This girl's beyond me: Hareem

Actor breaks down 'Bismil' and the making of Masooma

During an interview on a local morning show, actor and producer Hareem Farooq revealed her preferences within the larger scope of the entertainment industry and what it took for her to pick up the script for her latest serial, Bismil.

The 32-year-old actor is better recognised in the industry for her partiality towards production, rather than performing. She has co-produced the films Janaan, Parchi, and Heer Maan Ja, two of which she has also starred in. "I enjoy working behind the camera. First off, you don't have to worry about the glamour aspect. And secondly, you are creating a project from scratch, and the fun of that is just something else. Yes, acting is fun too, but this is my domain," she explained.

After kick-starting her career with theatre, Hareem made her screen debut in 2013 with a key role in Siyaah, a horror thriller film about a paranormal child. She then segued into television in 2014 with drama serial Mausam, which carved a pathway for many more roles in the future, including family drama Diyar-e-Dil which served as a big break for her.

On what pushes her to jog back on-screen, Hareem said, "There was a period when I was actively avoiding acting because it felt as if I was receiving the same kind of scripts, the same goody-good. So I thought, okay. If that's how it's going to be, I'll get to these later and focus on my production for now. Things changed when Sar-e-Rah came along. It was a project that truly captivated my interest."

"After taking it up, I developed an understanding with the team," she shared. "And after conversing with the producer, I realised that he's got a vision and a fun approach towards our line of work." That was how she was introduced to the script of Bismil and the cunning of Masooma, who Hareem described as a "full-on villain".

"I was told that this is, in fact, the story. The girl is a manipulator," Hareem continued. "When I asked about the cast and crew, I was informed that Nauman Ejaz and Savera Nadeem are involved, with Aehsun Talish as the director. I said, lock it! What are you waiting for?"

"And Masooma—even her name is Masooma, though her behaviour isn't masoom (innocent) at all," she confessed, referring to her ignoble character. "She has been a completely different experience for me. Usually, there is a factor that you can relate to with your characters. I thought that if this one was going to be negative, I could dig into my darkness and scoop out that negativity. But when I became Masooma, I would turn to Aehsun every now and then and ask him who this girl even is."

"She's beyond my wits!" Hareem exclaimed. "Since I had done a lot of difficult characters, I was of the impression that this would be easy. It is a wonderful team, it will be fun, I can pull this negativity off, but no. I couldn't understand her at all. I would just be left wondering, who thinks like this? How can I think like this? But of course, I received a lot of help from my team in that regard."

Bismil has fallen prey to an influx of mixed reviews since its release, with some audiences praising its unique turn from the conventional storylines of Pakistani television and others calling the characters an over-the-top depiction of actual people. While entertainers understand the relevance of the narrative to real-life complications like infidelity, local viewers are not so easily persuaded.

Only continual shift to bolder stories can tackle the resistance that controversial drama serials face, which is credited to the comfort that local audiences have built due to the repetition of the same tropes and plotlines across Pakistani television.