When Hajra has the say

Actor talks about her latest role, gym and love for K-dramas

Drama aficionados may have long decried the saas-bahu trope infiltrating the showbiz industry, but that hasn't stopped Noor Jahan, the television show depicting a complicated joint family, casting a spell over viewers. With matriarch Noor Jahan ruling the household with an iron fist, a gripped audience has found itself tuning in week after week to see what fresh hell is in store for Sumbul, the forever unwanted, downtrodden third wheel trapped in a dead marriage to Noor Jahan's son, Safeer.

What makes Hajra tick?

"Sumbul is nothing like me," states actor Hajra Yamin straight off the bat in conversation with FUCHSIA's Gup Shup. Dressed casually in a breezy white summer outfit with her hair swept off her face in a simple braid, the no-nonsense straight-talking Hajra, who is a serial gym-goer and staunch believer of gender equality, brings to life the meek hunched-over Sumbul - a character who is almost the diametric opposite of her the woman who plays her.

"I go to the gym a lot," shares Hajra when discussing how she copes with a schedule that just doesn't stop. "Isolation helps me a lot, to just detach myself from the work. There are moments when I'm just sitting, or I go to the gym. Fitness really helps me. I'm all for therapy, but I don't like to talk. I like to keep moving."

Lest you are intimidated, fitness is not the only thing that keeps Hajra going; she has other, more relatable joys too. "I love Korean dramas," she gushes. "I do really think we need to take notes from these people!"

Bringing Sumbul to life

"We are poles apart," confirms Hajra, in case you were left lingering with any doubts after the gym and K-dramas revelation. "She's a difficult character to play. In fact, before playing Sumbul, I always used to judge people like her!" she confesses with a laugh. "But when I saw her journey, I realised she has a full circle, an arc, and I apologised to all the Sumbuls that I've judged before - I'm sorry!"

Growing up in a family where feminist ideals were revered, Hajra is one of the few lucky women who can live out her dreams of being on screen. "I always wanted to act, and I always wanted to sing," she notes.

Hajra may have got a foot in the door by breaking into the industry with roles in Ehd-e-Wafa and Be Adab, but that does not mean that she has become lackadaisical about her career. Regardless of being an established actor, Hajra notes that she still makes it a point to retain her grip on the profession by taking periodic acting classes. "As actors, we develop patterns that become very hard to break," she points out.

It is precisely such attention to detail, coupled with regular sessions with Noor Jahan director Musaddiq Malek, that has allowed Hajra to delve into the permanently afraid Sumbul's psyche. As a woman with no family of her own, Sumbul has been accepted by Noor Jahan and spends her days trying to figure out her place in a house already teeming with surplus dominating bahus and a husband who has brought a second wife (and now baby) into the fray.

"Sumbul lives in a relationship where she is unwanted," illustrates Hajra. "She is cornered from everywhere. Three is a crowd, you know. She's been made to feel that she's not welcome, and now, Noor Jahan only pays attention when she wants to. So to show that, when it came to dialogue, I had to change my voice to something a bit more high-pitched to make it sound as submissive as I could."

Hajra, for whom 'being submissive' does not come naturally, notes that he had to dig deep to accurately show her viewers just what Sumbul was going through. "I had to show Sumbul's trauma through my body language - like her hunched shoulders - and my voice. All of this is symbolic of her feelings. Sumbul lost her parents, and she's trying to fill that void. She's a people pleaser. She's been accepted whole-heartedly by Noor Jahan, and you can see why she would want that."

Hair, wardrobe, and a great director

It was not just Sumbul's voice and hunched-up shoulders that portray her submissiveness, but also other details, right down to the way she dresses and styles her hair - or indeed, how she isn't even allowed to choose her own clothes or hairstyle. Giving a shout-out to her own personal stylist who took care of Sumbul's wardrobe, Hajra explains, "My stylist made the character's clothes and shoes. Sumbul is Noor Jahan's puppet - so you should be able to see that. And when you see Sumbul, you can see that someone else is choosing her clothes, her jewellery, her hair. It's all rehearsed and choreographed - that is the reason her body language is uncomfortable. You know that this character is in knots right now."

In her journey to portray the tied-up-in-knots character viewers have grown to have a love-hate relationship with, Hajra whole-heartedly credits director Musaddiq. "He was my fairy godmother on set," she says warmly. "We worked on Sumbul as a team. I would sit with him before every scene. Every actor should work with him at some point." Reflecting further on the actor-director relationship, Sumbul adds, "Any director will work well with an actor who's working hard. If they get an input, they will give you feedback."

Circling back to her own director, Hajra recalls that Musaddiq has kept her grounded throughout the run of the show. "Musaddiq reminded me that I can't bring my perspective here, and I have to portray her the way she is," says Hajra with her trademark insight. "Lots of things in Sumbul's character are degrading and insulting, and lots of nuances that were captured outside of the script. I didn't get it at the time, but I get it now."

Viewers who may have been left frustrated with Sumbul's journey on the show may be slower to get it - but regardless of how they feel about this trampled-on woman, those on the other side of the camera can only wait and see how her arc plays out. For the sake of Sumbuls everywhere, let us hope she gets the justice she deserves.