We don’t have an audience for item numbers: Areeba Habib

The 'Jalan' starlet recently made an appearance on 'Time Out with Ahsan Khan' with fellow actor Zarnish Khan

Industry newbies actors Zarnish Khan and Areeba Habib recently made an appearance on Time Out with Ahsan Khan, dishing out details of their journeys towards television, as well as the road so far when it comes to their careers. The actors, known for their roles in television series such as Ishq Zahe Naseeb and Jalan respectively, also reflected on the reservations they have with the inner workings of the industry. 

After the host questioned the two about the stigma that surrounds the acting profession, with there being a widespread assumption that only “uneducated” people opt for a career in showbiz, Areeba responded, “I feel like the stigma isn’t there anymore. We have so many examples to prove it. Ayeza Khan, Mahira Khan, you can see that family clearly matters. The generation that is coming forward now is also smarter. It’s not like any field is good or bad. We’re just doing the work that we enjoy.” 

Answering the same, Zarnish spoke about how being “educated” doesn’t necessarily guarantee a good character or work ethic. She said, “You can be very sorted, even if you aren’t that educated, and you can have the most illiterate attitude even if you’re fairly educated.” Elaborating further, she added, “There’s a perception that only those people try out for this industry for whom nothing else has worked out, because people tend to think that way, and these days, that perception is 100% correct, not because of the people we have in the industry, but because of the mindset that we have around the world.” 

On the apparent ease of access to fame via virality on social media, Zarnish continued, “Every other person you ask wants to become an actor. They don’t have any other field in mind. Every person on TikTok, regardless of age group, wants to become an actor. Everyone wants to be famous. Because of this, people have started to think that this is the easiest and most glamorous way to make money, but it requires just as much hard work and passion as any other job.”

Speaking about her foray into the world of showbiz, Areeba explained that acting is something she always had a knack for. “I have been an actor since I was a child,” she revealed, adding how that took a backseat once her modelling career kicked off, “I was always interested in acting because of Bollywood and Lollywood, but I became a model first and then completely forgot about acting. I ended up getting offers eventually and I was blessed to have a good team. It’s very important to make sure you have a good team when it comes to your debut, more important than the role you are offered.” 

For Zarnish, it was more about being in the right place at the right time. “It wasn’t planned at all. It was more destiny than choice,” she explained. The actor continued, “My mother’s friend is an actor, so I went to a shooting she was a part of. The director there spotted me and said that he felt I spoke very well. He gave me a couple of lines to read out loud, and I thought he was asking me to read them simply because he might have been having trouble reading Urdu. I read them with some expression, and he ended up wanting to cast me in a part. At first, my parents didn’t agree, but then everyone convinced them and I got the job.” 

Elaborating on the reservations her family had with the work environment in the entertainment industry, the Jo Tu Chahay actor shared, “My mother went to my shoots and she was satisfied with the environment. But, the reservations people have with the environment aren’t completely invalid. I don’t know if I should be saying this, but the only difference is that a lot of things that aren’t very easily accessible for a normal person, which these days they mostly are, are available openly, and then things end up affecting your religion and faith.”

On the pressure of keeping up appearances on social media while avoiding controversy or backlash, Areeba reflected, “No matter what people say about doing whatever they want on their Instagram, we need to be aware of the audience we are catering to. The people who like us do so because of our characters, and on TV we are always dressed in conservative clothing. For our fans, we are our characters. My personal space is obviously there, and I try to share my private life to a minimum.”

Responding to the same, Zarnish stressed the responsibilities of public figures on social media. She said, “I agree with Areeba to some extent, but the truth is that there are millions of mindsets on our social media, out of which some will agree with us and others won’t.”

The actor continued, “If it comes to the dress I’m wearing, a lot of people will not like it and that’s okay because it’s their personal opinion. My way to deal with this is that, because I can’t please everyone, I try to keep the opinion of the majority in mind. If I find out from my posting patterns what it is that is bothering my fans, I try not to do it. You can say ‘this is who I am,’ only when you aren’t a public figure.”

After the host quizzed Areeba on a statement she had made earlier about item numbers not working in the local industry, she elaborated on her point further, “I don’t know why they add item numbers to our films. They are so good on their own. We have such beautiful actresses. I said we shouldn’t do item numbers because we don’t have an audience for them and we don’t want to see our girls in item numbers. We have such beautiful songs like [Mahira Khan’s] Noori.” 

When the question of item numbers was directed towards Zarnish, she responded saying, “I don’t have anything against anyone who does item numbers, but I feel that, if you pick up PTV dramas, you’ll notice that our content is so strong that we don’t need item numbers. There’s a reason item numbers are a part of films abroad. It’s because that is their selling point.”