Ayesha Omar opens up, highlights hypocrisy in Pakistan’s entertainment industry

Actor Ayesha Omar made an appearance on Frieha Altaf’s ‘FWhy Podcast’ on Monday, discussing at length how she made a space for herself in a male-dominated industry, meeting different challenges, and opening up on how she has persevered through her career.

Altaf, who hosted the podcast, opened the door to a candid conversation by highlighting social ills, the anxiety associated with it, and the current economic distress in the country.

What to watch this April: ‘Money Back Guarantee’, ‘Huey Tum Ajnabi’, ‘Fatal Attraction’

“It’s not normal,” elaborated Omar, commenting on the current environment in Pakistan.

The conversation drifted to Omar’s childhood days. She shared details of her family life and early theatre training at the National College of Arts, (NCA) in Lahore.

“As a child, I was a very bright and cheery person but all that changed as I grew up,” said Omar, recalling her experience of working in the entertainment industry.

“The actual trauma I faced was in my teenage years, when I moved to another city to work in this industry alone,” she shared.

“When you’re all alone in a world full of men, the softness in you has to disappear because if you’re soft, you’re considered weak and then you are attacked,” pointing out the hypocrisy in society.

“I have many friends in the industry who still live with their families, and they are really soft. So, a woman can afford to be soft if her family is around because then she is not dealing with men every day all alone.”

Omar, however, also highlighted how being tough can also earn you different ‘labels’.

“I had to deal with all kinds of men alone and that required me to put up a hard front. When you keep a distance from people, you are then called ‘difficult’, ‘snobbish’, and ‘arrogant’.

“Even if someone has done me wrong, I’m not going to take it up.”

Omar said she has been through “everything” including accidents, mishaps, sexual harassment, and abusive relationships, which she stated made her stronger. The actor stressed on mental health and agreed with Altaf that rallying for different causes helps deal with these issues.

On her upcoming projects, Omar revealed that she has four films slated to premiere this year; ‘Money Back Guarantee’, ‘Huey Tum Ajnabi’, ‘Dhai Chaal’, and ‘Javed Iqbal: The Untold Story of A Serial Killer’ which is now titled ‘Kukri’.

“Four films are releasing; I don’t know how this has happened, but all the projects I have been working on over the past five years are now releasing at the same time,” she shared elatedly.

“‘Javed Iqbal’, which was banned for a year, is finally coming to the big screen,” she shared, after undergoing further editing.

“‘Dhai Chaal’, a film shot in Quetta is based on a true story in Balochistan. The film will feature an Indian spy and I will play a journalist who is the female lead. I can’t reveal more details as it will disclose the plot – we’re keeping it a bit hush-hush right now.”

Omar also shared how her upcoming release, ‘Money Back Guarantee’ is more than just your average entertaining flick. “It’s a brilliant film. It’s hilarious but not meaningless.”

“It’s political satire and resonates with the current situation in Pakistan perfectly,” she concluded.