Dur-e-Fishan is the emerging star from the drama series “Pardees” and in an interview with BBC urdu, she opened up about how she started her journey as an actor, and how was her experience of working with Marina Khan and Sarmad Khoosat. The actor said that although she had grown up with a father who was producer and director for PTV, but her parents aspired for her to do CSS instead:
“I grew up around sets since my father was a producer and had directed sitcoms for PTV. But I grew up in an enclosed environment because my parents wanted me to focus on my studies instead of anything else. I remember the day I came home with my degree and I told my mom that I wanted to act. She laughed, because she thought this was a phase. My dad had not said anything because he thought since I had such a good degree, I should focus on CSS. After a lot of table talks, my mother agreed to let me try acting, because she thought that I didn’t have any experience and no one would want to work with me. I came here a year and a half ago and started auditioning, and a week later I began getting calls to shoots.”
On whether nepotism in the entertainment industry should be discouraged, Dur-e-Fishan said that she was strongly against it, but also said that every parent would want to support their child to ensure that are able to climb their way to success:
“I did not get roles due to nepotism. If that had been the case then my first role in “Dil Rubaab” would not have been such a small role as the sister, I would have gotten a more prominent character. I also feel that no matter what profession you belong into, you won’t get far without the support of your parents and family members. But I do understand that nepotism unfairly offers some people a door that others have been struggling for years to reach to.”
On the experience of working on Pardees, Dur-e-Fishan said that she loved working with accomplished people like Marina Khan and Sarmad Khoosat:
“I was extremely nervous when Sir Nadeem told me I had gotten the role and would be meeting Marina Khan to discuss my character Aimen further. I found her to be quite different from other directors because she was an actor herself. She makes sure that there is a proper dynamic and environment created for an actor to perform a scene… I also loved working with Sarmad Khoosat and I grew quite close to him.”
Coming to the way women were represented in her drama “Pardees”, Dur-e-Fishan said that television shows need to work on the way women are represented on screen since most of the roles represent women as passive and weak beings who keep returning to their abusive partners:
“Our drama series are mostly women-led, yet the way we represent them on screen needs to be changed so our society can move towards progression. We keep relying on the same stereotypical portrayal where a woman keeps crying, or she keeps going back to the same abusive man. You will see this in “Pardees” in Zubaida’s character and how she is glorified because she keeps compromising, to the point where she ignores her children. But this script will also now draw a comparison between Zubaida and her daughter Aimen and how different they are in abusive situations even though they are mother and daughter.
You can watch the complete interview below:
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