All set to essay the role of Fahad Mustafa’s mother in Load Wedding, veteran artist Samina Ahmed speaks to Instep while promoting the film in Karachi.
Veteran TV, film and theatre actor-director Samina Ahmed remains an integral part of Pakistan’s entertainment industry, with almost 50 years of experience. She essayed the role of Sanam Saeed’s mother in a recent theatre play Heer Ranjha while she was also a part of Ramazan special transmission Suno Chanda that became very popular among masses. Currently, the actor is gearing up for an important role in Nabeel Qureshi and Fizza Ali Meerza’s Eid ul Azha release Load Wedding, in which she will be seen as Fahad Mustafa’s mother.
“It’s my first time; I haven’t been a part of promotions before this,” she told Instep during a press junket in Karachi.
Going by the trailer, Samina Ahmed essays the role of a typical desi mother who is against marrying her son off until her elder daughter gets married.
“I can relate to the character because I have done mothers for television who are very traditional, who are sort of tinky in their head,” she said about her role. “But this was an interesting aspect to this mother, the conditions her son puts and the way she deals with it. This role wasn’t that sort of somber; it’s fast-paced; things are happening quickly.”
Reflecting on her experience while shooting with the cast and crew of Load Wedding, the veteran actor added, “It was very nice. I haven’t worked with this team before and I was very apprehensive that it will be difficult to work but it wasn’t. The only problem I had was getting up early in the morning because I am not used to it. The work that we do on television doesn’t require us to be up at seven in the morning and start shooting at nine. But since there was a lot of outdoor work for Load Wedding I had to be up early.”
When asked about her views on Pakistani cinema and the way it is progressing, she maintained, “The kind of work that is coming in – a mixture of good and bad – is encouraging. Some of the things are very exciting; there is diversity in terms of genres and one gets to see different kinds of stories.”
However, her concern is that there isn’t enough happening. “There are only a few films coming out every year,” she continued. “I would like it better if more films are produced and more cinemas are made. We need a lot more screens and we need films to be accessible to everyone because right now it’s a bit of an expensive entertainment.”
Ahmed has been associated with theatre, TV and films for years and she expressed that she likes all the mediums and anything associated with the world of showbiz. However, she admits that she can’t do theatre as she feels she doesn’t have that energy and stamina anymore.
Towards the end, I asked what she looks forward to doing in the future at this point of her career.
“What I would like to do now is to continue working and to find challenging roles according to my age that are interesting,” she shared.
“I’m very grateful that I am still working; it’s 50 years of work. I am not that old. There is always time to explore one’s self and do other things. At this moment, when I have done so much work, I also feel a little more confident that this is what I can do and this what I can’t do.”
