Kiran Tabeir, an actor with nine years in the entertainment industry, recently sat down for an interview and shared details about her experience in the industry, the prevalence of casting couch, and much more.
In spite of the fact that Pakistani dramas have had some hilarious and perplexing plot twists for years, social media has played a big part in fueling these situations and making them popular through memes.
The most recent drama scene that became a meme was the Fiza and Shiza twist from the short film Judwa. Thus, Tabeir, the actor who played the role of the identical twins, became a part of every headline in Pakistan.
In an exclusive chat with Something Haute, Tabeir shared about her journey in the entertainment industry. “I gave an audition for a radio show and got selected, then became a host on a cooking show without telling my family,” she began. “Later on, there was too much drama and I started living with my khala because my father was against my career choices.”
“He had put a condition that I should get married to pursue this career and Alhumdulillah, maybe it was destined that I met my husband during a drama shoot,” the actor added. “Then, I did Hum Sab Umeed Se Hain and finally people started noticing me.”
Casting couch in the industry
“Today, if anyone says that casting couch does not exist in this industry then I will not accept it,” said Tabeir. “I started with very small roles; my journey started from playing extras, junior artists, minor supporting roles, major supporting, negative, negative lead, and then I have reached lead characters.”
“I have a long journey and it is a process,” she continued. “People usually write that I have not reached the position where I should be despite being a good actress and I think this ‘casting couch’ is one of the factors to be blamed for it.”
“I was finalized for a lot of big projects; I got calls to meet with some big-shot director or producer two days before the shoot and when I did not accept the invitation, I was told that the project has been delayed. Later, I saw those dramas with a different cast on TV,” she said.
“I believe that it exists but that does not undermine the hard work of many actors. Not everyone is a part of it and this is not the only way to success. However, every actor has to face it one way or the other,” she expressed.
Similarly, actor Saba Bukhari recently drew attention to her experience with casting couch, where she discussed the advice she was given from different ‘men’ and ‘directors’ in the industry that broke her and her dreams.
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