'Our actors aren't humble'

Ali Safina calls out industry egos and waning patriotism

Ali Safina, impressively an actor, comedian and host all in one, recently appeared on Ahmed Ali Butt's podcast where he covered everything from industry peers to patriotism and the pitfalls of being pigeonholed as a comedian.

Game of survival

The actor's road to success wasn't as straightforward as you may think. Long before he was a household name, he was just another wayward soul in Karachi trying to make it through the night. Literally. His first job in the city came with its own set of challenges, not least of which was the ungodly hour it required him to work. "When I first came to Karachi, I needed a job and didn't have any money," he explained. And as luck would have it, the job he found was from midnight to 2 am. For anyone unfamiliar with Karachi, that time slot is more than just inconvenient—it's a survival challenge.

The biggest obstacle wasn't even the job itself but the logistics of getting to and from work at the radio station. "How would I get to the studio? And when I was done, how was I getting home which was approximately 20 kilometres away from work," Safina recalled. Transport was practically non-existent, and he had no network of friends to rely on. The struggle was real. "I used to be waiting till 4 am on the street for a cab or a ride," he added, painting a vivid picture of the hustle he had to endure just to get by. It wasn't glamorous, but Safina never expected it to be.

What he did expect was to learn something along the way, and it's clear those early days helped shape his connection with his audience. The Chupke Chupke actor quickly realised that the key to success wasn't just about being funny or entertaining; it was about being relatable. "I realised that the people want to listen to someone who understands them," he said, and that's exactly what he's done throughout his career. But there's a flip side to this realisation—a sad truth about the entertainment industry. "Unfortunately, the majority of our artists are not humble people," Safina pointed out. It's a tough pill to swallow, but Safina doesn't shy away from calling out the lack of humility he's seen among his peers.

Taking pride in patriotism

Safina also tackled patriotism, and he didn't waste any time calling out what he sees as a troubling trend. "One should never speak against Pakistan," he said, sounding like someone who's watched the country take hit after hit, often from its own people. It's become somewhat fashionable to complain to air grievances in the most public way possible, especially online. And Safina isn't having it. He's baffled by how eager people are to criticise—artists, cricketers, politicians, you name it. No one is safe. "Why is everyone so angry all the time?" he asked, a question many of us have wondered as we scroll through endless rants on social media.

Safina's frustration lies in the constant flip-flopping. "One day we'll praise something, and the next we'll be ready to criticise it again." It's as though nothing is ever good enough to satisfy the armchair critics. He brought up Pakistan's recent achievement of launching its first satellite, which should've been a moment of national pride. "It's a great thing we finally sent our first satellite into space," he said. But true to form, there were still voices of disapproval. Safina didn't sugarcoat it—people will criticise no matter how significant the achievement, and that, to him, is a major problem.

Breaking out of the box

But Safina's thoughts on patriotism are just one facet of his no-nonsense approach to life. As a comedic actor, he's had his share of struggles breaking out of the box people love to put him in. "Being a comedy actor, I get typecast a lot," Safina admitted, and you could feel the exasperation behind the words. It's an industry trap—nail comedy, and suddenly everyone assumes that's all you can do. It's almost as if once you're funny, you lose the right to be anything else.

The Fairy Tale actor shared an anecdote that summed up the frustration of being typecast. There he was, trying to deliver a serious scene, but the director wasn't having it. "The director is giving me a hard time saying, 'you can't act in anything other than comedy,'" Safina recalled. And it's not just a creative block—it seeps into his personal life. He recounted a moment during a particularly tough day on set. Mid-shoot, he got into an argument with his wife Hira over the phone and she didn't hold back either. "She then puts me in my place and hangs up," Safina laughed. But here's where life imitates art. That raw frustration from the phone argument? It bled into the next scene, and suddenly, his performance hit all the right emotional notes. "I went in with an upset expression and the scene was perfect, the director was happy," he said. Sometimes, being emotionally rattled is exactly what the director ordered.