Saheefa talks about social responsibility after an awry video of hers went viral on social media
Joining the ranks of models who successfully transitioned from modeling to acting careers is Saheefa Jabbar Khattak. She had been absent from fashion shows and campaigns for the past eight months or so and when the teaser of upcoming drama serial Bhool came out, audiences knew what she’s been occupied with. Bhool features Saheefa and Affan Waheed in lead roles and revolves around themes of love, loss, heartbreak, family values, and breaking traditions.
What is interesting is that Saheefa is playing an older character of Saboor Aly’s mother, which is odd since Saboor is her contemporary. When she was pitched the role, she shares that she was told she’d have to play a woman who’s about forty so it’s not going to be a glamorous role. “Most girls in the industry prefer glamorous roles where they look young so the director thought I wouldn’t be up for it. It was really challenging because I’m a new actor and just learning. If you get a challenging role where you have to learn how to act and perform at the same time - it’s pretty hard.”
Modeling wasn’t always a plan for Saheefa but a couple of years into modeling she realized the inevitable longevity of the career. “I knew I’d be acting eventually but I didn’t think it would come into my life so early. The journey has been great and I already feel like I’m more of an actor than a model.” When asked to compare modeling and acting, she said that models have it much easier in comparison. “Models are lucky because they work for less hours, make their money and come back home and don’t bring their work back with them. Acting is time consuming where you’re working with the same people, on the same set for three months at a time and sometimes up to a year. Staying in the same character for so many days is a different experience than a day’s shoot as a model. One feels like they’ve adopted a new family for the duration of the serial.”
As an experienced and newbie actor, Saboor Aly and Saheefa Jabbar Khattak have amassed a significant following on social media. Last week they came under fire when they posted an Instagram story where the two were seen cracking jokes at a window cleaner on the sets of a shoot. The video went viral on social media with people calling them out for classism. After strong backlash on social media, Saboor clarified that it was a joke between them and the Assistant Director of the serial. Do actors need to be more careful with their words and does Saheefa feel more socially responsible now that she’s going to be on national television?
“It’s so important for actors to be responsible,” she begins. “The masses are watching so there will be all kinds of audiences, conservative older people and less young people so that’s a big factor to play in your social media activity. If you’re not on social media you can stay low key, but if you are uploading glimpses of your daily life it can get very complicated. One really has to watch what they’re saying because everyone isn’t from the same background and peoples’ mindsets are different. As a model, you have a small following but are not known the way an actor is.”
Saheefa is already working on her next serial with Faysal Qureshi and we’re looking forward to see her performance in Bhool.
