Mansha, Noor talk personal lives and career trajectories with Ahsan Khan

Longtime friends actors Mansha Pasha and Noor Hassan, who previously starred together in Tumhare Siwa, made an appearance on Time Out with Ahsan Khan to talk about the way they navigate the showbiz industry, as well as their personal lives.

Mansha, who made headlines after tying the knot with lawyer and activist Jibran Nasir, revealed that the two have had an easy journey so far. “Jibran and I, we’ve been together for a while. So, because of that, we’ve had a very natural sort of progression to our relationship. We’re like friends, so I’ve known his family for quite a long time also,” she shared.

Adding how the couple didn’t feel the pressure to rush straight into marriage, Mansha explained, “Everything has fallen into place, so it didn’t feel like a major change. It wasn’t like we skipped the engagement because we were worried about not getting married at the end, which is a fear many people have. People rush into a Nikkah after an engagement because they fear the engagement could be broken off.”  

On how he believes Mansha and Jibran are a great match, Noor shared, “They really make a perfect couple. Mansha is very headstrong, and I know Jibran is a good person. So, the first time she told me about it, I was like oh my God! It’s like a puzzle fitting together perfectly.”

However, when it comes to his own romantic life, Noor is in no rush to settle down. “I never plan. I don’t want to marry because I have expectations about getting married at a certain time. These things just happen. I don’t think I’ll decide to get married and then go looking for a person. It’s more like I’d meet a person and then decide to get married. It’s supposed to be convenient,” asserted the actor.  

Revealing that acting is something he acquired a love for later in life, Noor shared that he was initially interested in pursuing music and later direction. “I’ve developed a passion for acting. I always wanted to be a music composer. I feel very inspired by South Indian music. I always knew I’d be famous one day, but I felt that I could change things up on the creative end. Maybe get into direction because I felt I might become a better director than an actor, but now, for the past 12 years that I’ve been acting, I really feel like this is my true calling. The amount of fun I have while acting, I don’t think I’d find that kind of enjoyment anywhere else.”

On the kind of scripts he accepts, the actor said, “The most important thing for me in a script is how important my character is to it. That doesn’t have anything to do with whether it’s a big or small role. If I feel that the script can work without the character, then I try not to do it. The character should matter in the story.”

On the other hand, Mansha does not like to fret too much about the kind of projects she’d like to take on next. The Laal Kabootar starlet shared, “I don’t think about what kind of projects I want to do, because if you end up focusing on that too much, you’ll just keep waiting forever. Producers here make certain kinds of dramas and they defend them, which is a whole other debate, so you can’t think too much. But, I am careful that whatever project I take on isn’t like something I’ve already done in the past.”

In a segment of the show where the actors were asked to elaborate on previous controversies, Mansha was asked to speak about her social media posts defending the firebrand screenwriter Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar that attracted quite a bit of negative attention from the public. “I’ve worked with a lot of people in the industry, and this was with reference to Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar. I’m sure you’ve worked with him also because you’ve been in the industry for so long. I think it’s wrong when people in the industry say they aren’t aware of his thoughts. Obviously, if the news is giving him a platform, he is going to say what’s on his mind regardless of whether we believe he’s right.”

She added, “In general, I believe that the way you think personally and professionally should be different. In your personal life, you choose to surround yourself with people whose values you align with, but not when you’re working. Even when you employ someone at your house, you don’t think about what their values are. You can’t know for sure how they think.”  

Noor elaborated on the topic further, highlighting the difference of opinions within the industry. “That’s what I love about going to work. You encounter people with such different mindsets. Sometimes I indulge them, and people think I’m being argumentative, but I’m genuinely interested in understanding why people think the way they do.”