I love Feroze as much as Daro loved Noori in 'Maula Jatt': Humaima Malick

Actor shared how she kept a sensuous outlook while displaying hypermasculine emotions of rage, pride, hatred as Daro

Humaima Malick returned to the big screens with the epic blockbuster The Legend of Maula Jatt this year–and her entry was so loud and promising that despite playing the villain, fans hailed her as the “heroine” of the film. Even Mahira Khan admitted she was the main act.

Humaima, who essays the role of Daro Nattni in Bilal Lashari’s reboot of the 1979 cult classic Maula Jatt, told Indian journalist Faridoon Shaharyar in an Instagram Live session that she was asked to follow two instructions by her director: “(A) Do not watch the old Maula Jatt. and (b) take reference from Eva Green’s character in 300: Rise of an Empire.”

She went on to thank Lashari and veteran actor-director, Shaan Shahid, for guiding her performance by offering her tips on how to retain a sensuous outlook while exhibiting some hypermasculine emotions of rage, pride, and hatred. “

Another interesting revelation about Daro was that Humaima enjoyed flirting with the camera, and not Fawad Khan. “More than the man, it was the camera I was flirting with. Daro had to love herself beyond everything,” she said about her scenes with Maula in the film.

However, she did not deny that the scenes were electric on screen and went on to credit Fawad for his contribution to making it possible. “Daro idealises her brother. He’s the strongest person in her life. He saved her and made her live like a royal in a tribe of men not wanting her to exist. So when she meets Maula for the first time, she looks at him from head and toe, and instantly falls in love with him when he dares to tell her about Makha’s (played by Gohar Rasheed) murder.”

She added, “Fawad is the kind of character that works extremely hard for everyone to shine in the scene. I call him the Aamir Khan of Pakistan. After every day of the shoot, Fawad would call me and he’d tell me that I was so good. That meant the world to me.”

Humaima shared that with the contradictory emotions she had to show on screen, it was difficult to not look “vulgar” or “vulnerable” in scenes. “The dialogues were difficult, and we did this scene with the wooden Mashal lights in a vault, a teh khana, in one of the old forts of Lahore. It was full of smoke and the fight scene was so difficult because I had to not only look sensual and bright but also full of lust and desire. I had to romance Maula as a man. Daro had just worn the turban, she is powerful and she has the courage to court Maula.”

As to what made TLOMJ such a raging success, Humaima gave all the credit to director Bilal’s vision and writer Nasir Adeeb’s trust and commitment to the film. “If someone has made Mughal-e-Azam, it is a very hard job to give that badge of honour to someone else to carry forward with a completely new outlook. The film was originally written in English. Bilal got the script from Nasir Adeeb sahab and then wrote the dialogues in English and later got them translated in Punjabi. They didn’t find a middle ground. Nasir sahab had to come all the way from his old-school Punjabi legend style to Bilal’s vision of Maula Jatt. And I’m proud that Bilal did justice to his trust and compromises.”

A conversation with Humaima is apparently incomplete without mentioning her film with Emraan Hashmi back in the day. “I’m not guilty or ashamed of that. I’m an artist and we shouldn’t have any boundaries,” she exclaimed. “I am, however, apologetic to my nation for not knowing how they'd react. In Pakistan, people don't understand strong and independent women. I think we have collectively cancelled 90% of Emraan’s sins. Even if I post a picture from my Umrah, people will comment something about him.”

Moving on from her professional to personal life, Faridoon brought up how close she is to her brother Feroze Khan. Smiling, she confessed, “Woh meri jaan hai, (he is my life). Main dil hoon toh woh meri dhadkan hai (if I am a heart he is my heartbeat), aur main zameen hun tou woh mera asmaan hai ( and if I am the land, he is my sky). Feroze loves me as much as I love him and our relationship isn't conditional or with boundaries.”

Drawing comparisons from her film, she said, "The way Daro loved Noori and Noori loved Daro, I love Feroze and he loves me the same way as well. We love each other immensely."

Recalling an anecdote to share the lengths her brother has gone to keep her happy, she said Feroze once gifted her a handwritten letter by Bollywood’s Amitabh Bachchan on her birthday. “On my birthday, my brother gifted me a handwritten letter by Amitabh Bachchan with his picture and signature. It’s framed in my office and it is the sweetest thing. He had addressed me as ‘Humaima sahiba’ and called me fortunate.”

Stating what the letter read, she detailed how he gave her blessings to keep working hard as she does and even said he likes the work she has done so far. “That’s how much he loves me, and I, the, same if not more,” she concluded.