I swear, I’m cursed: Mahira on her new films struggling to make it to the big screen

Resident superstar Mahira Khan recently sat down for an interview with BBC, shedding light on picking up projects that feed her soul and goals for the next ten years of her career. The Humsafar actor also spoke about how she feels she’s “cursed” when it comes to her big screen endeavours, which are seemingly taking forever to make it to viewers.

When questioned about her upcoming film releases, Mahira shared, “I swear, I’m cursed. I feel like every film I’m doing is going into the Bermuda Traingle… I’m just like, where are they?” She continued, “Hum Kahan Ke Sachay Thay was one of those things where I was like, I’m just gonna go back to work, because films weren’t happening. But, you’re right, I’m actually craving, like I told you, I want to see all of us on the big screen again. So, Quaid e Azam Zindabad releases on Bakra Eid, so next Eid. And, Neelofar, you’ll have to ask Mr [Fawad] Khan, he’s the producer. And Maula Jatt, let’s not even go there.”

The actor, who is all set to essay the role of a blind woman in Neelofar, explained about having to prove her talent constantly to critics, “Well, what happens is, every time I do something, before it comes out, they’re like, ‘Now what will she do?’ And luckily when it does come out, they’re like, ‘Oh, wow.’ And, literally, right when it’s done, the pressure is back on. And the only way I’ve started to take it is positively.”

On picking up the projects that she wants, Mahira continued, “I actually am done. I now don’t actually want to do anything for other people and prove to anybody else that this is what I’m capable of.”

She elaborated further, speaking about her telefilm Aik Hai Nigar, “As an actor, I am ready to just do something that will feed my soul, and I’m not going to go on set until that happens. Aik Hai Nigar was that for me. You don’t understand, I used to hardly sleep, because [being] producer-actor is tough.”

On how this year marked ten years of Humsafar and Bol, Mahira reflected, “I look back at [the milestones] fondly. I’m blessed because I’ve worked with people I never thought I’d get to work with. I’ve worked with people I’ve always wanted to work with. I didn’t know what I was getting into. I didn’t know names, I didn’t know people, I didn’t know actors.”

Shedding light on how her career has exceeded her expectations, Mahira added, “Just the fact that I got to work with the Shoaib Mansoors and the Sarmad Khoosats and the Asim Razas of Pakistan. The fact that all I ever wanted was to be in a film with Shah Rukh and did that. The fact that there have been so many ups and so much love and success but also such big downs and some failures and some hard times, and I just feel like, it’s just a beautiful, magical journey. Maybe I’m romanticising it, but I love romanticising everything.”

On how her fans keep her going, the actor continued, “I remember now why I joined Twitter. There was so much love. All these fans coming to you, and one of the tweets was like, ‘God, I remember when I was 11 and Humsafar came out and I’m so happy that there are the people that I stan,’ And I was like, oh my God, 11? She must be 21 now. And they’ve been with me through this journey. So, I’m very lucky. I look back at it with a smile on my face.”

When questioned about what she wishes to achieve in the next ten years, Mahira, a believer in the power of manifestation, did not hesitate to dream big. The actor shared her list of A-list achievements that she wishes to check off her list, saying, “I want to be able to make movies, or anything, actually. Content. I want to be able to direct. There are things that I want to direct. Should we just go all out and say that we would like to be on the Oscars stage? Why not? Let’s manifest it. An Oscar, a film that will win, what’s the highest award at Cannes? Yeah, that. The team’s ready. A BAFTA.”

Finally, when asked about her favourite Coke Studio 14 tracks, Mahira picked two clear winners. Naming Abida Parveen and Naseebo Lal’s Tu Jhoom as well as Peechay Hutt by Hasan Raheem, Talal Qureshi and the Justin Bibis, the actor shared, “All of them are brilliant. But, if you ask me, it’s Tu Jhoom and Peechay Hutt. It’s just like, two different worlds. Tu Jhoom is a philosophy and so is Peechay Hutt. They’re both philosophies of life.”