ACTOR par excellence, Rubina Ashraf is as fond of watching movies as she is of acting. She claims she watches all kinds of films, including Pakistani and continental cinema. She also enjoys Iranian movies a lot. The last movie Ashraf watched that had a great impact on her was Osama. She says she loves all Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan movies, one of her favourites being Step Mom, starring the former.
“These two women are committed to what they do,” says Ashraf about her favourite stars. According to Ashraf, she doesn’t watch movies at random. She only sees those films that have been recommended to her by people whose taste she relies on. Says the actor: “Osama came highly recommended, but when I started to watch it, I found it quite peculiar in the beginning. However, later I began to enjoy it and thought it was very informative, especially regarding Afghanistan.” Ashraf also “loved” Fahrenheit 9/11, which she saw on the big screen and claims she enjoyed the humour in it.
Other Hollywood productions that Ashraf raves about are Chicago, The Pianist and Bridget Jones’s Diary. She describes them as “totally different and excellent movies”.
Ashraf is one of the few people who, surprisingly, watches Pakistani movies at the cinema. She claims she watched Jawed Sheikh’s Yeh Dil Aap Ka Hua, but didn’t much care for it, especially its comic track and feels, “Ismail Tara should be made to do something else.” Ashraf feels that Pakistani cinema has a long way to go and states, “We can’t say we are doing well at all. The world has moved at a very fast pace and we need to catch up. Even simple stories could be done in an entertaining way. Take the Indian movie Munna Bhai MBBS, for instance. I’ve watched it 500 times and can see it over and over again. It’s pure entertainment and even though it is a simple story, it’s very well made.”
In fact, if Ashraf has to choose one favourite movie, it would be Munna Bhai MBBS, although her favourite film prior to that was Farhan Akhter’s Dil Chahta Hai. Another movie that Ashraf rates very highly is Nana Patekar’s Ab Tak Chappan which she says is a “well-made, crisp film with an excellent script and direction. It’s been shot very differently and is definitely one of his better movies.”
As for music, Ashraf says “That’s the only thing that keeps the world going.” She describes herself as a “total music freak” and says she loves all kinds of music whether old Indian, or remixes. She doesn’t think the latter destroys the beauty of the original compositions and in fact, says “Remixes give vintage songs another life. Now my daughter and I sing the same ditties, and I think that’s great. What’s more, I can listen to the old numbers on stereo now!”
Although Ashraf claims she listens to all kinds of music, she says she is more into the popular fare and can listen to anyone who sings well. However, she names Nayyara Noor as her absolute favourite singer. From the relatively new breed, she likes Sajjad Ali who she claims “knows how to sing”. However, when asked to name a favourite Indian singer, she is stumped. Says she, “They all sing so well that I can’t name just one favourite. I love all of them. They practice from childhood and India keeps coming up with brilliant voices.” Ashraf watches MTV and ZeeTV regularly with her children and claims that she loves to watch Antakshari and Sa Ray Ga Ma with her friends and family. Although she has many favourite Indian songs, currently she is into the theme song from the film Mein Hoon Na and says she finds Sonu Nigam’s voice fabulous.
Ashraf is just as undiscriminating in her choice of western music and claims, “I find hard rock a little difficult to digest, but otherwise loves all music more than anything else in life. I can listen to music, whether I am happy or sad.” She says it’s a must for her to have a good music system in the car, and her own equipment in the house as well. One of her all time favourites used to be Air Supply, but now she loves Black and Blue by the Back Street Boys.
However, if she has to name just one favourite English ditty, it would be Hotel California by the Eagles. Not into reading books, Ashraf says she has “given up on books altogether” as she has a short interest span. Says she: “These days, I hop from one book to another.” The last book that Ashraf recalls reading at one go was the Moth Smoke, which she also rates as her favourite and laughs, “Maybe I had better concentration when I had read it, or maybe I’m just not getting hold of good books any more.” She read Princess Diana’s biography, but left it half-way as she didn’t enjoy it. “It was more about the writer than about Diana and seemed to me to be a money-making racket. I have no patience with such books and get annoyed if the book is not gripping.”
However, Ashraf enjoys short stories, and says she has read two of Neelam Ahmed Bashir’s books, one of which was on 9/11, called Sitamgar Situmber. Another book of short stories that she says she likes is by Bano Apa. She says: “They are excellent and not your run-of-the-mill stories at all. In fact, some of them are quite weird, and touching at the same time, and give you an insight into human nature.”
ACTOR par excellence, Rubina Ashraf is as fond of watching movies as she is of acting. She claims she watches all kinds of films, including Pakistani and continental cinema. She also enjoys Iranian movies a lot. The last movie Ashraf watched that had a great impact on her was Osama. She says she loves all Julia Roberts and Meg Ryan movies, one of her favourites being Step Mom, starring the former.
