smoking With Ranbir Kapoor, Says I FELT VIOLATED
Pakistani actress Mahira Khan says she felt "violated" when images of her sharing a cigarette with Indian actor Ranbir Kapoor emerged in the media.

Mahira Khan Opens Up On Pictures Of Her Smoking With Ranbir Kapoor, Says I FELT VIOLATED