I left ‘Punjab Nahi Jaungi’ because Khalilur Rehman didn’t make changes to my role: Iman Aly

Former supermodel and actor Iman Aly, who was last seen in Tich Button, appeared on The Talk Talk Show and spoke about her struggle with multiple sclerosis, how she has suffered through it, her insecurities and losing projects for wanting more-developed and carefully written roles.

Talking about a project that was offered to her but she rejected, Iman named the Humayun Saeed starrer Punjab Nahi Jaungi. She said that it was initially a play, but insisted it be turned into a movie. However, when the writer did not take in her feedback for the lead female role, she left the film 3 days before it went on shoot, and Mehwish Hayat took on the role.

“The last thing I rejected was Punjab Nahi Jaungi. After that, I did Tich Button, and then COVID came,” she recalled. “The script was initially a play, a drama serial but I got it made into a film and then I left it. I felt my character was flawed. Our writer didn’t even know how a Karachi-born girl who lives in London would act and behave. The writings suggested that she was from Punjab only. She says Khaga sahab in the movie, she could’ve said Mr. Khaga, but she said sahab. Then he shouldn’t write characters based in London if he doesnt know,” she said.

The host questioned whether Khalilur Rehman Qamar, the writer, removed her from the project or did she leave herself. “He removed me? I left the film three days before shoot. He can’t even say that he removed me. Has he ever said it? That’s because he wouldn’t even try something like that with me,” she said.

Upon whether she likes the roles written for females nowadays for television and film, she asked jokingly, “Are there any roles for women?” She further added that she has been waiting for female roles that aren’t just love interests for men in focus. “I was waiting for a good character. There should be a film on women also. Even in Tich Button, I barely had a role. Women are just paranda-wearing love interest for heroes,” she said.

The Khuda Ke Liye actor opined that women have better representation in TV serials than in films. “I liked Suno Chanda. Both of them had equal roles. I also watched Parizaad and women had so much role in it,” she said.

Iman wants to be the flagbearer of change herself and has even written three scripts, out of which two are finalised, according to her. “Nobody listens to my opinions in this industry otherwise I would have done many films. I’ve written my own scripts but don’t have enough money to produce it right now. Two of my scripts are finalised too,” she said.

“One of them is a rom-com. It’s about life in general. It follows a story similar to He's Just Not That Into You. The second is an action film, with two male stars and a heroine,” she said, adding that she will be the lead actor in both of her films. However, she decided to stay quiet about the question of whether someone is interested in producing her films.

“I love action films. I feel complete when I’m holding a gun,” she said.

Iman shared that people make fun of her slurry and slow speech, which aggravated after her diagnosis with MS. “They look at my interview and say I’m drunk because I’m laughing. When your parents laugh, do you say they’re drunk? I talk slurry and slow but that’s not t be made fun of,” she said.

The actor revealed that she was very underconfident and insecure as a kid, and that insceurity still persists within her. “I still don’t look at a mirror. I hear people talk about me and say that I’m very pretty. I don’t look in the mirror becayse then I feel that they’re lying. I’m not that pretty and it’s perhaps because my older sister would pick out flaws in me. I wasnt that exceptional in school,” she said.

Iman shared that she didn’t even want to be an actor because she knew people would compare her to her father, actor Abid Ali’s work. “I did not want to be an actor. It was very long ago when I did a shoot and they came to me to do a drama. It was Armaan with Pervez Malik. They had to wait for me to turn 18 to act. But even then, I knew that people would compare my first project to my dad’s 2500th one,” she exclaimed.

“Although, I wasn’t bad in it. I recently watched it,” she laughed.

Iman also opened up on her struggles with MS and how she feels guilty for having it sometimes. “When i was shooting for Khuda Ke liye in 2004, I was wearing a burka and I had to run on a hilly space. I went completely blind and hazy. Since 2.5 years, my hands are numb. When I wake up, for the first hour, I can’t see anything. Once I even lost my speaking ability,” she said.

However, the actor believes in healing with mind. “I believe in mind over matter. Even with multiple sclerosis, I turn everything into a joke. I’ve been ill for so long that I don’t know what to do now. I feel guilty at times for having MS. I can’t do many things. I have motion sickness. I can’t join my husband for trekking but when I wear heels, people say I don’t have MS because i keep trying to defeat it,” she said emotionally.

“Well, I am stubborn. I will defeat this illness and I already am,” she concluded.

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