I was once asked to be a body double for Priyanka Chopra: Zhalay Sarhadi

What makes Zhalay, Mansha Pasha, Osama Tahir and Faris Khalid tick? Find out here!

KARACHI: There might still be a month till we get to feast our eyes on Umer Adil’s upcoming romantic-comedy Chalay Thay Saath, but that doesn’t mean we can’t set the mood for it now. The Express Tribune sat down with the film’s cast and crew to provide a taste of what’s in store for you.

Zhalay Sarhadi

As expected, the conversation kick-started on a quirky note with the ever-charming Zhalay Sarhadi joking about being compared to Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra. “I started working the same year that Indian channels got banned in Pakistan and Priyanka became Miss World. I remember, I was hosting a show back then and everyone thought it was Priyanka and not me,” said the supermodel. “It’s been this way ever since that time. I bet even Priyanka knows about me by now.”

Zhalay recalled how once an Indian actor she had been working with sent a picture of hers to his friends and agents as a joke. “The agent asked him, ‘Who is this? Priyanka ki cousin aisi tau nahin hai.’ Someone from India then approached me to do a body double for Priyanka, which really offended me,” she said. “I thought, ‘really?’.”



About the role she has plays in Chalay Thay Saath, Zhalay proudly said, “I don’t play the female victim anymore; I do characters that are real. In films, you’ve got more opportunities to explore but breaking stereotypes takes a lot of work and I believe films like Chalay Thay Saath are doing that.”

Zhalay’s co-star Mansha Pasha, who will be making her cinematic debut with the film, revealed that she only signed on because of the team behind it.  “If it wasn’t this team making the film, I wouldn’t have signed up for it. I believe in actor, producer and director communication, which is very important. I felt we understood each other well,” said Mansha, adding that they shot in Hunza for about two months. “You’re literally in somebody else’s hands. We used to say they are our mommy and daddy. One has to choose nice parents.”

Mansha Pasha

Commenting on his chemistry with Mansha, fellow debutant Osama Tahir said it was intimidating to work with more experienced actors. “I have done a lot of theatre so when Beenish and Umer picked me for Chalay Thay Saath, I thought this can only happen if the support is as strong as I need it to be. And I have to give it back to my co-star, which is also intimidating,” said the actor.

Osama Tahir

The conversation then moved to Faris Khalid, who made his debut in Ahmed Jamal’s Rahm last year – an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Asked as to how it feels to go from a relatively unknown film to one as highly-anticipated as Chalay Thay Saath, the actor said that Rahm wasn’t meant to be a box office success; it was just to commemorate Shakespeare’s 400th death anniversary in 2016. “Rahm was meant to do rounds on the festival circuits. But I think with more promotions, it could have been great exposure for Pakistani audiences,” Faris stated. “But then again, I had a limited role in Rahm. And with Chalay Thay Saath, I was more involved with the script.”



Discussing his pairing with Zhalay, Faris shared that they have known each other for a long time so it was quite comfortable working together. Asked if being too comfortable with a co-star allows an actor to get away with a subpar performance, he disagreed. “At the end of the day, you are not performing for yourself. The director is there to see whether it works or not and make a final call. And because we were comfortable, we were able to bounce energy off of each other.” Chalay Thay Saath’s producer Beenish Waiz added Zhalay and Faris’ performances were so good that they received applause after the shots multiple times.

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At the trailer launch of the film earlier, Faris had made a joke about how all Chinese people look the same and received mixed responses. “That is something I do to Kent’s face but it’s all in good humour because it’s in the film too. My character, unfortunately, represents that mindset of Pakistanis who aren’t very welcoming and can be a little malicious when it comes to those from the Orient. Of course, I am not actually a racist,” he clarified.

Beenish spoke of how Chalay Thay Saath is being compared to other travel films, such as Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara. “What makes our film different is that it is about Pakistan and our values and how we see it. When we were writing the script, we were conscious of that. And then, it’s not just centered around a road trip,” she stated. “The narrative and the characters evolve. The film is about their emotional journey and relationships.” The producer added the visual inspiration came from documentaries as Adil is actually a documentary film-maker.

Talking about television actors coming into films, all four actors agreed there should not be a divide or competition between different mediums. “If you see around the world, that gap is decreasing. Of course, new faces are needed in every industry and they come from different mediums such as theatre and television,” Zhalay said.

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