The highly respected actor talks about television and restricted roles for women of age, misogyny in the industry and the relief that women have finally started to speak up.
Savera Nadeem is of course a name known and widely respected on the television circuit but while Savera has done countless television serials and theatre productions in her twenty-odd year career, it’s her entry in superhit drama serial, Mere Paas Tum Ho that has reignited her presence and put her right back into the spotlight. Unlike her previous hit dramas, Babajani and Haiwan, in which she plays a struggling lower middle class woman, Savera’s character Maham, Shahwar Ahmad’s wife in MPTH made an unforgettable entry as an alpha woman who was completely in control of her life and ready to crush anyone obstructing her way.
I caught up with Savera for a conversation on MPTH, of course, but also to get her feedback on various issues that challenge women in the entertainment industry these days. Are there enough roles and/or opportunities for women in her age group? Did she feel male chauvinism and misogyny in the industry was improving with time or getting worse? And how did she see the future of films in Pakistan?
“I don’t think middle aged women are appropriately portrayed on television,” she addressed my first concern.“There are so many nuances in different characters for women in our society. There are women from different backgrounds with different personalities andwho work in diverse fields. They have their own stories and they are as interesting as the ones that are already being portrayed on TV. Women are shown as victims and that is a reality we cannot deny– these are the ground realities for a large part of the women in our country. But what about the others?There are so many positive stories around women.We have female athletes who have emerged triumphant but nobody highlights them.No one portrays their stories and focuses on their struggles. I strongly believe that the positive aspect should be shown as well.”
When it came to glamourous roles for older women,Savera admitted that once you had been categorized as a serious actor, you were inclined to be typecast for a certain kind of role.Focussing on performance and portraying intense characters with their ups and downs and having a glamorous personality just didn’t go hand in hand in our industry, not yet at least. To understand that a glamorous and yet intense character could also be createdrequired a lot of effort and while it hadn’t been done much until now, things had started to change.
Did she feel there was a lot of misogyny on television these days?
“These days?” she counter-questioned, with a laugh.“It’s always been there. If you look at the older plays, I think there was a focus on problems, stories and conflicts in general, but since a few years the focus has shifted to women and everything seems to be about a central female character. It would have been a good thing if shewas not shown as a victim,constantly. It’s the light you portray a woman in and I think the viewers have seen it so much that it has become a part of their subconscious; it colours their judgement.”
Do you ever try to change the narrative or give input to your character development?
“Once a story is complete it is very difficult to change the plot, but when the story is in its initial stages that is the time where you should have input,” she said.“I have made mistakes in signing up for certain roles and have realised it only after signing up for a project. But once you’ve signed I feel it is unprofessional to suddenly start arguing and changing the storyline.”
What projects are currently in the pipeline for you?
“There is a serial with Bilal Abbas Khan and Noman Ijaz. I’m not sure if it is a web series or a TV serial, but Season 1 is in the works and it is again a very strong character. I somehow find it hard to play someone who is not strong. I like powerful characters and I feel you can find strength whatever the situation maybe; I try to find that in anything I do. The other two serials, you can say that they are extremely positive characters, but I enjoyed playing those characters.”
Savera spoke about films in general and how the initial teething period was over and films needed to pick up on quality and quantity now. Things needed to settle down and the graph needed to rise, she said. “Even one solid film a year would be good.” The conversation inevitably led to the Me Too movement and whether sexual harassment and exploitation in the industry was actually being addressed.
“I am very pleased that things are coming out and girls are opening up about what they have been through,” she said, optimistically.“Because of these girls others will also get the courage to speak up. And this is the way we are going to put an end to it. Initially there will be backlash but things will change.”
