Mehwish Hayat refuses to bow down to Bollywood pressure

Mehwish Hayat says she’ll continue speaking the truth even if Bollywood filmmakers don’t cast her. 

Pakistani actress Mehwish Hayat said in a recent interview that if Bollywood filmmakers won’t cast her because of the truth that she was speaking, then she’d rather have that.

Speaking to BBC Urdu, the actress said that she had been highlighting the negative portrayal of Pakistanis by Bollywood and Hollywood films.

“I’d rather speak the truth and not get cast in their films,” she said. “This is not something that I’ve said right now. I’ve been saying this all along. Maybe because of the current crisis, this has amplified so much. This has been my stance since day one,” she added.

Mehwish urged people who were making films that were portraying Pakistanis in a negative stereotype to come to the country and witness for themselves what Pakistanis were like.

“Come and see for yourselves what a peaceful country and what a peace-loving nation we are,” she said. “We are famous for our hospitality around the world.”

In response to a question, Mehwish confirmed that she would be playing Benazir Bhutto in an upcoming biopic. Mehwish showered praises on the former prime minister and said that she loved Benazir.

“I love Benazir Bhutto,” she said. “She was the first woman prime minister of Pakistan. That’s such a great thing. People need to see and know more about Benazir,” she added.

Mehwish said that Benazir’s character that she would essay was currently being scripted by the writers and that she was excited to play the role. She said that the younger generation needed to know more about the slain leader.

“Things are written in books and people do read them. But film is another medium altogether,” she said. “Our generation needs to know more about Benazir.”

Mehwish said that she was reading up about Benazir to gear up to play the role.

“The more I read about her, the more I am inspired but I also get sad. We lost a great leader,” she said.

In response to another question, Mehwish said that she liked to portray characters that had depth and strength.

“I have been reading scripts and some female characters written for me were spineless,” she said. “I cannot play spineless characters because a lot of girls and women look up to me.”

Mehwish addressed the hate and controversy that generated after she was awarded the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz.

“The size of your mentality and your mind matters,” she said. “Your mind should be big enough to fit both my Tamgha-e-Imtiaz and Billi song.”