I prefer social dramas.

I'm the eldest of three siblings.

I love being on stage, nothing compares to it.

I am an oxymoron, shy and confident at the same time.

I am privileged to have been a part of 'Zindagi Gulzar Hai.'

I am very shy. It's the most stressful thing to be in the public eye.

I believe I am a character actor who likes to hide behind my characters.

I like to travel and explore new places and simply love trying new cuisines.

Honestly a role is a role - whichever industry it is in - TV, stage or films.

I like method actors who don't focus on the glamorous side, but on realistic acting.

I guess housewives like to get away from reality and enjoy the fantasy world for a bit.

And I think it's important to remain loyal to your home country, from where you started.

If you get too caught up with the superficial part of beauty, you get too self-conscious.

Promotions are insane! It's the toughest part about making a movie, for us actors at least.

In fact, sometimes when a short film is done well, you wish that it could be slightly longer.

I'd like to see us Pakistani actors do more work that reflects our culture, morals and values.

I would love to work for the Indian Film Fraternity if the role offered suits my sensibilities.

People like my voice, which is funny because all my life my family has joked about my nasal voice.

That's the beauty of short films; their strength lies in delivering a message creatively and simply.

Some actors are constantly on the phone, some are always looking into the mirror while some like to sit and bond.

We need to have mental health support and early interventions integrated into our education system from a young age.

There are times when I am supposed to get off work by seven but only reach home by midnight because of production delays.

No, I am not looking at being a part of television in India, but I may consider movies, if I get to play a strong character.

I enjoy singing but I lack the proper training to make it as a solo artist. Instead, I feel I've found my niche with acting.

Our actors are crossing borders and now so are our stories. And that is what I saw in 'Bachaana.' The film is light and easy.

I've always admired actors such as Tabu, Nandita Das and Shabana Azmi and I'd like to do the kind of roles that they have done.

Nothing should be banned. Anything that is progressive and contributes something to society shouldn't come in the way of politics.

I have done and want to do roles that portray women in a strong light and inspire those women who think they are weak and helpless.

The memories I can gather now of my parents are quite contradicting. My mother was the disciplinarian and my dad was the rule breaker.

Haseeb Hassan is a fantastic director. He really understands characters and their relationships. He always gives sound advice and direction.

'Cake' is a simple, almost traditional and relatable story, that highlights family values and intimate relationship dynamics within a family.

In films, usually we see romantic relationships between a hero and a heroine all the time. But we rarely see love between the older generations.

The perception of how a couple should argue, whose voice should be raised and who should be a dominant player has been altered in 'Dobara Phir Se.'

During the inception of 'Zindagi Gulzar Hai,' we studied the characters and the script in depth so that we could imbibe the essence of it in our performance.

My mother was an art school teacher and my father was an interior designer. So we've been relatively open minded as opposed to my conservative maternal side.

I want my sheer work to to speak for my talent and it will be quite an achievement, I believe, if producers and directors look at my work and offer me something.

I've seen the effect some of my shows have had, and so I like characters that can be role models for young girls, roles that can help to change people's perspective.

The more real and genuine we are about ourselves, the more others will know that there is no shame in struggling, or feeling low, or anxious or having bad days - we all have them.

I wouldn't want to take the late night subway in the U.S. or go for a late night stroll in the U.K. Women feel insecure anywhere in the world where they may become victims of predatory behavior.

India uses Bollywood, rather cinema, to tell its stories. It is one of the largest filmmaking nations in the world and so your talents get to tell stories about politics, love and drama through films.

In Pakistan, our medium is the small screen. We don't make many films, and hardly have theaters. A majority of people seek entertainment while sitting at home and TV gives it to them, so we excel on that part.

Mental health, although being talked about more and more nowadays, is still extremely misunderstood and stigmatized, especially in Pakistan, where people think ignoring or hiding the issue will make it go away.

I have been lucky; I have never been followed or harassed and I do tend to drive alone at night, but I'd always inadvertently opt for a route that has more traffic or has police or rangers stationed in the vicinity.

That's my achievement actually - when a mother says that she didn't marry off her 14-year-old daughter because of me, or when a woman tells me that she continued to study after watching my dramas - those comments mean a lot.

The upper middle class here still has options for entertainment. We have Internet, Hollywood and books. But for the majority and the masses, there is only TV. A lot of them sit at home and watch TV as they can't afford other forms of entertainment. So, we try to do shows which have inspirational value.

We need to start identifying the triggers that aggravate mental health issues in our society - bullying, social media negativity and anxiety, gender based violence, substance abuse, stigma around issues such as maternal issues, etc., and we need to speak up about these more and get to the source of the problems.

I think I couldn't balance my marriage and my mother's deteriorating health. I realized it was unfair to my husband to have my divided attention. I understood he deserved better and should go for that. He deserved the attention of a partner, not another headache, and I didn't want to share my time with anyone else but my mother.

Share This Page