‘Why can’t our actors do item numbers?'

Ali Saleem claims the Pakistani audience needs to change its mindset

KARACHI:

The Pakistani society’s mindset towards television and film needs to undergo a massive transformation, said Ali Saleem better known as his alter ego and silver screen personality, Begum Nawazish.

Ali was one of the speakers at a session titled ‘Transformation or Transactions in Film and Television’ on the third day of the sixth Karachi Literature Festival. Discussing the changes and mindsets of people towards actors, Saleem pointed out that everyone loved watching Bollywood actors performing item numbers in movies but they were extremely critical if a Pakistani actor did the same.



“The characters we play are the agents of change,” said Saleem, talking about his experience of playing ‘Begum’ on screen. “It is not necessary that the audience receives the actor’s message.”

Also on the panel was Sanjay Iyer, a writer and actor from India. He talked about his experiences of filming in India and writing on the country’s cultural issues. He said that some scenes really touched the heart but then there were some, which are difficult to perform but have to be done as they are part of the film and that it business.

Political analyst and the session’s moderator, Omayr Aziz Saiyid, said that there was a need to develop cinema and this demand was increasing. “It is the consumer who is pushing for growth and expansion,” he said. “We as actors raise the bar really high for people.”

Focusing more on the characters played by actors in movies and dramas, actor and model Gia Ali, said that cinema improvises how an individual thought. “We [actors] have the responsibility of many things – portraying the right expressions in the right medium and fulfilling the expectations of the audience,” she said.

Actor Meera made a guest appearance at the session along with film-maker Farooq Mengal. Criticising the Pakistani audience, Mengal said that Pakistanis did not accept change as a nation but in small groups which was a drawback.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2015.