Beo Raana Zafar, Ayesha Toor and Amina Khan open up about family, career journeys

Actor Beo Raana Zafar shared a humorous story about her impossible-to-please grandmother, recalling how nothing the family did ever seemed to satisfy her.

Appearing on a morning show alongside Ayesha Toor and Amina Khan, the actors reminisced about their grandparents, reflected on breaking traditional norms, and shared how they each found their way into the entertainment industry.

Recalling one of her grandmother's trademark complaints, Zafar said, "You could not please her. The day rice would be made, she would say, 'Where is the roti?' The day roti is made, she would ask, 'Is there rice?' And the day there is neither rice nor roti, she would say, 'Give me toast,'" mimicking her grandmother's constant change of mind.

"You couldn't please her in any way," she added. She said her mother, who was "very dignified and very educated," would simply laugh off the remarks instead of taking them seriously.

Khan shared a similar story, revealing that her grandmother may have inadvertently inspired her acting career, despite being the one person least supportive of it.

"I never thought I'd be on screen. I used to imitate my grandmother a lot, and that's where it started. When her knees would hurt, she would say a typical line, and I would imitate her. Although she was the most opposed to me going into the media, she wasn't very happy about it," Khan said.

She joked that "good actors are like monkeys" because acting often begins with mimicry.

Toor agreed, saying that breaking traditional rules is sometimes the only way to carve out a new path. Reflecting on a memorable moment from the early 2000s, she recalled getting a pixie cut for a music video.

"Those were different times... There was a huge boom in the television industry and a great deal of creativity. We also had the freedom to experiment," she said.

Explaining the symbolism behind the haircut, Toor said people often attach a woman's identity to her hair, so shaving it became a statement of personal freedom.

"When a woman is free, people are so obsessed with her hair, so we decided to cut it off and shave it," she said, adding that attitudes have changed considerably over the years.

The discussion later turned to how each of the actors entered the entertainment industry.

Zafar revealed that her professional career began in London with Hear and Now, a magazine-format programme produced by Zia Mohyeddin. "It was about immigrants for the indigenous population," she said.

The programme ran for eight years, allowing her to establish herself as both a writer and presenter. She also recalled that her family's connection with Mohyeddin helped open the door to the opportunity.

"My father was the director general of Radio Pakistan, as well as a poet and linguist, and Zia used to frequently visit Radio Pakistan and perform recitations with my father," she said.

She recalled entertaining guests with her impressions at a dinner in London. "I was doing my imitations during the dinner, and he asked me to come and audition for a show in Birmingham. I went, auditioned, and got the job," she said.

Khan, meanwhile, said her acting career began largely by chance. While doing modelling assignments, she was also preparing for the CSS examinations, which she successfully cleared.

"I went for an interview where there were five elderly men from different provinces asking me questions. When they asked me about the Kashmir issue, I said it is basically a water problem, and they said, 'Don't you know about the Indus Waters Treaty?' I continued discussing how many times both sides had violated it. Then two of them laughed. I passed," she recalled.

Although each actor's journey into showbiz was different, their stories shared a common thread. Whether shaped by colourful grandparents, unexpected opportunities or a willingness to challenge convention, all three credited the people and experiences that helped define both their careers and their identities.