REPORT
Mahira Khan Says She
Learnt a Lot From
Shah Rukh Khan
P
akistani actress Mahira Khan is all set for her first
steps in Bollywood and with no less than Shah
Rukh Khan, in Rahul Dholakia's Raees. The actress, who became a household name in India after her
stint in Pakistani TV show Humsafar with actor Fawad
Khan (who made an impressive Bollywood debut in
Khoobsurat last year) talked about her foray in the Hindi
film industry and her films back home - Bin Roye and Ho
Mann Jahaan.In an exclusive Talk with BOOM, Mahira
talked about her transition from the small screen to the
big screen, Shah Rukh Khan, and more.Of her foray in
Bollywood, Mahira said: "I don't know how people will
take to me over there (Bollywood). But it was a very different experience. I went there like a sponge. I was just
taking it all in. I didn't want to step in on anybody's toes.
Because here, I'm very nosy. I'm in everybody's space
and job. And everyone warned me not to do this there.
So I just sat, listened to them. I tried to match Mr Khan.
I couldn't, but I tried to make it better."Talking about her
Raees co-star, Mahira said: "I got to learn so much from
Mr Shah Rukh Khan, like actually got to learn from him.
I realized this when I came back. I came back and I shot
for a song in Ho Mann Jahaan and my director was like,
'What has happened to you'. He actually said that 'you've
shed a layer. You've grown as an actor.' And I think it's
because I moved out of my comfort zone. At that time
you don't realise it because it's happening so fast. But
when you come back you realise, 'Oh, I've learnt something'.Mahira however not only praised King Khan, but
also her crew in India, which was like home away from
home for her.She said, "The people were very kind and
the crew was amazing. The crew was rooting for me.
Even when I couldn't get a dialogue right or a dance
step right I could see them encouraging me. It was really
nice. That's what happened here (in Pakistan). I thought
I'll miss it there.""Sometimes I used to miss home, but
that was the initial 10 days or so, when I was getting into
character. After that they were all my people. Now that I'll
go back again, I will be a lot more confident and happier.
I know that I'm going back to these people," she said.
Back home, Mahira is famous for her roles in TV shows
like Humsafar, Shehr-e-Zaat and Neeyat. And while
some find the transition from the small screen to the big
screen different, for Mahira, it was only about acting.She
said: "I don't find it different. There's a camera, there are
people and there's a director, there's a script. So I don't
find it any different. But yes, when I did Bin Roye (which
I did while shooting for a drama) and then I did Asim
Raza's (director) film - Ho Mann Jahaan - then I realized
that there is a difference. And the difference is that it is
larger than life.""My first ever performance was in a film Bol. It was a very tiny role, but it was a film. Then I came
into drama, which became very successful. What I like
about the films compared to drama is that it's (films) not
a never-ending story. It's not repetitive. You are going to
entertain for two hours, so you can't b repetitive. In drama, you are coming on screen every Friday, so you have
to remind the audience what happened last Friday. So,
that's the only difference. There is no other difference.
For me, it's only acting," she added.And even though
Mahira carved a niche for herself as Khirad of Humsafar, and Falak from Shehr-e-Zaat she wanted to switch
her modus operandi and switch to film."I have invested
two years of my life in Bin Roye, and solely because
I had decided that I don't want to do drama. And this
was right after my serial Shehr-e-Zaat, which I did after
Humsafar and everyone told me that 'No one does this.
What are you? You are just 2-3 serials old. Who does
that?'. But the scripts that came sounded similar, even
though some were amazing. But I thought that we are
film ready. We are an industry, which is ready to get into
films full throttle," said the actress."And then Bin Roye
ran into a few issues and difficulties. And I stayed with
it for 2 years and I came out as a better actor, maybe. It
taught me so much. I don't think I'll ever invest so much,
emotionally in another character or film. It will break my
heart if people don't see that," she added.Talking about
her two films back home, she said, "From Bin Roye I
went to Ho Mann Jahaan. From Saba, who is complex,
doesn't know anything, immature. She's brash and rash.
She's complicated. She's passionate and obsessed.
She is everything that Manizeh, from Ho Mann Jahaan,
is not. Manizeh is knows her mind, she's mature. She
a cool girl; she's the quintessential girl of today.""They
were such different characters that I had trouble getting into Manizeh's shoes. Asim used to be like, 'What
are you doing, why are you making your dialogues dramatic'. And I realized that I was still in drama mode. So
I had to really break away from Saba to be more like
Manizeh. And then from there I did another song for Bon
Roye, where I was the confident girl like Manizeh. I was
like, 'What's happening'. There will be these two schizophrenic characters," she added.Bin Roye and Ho Mann
Jahaan are scheduled to release this year, while Raees
will hit the screens in 2016.
8 | BOOM