Dr Abdul Wahid Soomro (MNA Pakistan Peoples Party)

KARACHI: With a room crammed with journalists from both print and electronic media, film actresses Meera and Laila held a meet-the-press session at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday. 

Replying to a question, Meera said she had no intention of getting into politics. “I’m an artiste and I’m happy with my career,” she uttered in her distinct laid-back style. 

The same question was put to Laila with the added reference to her presence at a recent political programme. She said she was invited to that event arranged by the people associated with a retired general who had ruled the country for nine years.

Carrying on with the thought, she said everybody made mistakes and that she respected all the political leaders of the country. Laila said Shaheed Benazir Bhutto was her favourite politician because she had the charisma and the personality that none else could match.

She said if Benazir Bhutto was alive, she would’ve joined her party. She claimed in a span of four to five years she would join a political party and was thinking about it. 

When asked in which year she would tie the nuptial knot, Laila said if a good proposal came her way, if someone who loved her proposed marriage to her, she nodded in the affirmative. 

Responding to a query regarding her relations with Indian producer Mahesh Bhatt, Meera said it was her talent that had taken her thus far and that she had never required recommendations to go places.

She said, “Meri buniyad mera talent hai.” She pointed out it was because of the tensions between India and Pakistan that she had stopped going to India, and would soon visit that country because work on some of her films was pending. “Sub se pehley Pakistan,” she uttered.

She told journalists that Mahesh Bhatt was her ustad and she was like a daughter to him. If a good script came along, she’d again do an India film. 

On the subject of extremist Indian party Shiv Sena’s threats to Pakistani artistes, Meera said artistes were sensitive creatures and didn’t have any boundaries.

So no party had the right to speak against them. She said the artiste community always extended support to the government, a case in point being the recent floods in Pakistan in which the community helped the flood victims. 

When a journalist raised the issue of Pakistani actors doing objectionable scenes in Indian movies, Meera said actors played their parts according to the requirements of the characters. It could be the character of Chandra Mukhi, Umrao Jan or the one that Mallika Sherawat did in the film Murder. 

Staying on the matter of the flash floods, Laila said in 2005 when the earthquake hit the northern areas of Pakistan she with her colleagues managed to collect tens of millions of rupees to help the affectees.

But things had now changed and terrorist threats and the uncertain situation in the country had impeded relief work. She said despite that her community was doing quite a bit to alleviate the pain of the flood victims and relief efforts were still going on. 

With reference to the threats to the Pakistan film industry from the extremists, Meera said there was none and lack of financial support coupled with the fact that there was no proper production house in the country were causing harm to the industry. She said there’s no dearth of talent in Pakistan and our television industry was a proof of it. 

Laila on the other hand said the threat of extremism had affected the industry as people were now afraid of going to cinema houses. But, she said, the situation was not confined to show business alone, all other spheres of life were affected by extremism.

Laila said she had shifted to Karachi because she’s involved in a few drama projects for different TV networks. She reiterated that she was not joining the PPP but was a fan of the late Benazir Bhutto and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Inevitably the question of Meera’s marriage was raised to which the actress commented that the press seemed to be more worried about her marriage.

Meera said she had (marriage) proposals from America, Italy and India, but she belonged to a Syed family and her parents would want her to get married to a Syed. 

In the end both actresses thanked their hosts for organising the press conference and Meera commented, “Pakistan ka mustaqbil media mein hai.” 

The event was organised by the KPC’s Cultural Committee and the Pakistan Film and TV Journalist Association.