Meera: turning 26 and controlling her thoughts

KARACHI: You know Meera the actor and Meera the ravishing beauty. Now, with The Express Tribune Magazine’s Page 11 Questionnaire, you will get to know the true person behind the public image.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

My naïveté. I was only 13 when I started working in films and never really learned how to judge people. This has been a bane as I’ve promoted a lot of people who have done nothing but create obstacles for me. I now realise the significance of Hazrat Ali’s saying: “Beware of the one on whom you bestow favours.”

Which living person do you most admire?

Imran Khan, Aamir Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit, Sylvester Stallone and the chief executives of certain media groups.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Some people are very interested in my English (laughs). I’m planning on giving a detailed interview in English to some TV channel. My only condition is that I will charge Rs 2 million for the interview. As for the sum, I will donate it to some charitable institute for the uplift of humanity.

Which living person do you most despise?

There are many but I don’t want to name names. I hate people who do not respect women, view them as commodities or forge false associations with them for cheap publicity.

What is the quality you most like in a man?

A good man is one who respects women from the bottom of his heart. I admire men who work hard to provide for their parents, wives, children, siblings; a man who supports his girlfriend is also worthy of respect. Anyone who lives off a woman’s income does not deserve to be called a man.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

“Because”, “Love you”, “Miss you”, and “God bless you”.

Which talent would you most like to have?

I want to make the impossible possible. If President Zardari gives me a target, I want to be able to achieve it. I know I can; I am beautiful, smart, focused and sexy. I have always been target- oriented; I think even my corpse would want to do something.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

My mind is in constant overdrive. I am so hyper, so excitable and I can’t seem to slow that down. Since I was a child, I have been bursting with energy and ideas and now that I am 26, I want to be able to control my thought process.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Waking up one morning and discovering that I am someone’s ‘wife’. That was a particularly low point. I belong to the man I will eventually marry.

What is your most marked characteristic?

I’ve never said this before but I believe I am gifted with supernatural powers. Even as a child, I felt like I’d already experienced this world. I believe I am a divine soul. When I was in America once, I cured a man with my prayers; his medical tests came back clear after I prayed for him.

Who is your hero of fiction?

I don’t live in a world of dreams; my future husband will be my hero.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

I think I share a lot of Benazir Bhutto’s attributes. I am also similar to Madhuri Dixit and Angelina Jolie. Sometimes I think that in my previous life I might have been Cleopatra or the princess of a kingdom.

Who are your heroes in real life?

President Musharraf.

How many hours of load shedding did you experience today?

Even though I live in Defence, which is considered a separate entity from the rest of the country, I still endured an hour of load shedding –and it’s barely noon. I’m going on a shoot so my family will now bear the brunt of the remaining load shedding.