Yasir Hussain’s comment regarding your character
role at the recent Hum Awards created quite an
uproar, what are your thoughts on that?
I can safely say that all of us, including the crowd,
were quite shocked.
That comment was insensitive, offensive and
irresponsible and while I think his apology should
have been more sincere, it’s time for people to forgive,
forget, move on and focus on the actual problem
at hand – child sex abuse. It is high time we stop
attacking individuals such as Hussain and take a
meaningful step at eliminating the problem, which is
more important.
How was it playing the role of a villain for a
change for someone who has always played the
hero?
It was certainly more challenging and involved a lot
of psychological study into the mind of a pervert. It
was a risky move, but I am glad the effort put into
portraying a child molester in order to raise awareness,
paid off.
How have you dealt with people associating you
with the negative character you portrayed?
It all comes back to the severity of the issue and the
fact that many people don’t realise the impact of it.
After playing the role of Imtiaz, people have made
some unkind jokes about it.
In this day and age, even my kids have been asked at
school about the character their father had played.
Nevertheless, it all comes down to the fact that it
impacted a large audience and the effort has all been
worthwhile because playing a character like Imtiaz’s is
every actor’s dream. I am glad that I got a chance to
be one of the people who brought the issue of child
sexual abuse to the forefront.
Has playing such a powerful role in Udaari
affected the way you choose roles now?
Of course, it has. People expect a lot more from me
now. My choices have been narrowed. I am looking
to play unconventional, interesting and multi-layered
characters with a lot of nuance and complexity.
What other issues do you think can be highlighted
through this medium - drama and film? How
effective can they be?
The issues of poverty, racism, sexism, minority rights,
fairness, corruption, justice, and access to education
can and should be highlighted in television and film.
Not doing so would be selling the mediums short and
majorly irresponsible.
TIDBITS
Describe yourself in 3 words
Kind, humble and genuine
One role you could have done better
Imtiaz
One profession you would pick other than
actor, model and producer
Charitable Work
Biggest regret in life
Not having worked in films and plays with socially
relevant themes