Leyla Zuberi talks divas amongst young peers

Actor discusses new-blood pride in showbiz

The ever-graceful Leyla Zuberi, who has acted in several of the nation's favourite drama serials, reflected on her career in an interview with Imran Ashraf. As is true with many veteran showbiz professionals, audiences tend to be curious about a senior actor's take on the evolution of the local industry. Maintaining a polite demeanour, Leyla did not shy away from presenting her views.

It seems that young artistes have left quite an impression on the Udaari actor. "Today's female actors tend to become divas very quickly, which my generation never used to be. Back then, there wasn't this sense of pride driving us to become divas. Maybe that's why I feel the difference, because of the kind of commitment that we used to have," she observed.

The 67-year-old actor feels that the younger generation believes in shortcuts and desires to achieve fame as quickly as possible. "We weren't really concerned with that. We'd never think that we could even become successful like that. All we had was the passion to work. I don't often see that level of passion anymore," she confessed.

To give an example of what she means by a diva, Leyla recalled that sometimes the crew would be present on set, waiting for the shoot to commence, while the female lead would have yet to arrive. And senior actors would have no choice but to be on stand-by, awaiting her arrival.

On other occasions, Leyla has also observed incidents that occur once shooting has wrapped up and everyone is going home. "The production-assigned car would be dropping everyone off, but some girls insist that they want to go alone and that no one should accompany them. Why? Because they're divas," she said.

"Some feel that if they don't assert themselves in this way, they might not be considered heroines. I've seen this sort of attitude even in new blood," she added. "This is true for certain male actors as well. Production slows down until they receive what they've ordered."

Despite these setbacks, the Pukaar actor shared that perhaps the reason God has made this journey so fruitful for her is because she has championed positivity so far. She claimed to have never fallen prey to envy or speaking ill of her peers.

"I have borne witness to envy. To be honest, there's a lot of that within our industry. Perhaps, people have spoken ill about me as well. But I don't let it get to me, or affect me in a way that's consequential," she shared. Leyla indulged the possibility that negativity might weigh her down at times, but being a seasoned actor, she knows how to put up an effective front.