Hating men is not a part of feminism: Sarwat Gilani

Celebrity couple Sarwat Gilani, Fahad Mirza recently sat down for an interview on 'Time Out with Ahsan Khan'

Celebrity sweethearts Sarwat Gilani and Fahad Mirza sat down for an interview on Time Out with Ahsan Khan, shedding light on their marriage and love story, as well as dishing out details of their respective careers. 

Sarwat, most recently known for her work on the web series Churails, described Fahad, who she has known since she was in college, as her “first love”. The couple, who tied the knot in 2014, revealed that after dating for three years, the couple separated and remained apart for seven years. “My mother was the one who separated us, and she was the one who ultimately brought us together,” shared actor and cosmetic surgeon Fahad on his relationship with Sarwat. 

“My mother, after we separated, became very upset. She wanted to fix things between us. Seven years later, my mom was having an exhibition and she said asked me to come to it,” recalled Fahad. He added, “I was like, ‘What do I have to do with clothes?’ And she said, ‘No, you are my son. You have to be there for me.’ What I didn’t know was that my mother had invited Sarwat as well. For a picture, my mom stood in the middle and made us stand beside her, and then my mom just disappeared.”  

On the fated nature of their connection, Sarwat reflected, “When we met, we sat in a cafeteria thinking we’d just grab a coffee, talk for a bit and then leave. We ended up sitting there for seven to eight hours just talking. We didn’t feel as though we’d ever separated. That’s what happens when you’re also good friends. You always pick up where you left off. The funny thing is, Fahad’s family was asking him to take things forward with me, but he was hesitant. My family also wanted us to move ahead. I was like, ‘It’s been seven years, I don’t even know if he still likes me or not,’ but what was meant to happen, happened.” 

The Churails actor, who is known for her charitable work with organisations such as the Special Olympics shared that she feels a sense of responsibilty as a person with access to a platform. “I feel that we’re so blessed to have millions of eyes watching us and millions of ears listening to what we have to say. What’s the point of living if you’re only living for yourself? As a child, my mother did a lot of charity, my father helped a lot of causes, so it’s in my blood,” she explained. 

Sarwat added, “On raising kids, parents have a responsibility on their shoulders of raising boys the right way so that they respect and care for women.” 

When asked whether she had ever had any cosmetic procedures done, given her husband’s profession, the Jawani Phir Nahi Ani actor revealed, “Yes, I’ve benefitted from it. If the world can benefit from his skills, why not me? But, I feel that since I have him at home and he’s so available for me, I fear that if I get into it and start to rely on it, then it will go downhill very quickly and I’ll start to look like a duck.”

Fahad added that, as a doctor, he would not let his wife or any other patient undergo a procedure that may do more harm than good. “I won’t let her do it. I have a responsibility, not just to my wife and kids, but to every patient who comes to me, that if they’re going overboard, I tell them that there is a line I won’t cross and if you want further procedures done, go to someone else.”

After he was asked what kind of procedures people mostly go for, Fahad shared that the choice is highly dependent on socio-economic factors. He explained, “If I tell you on the basis of socio-economic status, then, unfortunately, the people who belong to lower-middle-class backgrounds usually want whitening done.” 

He continued, “The saddest thing is that the girls that come to me are young and have been rejected for marriage by someone after the mother-in-law says that they want a girl with a fair complexion. It saddens me a lot. People from the upper classes mostly want fillers. Make their cheekbones better. Fix the deflation that happens with ageing. A lot of girls want lip fillers and nose jobs.”  

On her previous comments, where the actor said that she was not a feminist during promotions for Churails, Sarwat clarified, “People only listened to half the statement I gave. The full statement was that, if getting on the ‘all men are bad’ bandwagon is what is required to be a feminist, then I am not a feminist.” 

She added further, “I am a motivational speaker, I talk about child abuse, I talk about women’s rights and fight for them at so many avenues, then how is it possible that I am not a feminist? So, equal rights? All the way. Hating men? No, that’s not part of feminism.” 

The couple also previously received flack for sharing pictures with Bollywood director Karan Johar on Instagram. On the issue, Sarwat commented, 

“I had met Karan Johar at the airport, and like a typical fan, I took a picture with him and posted it on social media. After that, the things people said about us calling us traitors, it didn’t take them two seconds to judge us so severely after we shared a picture with a Bollywood celebrity. So, I felt that the people who can’t handle my life should just unfollow me.” 

Fahad added, “Borders, nations and religions are there, but humans also have a relationship with each other. When we met Karan at the Rome airport, there were a lot of issues going on against him in India with the movie he’d done with Fawad [Khan]. He was on the hot seat. But, when we met him and asked him to send a message to the people of Pakistan, for a split second he hesitated because he was already going through so much. But then he smiled and said what he did. I found that to be such a nice gesture.”