Negativity is the gist of social media: Minal Khan
Making their way from TV serials to an everlasting friendship, Minal Khan and Saboor Aly recently appeared on Time Out with Ahsan Khan together and spoke about their future projects, love lives, the comparisons drawn between them and their siblings. Here’s what they had to say:
Sibling rivalry?
“I feel very proud when people attach my name with Aiman’s,” began Minal when asked about her sister. “I’m proud of Aiman for where she stands today and how far she has come in life. She’s my biggest inspiration so when people call me Aiman mistakenly, I take it happily without correcting them. Of course, out of us two, she (Aiman) became more popular and her fame benefitted me. After all, I’m her sister and she’s the only one I can benefit from.”
On the other hand, Saboor shared, “Actually, Sajal and I started acting together for a project but she was keen to proceed as an actor whereas I was not even close to being interested.”
Minal added, “There’s no comparison between sisters, be it actors or just regular people. If I sit back and a sibling of mine becomes famous overnight, I would boast about her success and find my own happiness in her achievements. My own stardom wouldn’t matter at that point.”
Saboor agreed. “It becomes difficult when your father, mother or any sibling has set a high standard in the industry. When you enter it, immediately, it becomes difficult to meet that mark. For me, till this day, my sister Sajal is my favourite actress and always will be because of how far she has come and I can never beat that.”
Gaining popularity via negative roles
“I think people take our characters so seriously that they forget we’re not the same person in reality,” began the Fitrat actor as soon host Ahsan Khan asked them about the negative roles they have played so far. “There’s a lot of margin when it comes to playing the antagonist. I thoroughly enjoyed it because it made me explore the creative side I was holding onto for so long.”
Minal maintained, “I think letting out a side that appears negative on screens is crucial for us actors because it’s not negativity for us but a way to find confidence. What I learned from my character Nisha from Jalan was purely self-reliance.”
Life beyond acting
Ahsan, who is an avid social media user himself, then asked his guests whether their online presence bothers them, considering the negative feedback the two had been receiving recently. “Social media is very crucial,” began the Hasad actor. “We need to value the point of view of the masses and their expectations but never be driven to only meet the ideas the public approves of, because we have a lives of our own too. I think people should learn how to not be judgmental all the time.”
Saboor continued, “If you, as public,find anything inappropriate or not according to your own standards, please try to ignore it. Negative feedback only affects us; it takes seconds for you to type but it leaves an impact on us. Even if you try to forget that moment, people remind you of it over and over again that only spreads negativity.”
Minal shared, “I think these bloggers and influencers, have this habit of picking out clips from certain shows and framing them in a way that they appears to be ‘bad’ just for the sake of likes and shares and for me, this is the gist of social media. Only negativity finds its way online, drawing a curtain over anything positive.”
Both Minal and Saboor concluded that people need to use their platforms in the best ways possible, to spread positivity and hope.