Actor, model and YouTuber Hira Tareen caught our attention with her most recent role in drama serial Khaas that concluded last month. She essayed the role of Salma, a fiercely self-obsessed woman who left her first husband and parted ways with her second husband too. Hira was brilliant in portraying a self sufficient, confident and blunt woman who had zero tolerance for mistreatment and knew exactly how to handle it.
Prior to Khaas, Hira played a similar role in Piya Naam Ka Diya that aired on Geo TV earlier this year. She played the role of Roshaney, a headstrong working woman, who was a single mother and led life on her own terms.
In this interview with Instep, Hira spoke about how society looks at divorced women, stereotypes surrounding them and how important it is to break away from them on TV.
Here are excerpts from the conversation…
Instep: Two of your recent dramas portrayed you as a divorced woman but they didn’t cut you out to be as tragic as dramas usually do. What did your characters aim to convey?
Hira Tareen (HT): I think both the characters, Roshaney from Piya Naam Ka Diya and Salma from Khaas, are somewhat new portrayals of divorced women in our society who are not loathing in the tragedy of their past. Sure they must have gone through their fair share of trials and tribulations during the process of separation but they have moved on and haven’t completely shattered in the process. Another thing that these characters are conveying is the choice that women have to end unhealthy, unhappy and hopeless marriages.
Instep: What are your views otherwise on how divorced women are stereotyped in most parts of the world?
HT: Divorced women are indeed stereotyped, in traditional and conservative societies across the world, as selfish if they chose to leave or are considered failures and sometimes crazy, because they weren’t able to make their marriages work. I think the burden to make marriages work mostly falls on women and rids the man of any responsibility to compromise in the marriage because of the notion that a man will be a man. The truth is that men and women both suffer during and after a divorce financially, socially and even domestically. That said, there are many more women today who are not made to feel like outcasts in society after divorces, and sure it might be a tough road but it isn’t the end of the world for them.
Instep: How do you think television can play a role to change that mindset?
HT: Television can play a major role in changing the narrative and not portraying the aftermath of divorce as such a shameful social disaster. It should become less of a social taboo so that real issues like child custody, divorce laws and other outcomes are discussed. If anything, by showing these real issues and not shying away from the topic, people might make smarter decisions about marriages in the first place.
Instep: Salma was more of a rebel, who came across as a negative character to many. What’s your take on labeling characters, particularly females, as positive or negative, without any room in between?
HT: I never saw Salma as a rebel. I read her more as a person, who knows exactly what she thought she wanted and deserved and wasn’t afraid to ask for it. Sure some people saw her as negative but towards the end of the story a lot more people than I expected didn’t see her as a villain and were rooting for her. I find it way more interesting because it shows something is changing in the way people are thinking about female characters. I think people enjoyed the contrast between Saba (Sanam Baloch) and Salma because everything they wished Saba was able to stand up for, Salma came and did very effortlessly and confidently. So the character more than being a rebel served as karma for all the other characters in Ammar’s (Ali Rehman Khan) family who mistreated Saba.
Salma represented the new woman who is not afraid to voice her opinion without having to misbehave, yell or be loud, unless of course it is needed in order to be heard. Now that doesn’t mean she cannot be flawed, or wrong at times. She seems like the more realistic and layered representation of what a woman or any human is in society today. There are some characters that are generally good and bad but I am enjoying the new breed of in-betweens that are showing up. It makes stories more interesting.
Instep: You have a YouTube channel that you have been pretty active on lately; how important do you think digital presence is in this day and age?
HT: How important it is depends on each person and what their goals are. I personally like having a direct connection with my followers and fans. Plus I enjoy creating content and having creative control. Having a digital presence definitely helps in getting instant feedback from your audience in order to understand how they perceive your work.
Instep: What are you working on now?
HT: Right now I am reading scripts and trying to decide which project and character I would like to do next.
Instep: Do you plan to work in films anytime soon? Or is there anything else coming up?
HT: Yes, there are plans to work in a film very soon. I will definitely share more details when I can.