The fearless Faryal: On separation, choosing scripts and shutting down trolls

For Mehmood, having thicker skin is an easy way out and an easy way out isn’t just her way of going about things

DUBAI:

If there is one strategy artists are advised to adopt while dealing with constant trolls, it is to have a thicker skin. 'You just have to ignore the hate, you know? You look at the brighter side. There are so many people who love you, so many fans who adore you,' has been the mantra of countless celebrities who have been subjected to the rather dark side of fandom. But for actor Faryal Mehmood, having thicker skin is an easy way out and an easy way out isn’t just her way of going about things.

She stretches in a pair of crop top and sweat pants, easing into a special number being prepared for the PISA 2021 night. She checks her steps, the moves, the reach and repeats it like a pugilist ready to knock it off and starts indulging in a blow by blow of her journey to the big stage.

"I am just a person. But because I come onscreen doesn't give you the right of saying whatever you want to me or my family," Faryal smiles while taking a break from her rehearsal and chatting with The Express Tribune in Dubai.

In 2020, Faryal’s biggest reason for making headlines wasn’t her projects or her work. It was how she and her then-husband, Danial Rahael had apparently split up. The Raqeeb Se star, for a while, kept mum on the matter. And she had her reason.

Faryal Mehmood. PHOTO CREDIT: ABDULLAH HARIS FILMS

"The reason why I didn't want to talk about it is that it's not just me who is involved. I don't want to talk about my ex-husband and his family, who are also prominently involved in the media. Whatever happened between the two of us, I would never want to dish out the details of it,” she remarks. “Why do you have to make a comment on everything? It's our personal lives, don't say mean things about it. Don't say anything about him, about me, about our relationship. It happened because it was bound to happen, you know. It's fine."

She further shares, "I left for Italy after that, it was so much fun. I was excited about the future prospects. It's not that sad. I still get messages about how I apparently look full of remorse in my pictures. 'Your eyes look so sad,' people often say. And I always wonder, how is that possible because I am thriving!"

Faryal adds, "But you know the funny bit? When the rumours about us separating blew up on the internet, we were actually together and fine. I was working and he was home. Nothing had happened of that sort back then. And then they just branded us as a divorced couple - I was shell shocked! I was thinking I am still married to him! What is going on?! Then people just started noticing how I had unfollowed him on Instagram. I never understood how this was a big deal? I could unfollow my brother too. Why make a fuss about it? I am impulsive."

"If anyone asks me now how I am holding up [after the divorce], I would just say, do you not like me happy? I am laughing, I am at a good point in my life right now. Why do I have to be married in order to feel as if I am a complete woman? I don't understand. My father had the same conventional thinking. I am also working on him," she laughs. "But he sees that I am happy. He sees I am thriving and that was a priority for him. I always say one has to be happy with themselves first. You need to feel complete within yourself in order to find true happiness."

The moral policing

Apart from her personal life being scrutinised on the internet, if there’s another thing Faryal is truly exhausted of, is the hate surrounding her clothing. "I think trolls getting personal have a lot to do with the way they're raised. What they're taught, how their parents talk. I don't understand why they think it's okay to talk about my parents; about how they [my parents] are okay with the way I dress, how I show my skin. It's so easy; unfollow me. Don't look at me,” she comments.

"I can't tell you how filthy they are. If I limit my comments, they start inboxing me. I am concerned about this hate they have for me. It's not just men, it's women too. What they need to understand is that I am not an average Pakistani woman." She clarifies her take by saying, "An average Pakistani woman goes to work; you know, is conservative, mildly liberal. She's educated, she has maybe two or three kids. She's someone who runs the house. I am not that woman. I am a free-spirited woman. You could, maybe, get inspired. I actually found the will to follow whatever my heart desired."

A new horizon

Faryal Mehmood. PHOTO CREDIT: ABDULLAH HARIS FILMS

"After I did Raqeeb Se, I couldn't find a good script," she asserts. "Everything that I was reading was just depressing me. Doubt, insecurity engulfed me; I was just going down a rabbit hole. So, I decided to take up a film course in Italy and I just packed my bags and left. I had no one I knew there. But I just went there, I did my course. I ate the most delicious food! I saw the most amazing places; I met the most amazing people. They showed me who I really was," she recalls.

"I went to Italy and I was just shocked to see how they thought I was pretty! I thought, 'Oh my god, these people think I am stunning! They think I have a beautiful complexion and my skin is flawless." She went on to relay how the beauty standards aren't just set by social media. "It's a generational thing; we've been facing this generation after generation. It's so deep-rooted in our society - this gora complex - that it's revolting."

Faryal Mehmood. PHOTO CREDIT: ABDULLAH HARIS FILMS

Faryal further shares her brush with fat-shaming she had faced in the industry. She went on to add how even after achieving size zero, she was told she isn't good enough and still faced criticism over her body. "I was severely body-shamed early on in my career. There were certain directors who shared I wouldn't get this role because I was too fat for it. I was too fat to play the main lead. I remember there was this play, titled Maryam. I wanted to play the main character. The director told me, 'Oh you can't play this role. This character is supposed to be that of a Virgin Mary. Just because you think I am fat, I am not a virgin?' It baffled me."

She adds, "My thinking at that time was that if I am a bit chubby and I get to play a lead character, girls who would look like me would also think that it's fine to look like this. We don't have to look a certain way to find our Prince Charming. But I also wanted success, so I started losing weight. I started going to the gym. I went to size zero."

From numb to dumb

Faryal Mehmood. PHOTO CREDIT: ABDULLAH HARIS FILMS

Discussing the debate surrounding ‘problematic content’ that has once again surfaced on social media, Faryal shakes her head and responds, "We are making our public dumb." She adds, "Whenever I have had a discussion about this with the producers and the channel CEOs, I was told this is what the audience wants to watch. That is not true. If you show them something worthwhile, they will watch that. Just because you are making money off of this does not mean you dumb your public down.”

She quips, "When our CEOs, businessmen and marketers started deciding what kind of content should be broadcasted, creativity went out of the window. And I just left as well."

Faryal goes on to discuss how it pains seasoned artists to do poorly-scripted drama serials. "I worked with Sania Saeed. She's an artist. I have seen the pain on her face when she has to work in such dramas," she relayed. "There are so many times we are changing our lines because whatever is being scripted is so sad. Sania ji and I worked on a play together called Be Adab for PTV. I remember both of us just worked our own lines because the ones handed to us were such a joke."

She then comments on how she was approached for an OTT series before she left for Italy. "I was approached by Zee5, I think, for a web series which was said to be helmed by a big name. I won't name the director but the story was a remake of a play that had been aired some 25 years ago! I was shocked. I don't think our directors understand the calibre that our counterparts have reached. I wouldn't dare compare us to Hollywood but look at India. The kind of shows they are making, the content they are putting out on OTT; how good is that?"

Faryal shares how until a couple of years ago, she was offered good, distinctive scripts. "I have worked in such good dramas; things weren't always in a sorry state. We are now at a point where I don't want to stay in Pakistan. There are no exciting projects holding me back here. And I love acting,” she concludes.

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