I think its trashy when people get injections to change their skin colour: Nausheen Shah

The actor opened up about fashion, controversies and celebrity culture in a recent interview

Nausheen Shah, known for her roles in television series such as Tarap and Deewar-e-Shab, recently made an appearance on Tabish Hashmi’s web talk show To be Honest. The actor shared her thoughts on fashion, politics, and controversies she’s found herself in the midst of in the past.

Originally hailing from Abbottabad, Shah revealed that her mother wasn’t too happy initially about her entry into the world of showbiz. “My mother was very upset with me when she found out. I was 16 at the time and I didn’t tell her [what I was actually doing].”

Now, with over a decade in the industry, the actor has several thoughts on celebrity fashion and doesn’t like it when the clothes she’s wearing are given priority over her acting credits. Speaking about how she feels when people judge her based on her clothes, Shah shared. “It feels good [when people judge you on your clothes] sometimes and bad at other times. The issue is when your work starts getting neglected because of it. Our identity [as actors] is through our work, not through the clothes we wear.”

After the host referred to Shah as a “fashion icon”, asking her who she felt her competition in the industry was, the actor confidently asserted that there was no one in the industry about whom she felt that way. She stated, “Nobody. I genuinely feel like everyone has their own choice and everyone wears good clothes, but there is no competition.”

When asked by the host to clarify what she deems “trashy” fashion, Shah responded by saying she feels that body modification isn’t something she feels positively about. The actor explained, “I think it’s very trashy when people aren’t confident in the colour of their skin or their features and start getting injections. I think it’s absolutely trashy.”

In a segment of the show where the host asked Shah to give advice to famous people as a member of the “fashion police”, the actor commented on the style and looks of Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry and former Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan. Shah, while addressing Chaudhry, said that she feels the politician should consume less junk food. The actor stated, “I’d tell him to stop having junk food first and foremost. Eat healthy food.” When the host retorted that her comments would count as body shaming, the actor responded saying, “I never body shamed him, I just told him to start eating healthier. Clean food.”

The Mera Pehla Pyar actor elaborated further, “He’s so young and he has no medical illness that he’s spoken of so far, so he probably does stuff himself with junk. Eat homemade food so that you get into shape. Body shaming is something else. You’ve tried to trap me, but it won’t work.”On the question of whether politicians should eat less, Shah responded, “Kam na khaayein, sharam khaayein, haya khaayein aur marr jaayein [Not food, they should have shame and die].” The actor also advised Awan to “wear less makeup”.

Reflecting on the compliments she has received in the past that she feels were insults, the actor shared an anecdote from a wedding she attended in the past and being compared to the famous Bollywood actor Kareena Kapoor Khan, “I was at a wedding in Islamabad with my best friend, an aunty came over and said to me, ‘Beta, you look better on TV’. She actually said that. I had no idea what to say to her after that. Another compliment that feels like an insult to me is when people compare you with other actors. I don’t like that. People compare me with Kareena Kapoor.”

When the host commented that he saw the similarities between Shah and Kapoor, the actor quickly dismissed him, saying, “No, she has very big teeth. I think she’s beautiful though.”

The mention of weddings led to a discussion of the controversy Shah found herself in the midst of in February, in which actor Yasir Hussain named the actor when asked during an interview whether there were any celebrities that crashed his wedding in 2019. When the host asked Shah whether she’s ever crashed a wedding, the actor responded with sarcasm, saying, “Yes, I enjoy going to them a lot. In fact, I end up going uninvited.”

In February, Hussain was asked the question by Vasay Chaudhry on the latter’s show. Laughing on the matter, Hussain quipped, "Our wedding card was on social media, so technically, everyone had it." When the host further pressed him for a name, the actor shared, "One of the famous personalities that attended the event 'forcefully' was Nausheen Shah."

Things took a turn for the worse when Chaudhry laughed at Hussain's response and added how Nausheen must have attended the event to see how weddings are celebrated since she herself isn't hitched yet.

Commenting on the matter, Shah said to Hashmi, “I think we should leave it and we should not give a lot of mileage to this.” Following this, after the host remarked that he couldn’t name anything that the actor is famous for on his own accord, Shah responded, “I can’t think of any. In fact, I found out I wasn’t the only one and there are gazillions of other people also. [His] claim to fame is this. The public has crucified him enough. More than you can think.”When asked by Hashmi what the actor felt Hussain’s problem was, she added, “I don’t know. I genuinely feel sad. Such actions just reflect on your shallowness.”