Hot topic of controversy and gossip these days, Meera is very much in the limelight, so we thought she would be the appropriate candidate to be placed on the Hot Seat. And true to her style, she didn’t fail to surprise when asked about her favourite movies, music and books.
While Meera makes no bones about the fact that her favourite movie star is Tom Cruise, she admits she also likes Sylvester Stallone and Madhuri Dixit. However, her favourite movie features none of the above; Pretty Woman starring Richard Gere is what she likes the most. Meera says she loves Gere’s role in the film and is of the opinion that all boyfriends/husbands should be just like him.
Surprisingly though, Meera claims she is generally not into watching movies as she finds them ‘very artificial’. Says the actor, “I’ve seen so much in life that I have no time for such artificialities. Unless a film boasts of truly outstanding performances, I rarely watch it. I get bored if the acting is not good.”
Having said that, Meera goes on to mention the Indian movies she has seen recently include Chaltey Chaltey and Veer Zara. Regarding the latter she says, “I didn’t like Prety Zinta — I find she is not the least bit versatile. I think Yash Chopra made a big mistake in casting her as Zara, for in no scene does she look anything other than Preety Zinta. She definitely does not look like a Muslim girl. I saw the film only for Sharrukh Khan.” Meera confesses she watches quite a few of Sharrukh Khan’s movies for she finds him “undoubtedly good” but adds that she doesn’t see all of them as “he has acted in too many.” Still, it seems she can’t get enough of him as she expressed the desire to see Swades, yet another Sharrukh Khan starrer. Meera says that she has heard a lot about the movie and goes on to describe it as a “documentary-type film”.
The one Indian movie that Meera raves about is Mahesh Bhatt’s Jism. She enthuses “I liked it a lot. Its script, lighting and screen presentation was so different and interesting.” Meera also watches the “good” Pakistani movies and rates Barbara Sharif very highly among the senior actors. She finds her very talented and stylish and likes her performance, the best being in Mohhabat. Among the not-so-old films that Meera has seen are Nikkah starring Reema, Churiyan starring Saima, Teray Pyar Mein with Zara Sheikh in the lead and the more recently Salakhain. While she found Salakhain to be “nice”, Meera liked Churiyan better because it was based on village life, and says sagely, “I think Sayyed Noor is great, and I admire his devotion to Saima. I feel it should be appreciated.”
As for music, Meera says she normally listens to film songs and likes all the ditties of the Indian films Kutch Kutch Hota Hai and Chaltey Chaltey. She is also fond of the works of M.M. Karim who did the music for Jism. But that’s not all, for Meera is also into jazz and classical music! Says she, “I listen to all kinds of music as long as it sounds good to the ears and is popular. My favourite singers are quite diverse and include Ali Azmat, Nusrat Ali Khan sahib and Madame Noor Jehan.”
When asked to name one favourite song though, Meera was in a quandary and replied, “It’s difficult to narrow down to just one, for they are all good. If I don’t like the sound of the music, I don’t listen. I simply turn it off.” Meera says she listens to music either in the car, or at home, on TV. She elucidates: “I mostly listen to music when I am feeling lonely, although it is so much more enjoyable to listen to it with your boyfriend.”
But the greatest surprise of all is Meera’s penchant for reading. She says she has a fascination for reading because she had to leave school at the age of 14 and couldn’t complete her studies. So, now she reads whenever she gets the time. Aside from reading English and Urdu newspapers, she reads novels and stories in both English and Urdu, as well as Urdu poetry. Her favourite poets are Mirza Ghalib and Parveen Shakir and she asserts that reading poetry makes her ponder on the complexities of life. Also, she admits that it is thanks to Mirza Ghalib that her “Urdu has improved”. However, she states: “While I love to read poetry and savour every word of it, I am not one of those people who enjoy doing ‘shairi’ in public.”
The book that Meera is currently reading is called ‘Discover your destiny’. Says the actor, “I try and read at shoots while I am waiting for the cameras to roll. I read a lot of poetry there too, and go through newspapers. As for novels, although I do read them, I seldom remember the stories after I am finished with them.”
For bedtime reading though, rather than picking up a novel or an anthology of poems, Meera prefers to read a translation of the Holy Quran, or a book on ‘duas’. She says she reads Urdu translations of the Holy Quran as she cannot read Arabic. Asserts Meera, “Urdu is my favourite language and I love to read it. I find those who insist on only reading and speaking in English to be very artificial.”
Interestingly, Meera also claims that she likes to study Islam and is fond of reading books on it. One of the books on the subject that she remembers having read is ‘Toufa-tul-Awam’.
Hot topic of controversy and gossip these days, Meera is very much in the limelight, so we thought she would be the appropriate candidate to be placed on the Hot Seat. And true to her style, she didn’t fail to surprise when asked about her favourite movies, music and books.
